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SuzukiSavage.com
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1220925838 Message started by MichaelK on 09/08/08 at 19:03:58 |
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Title: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by MichaelK on 09/08/08 at 19:03:58 I've been doing a lot of research on the S40, and think that it would be a good fit for me. I currently ride a GZ250 around town and to work... been a m/c rider for about 4 months now (I have my license, and got about 1500 miles under my belt). I'm aware of some limitations the S40 has in terms of sustained high speed cruising... but I'm not interested in doing more than 65-70mph anyway.... on the Interstate, I would just try to use the bike and my skills to get separation from other traffic. I this a can do? Opinions out there? BTW, I'm 5'10", 170lbs and wouldn't do 2-up riding |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by Dj12midnit on 09/08/08 at 19:10:27 This bike will go as far as you are willing to ride it. There are a few on here who have made some really long trips. If you remember to stop and do the maintenance it will keep on going. |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by Sandy Koocanusa on 09/08/08 at 19:14:35 70 mph is standard for almost all the riding I do. The bike thinks I'm angry with it if I only let it do 60 for some reason. For sustained cruising, I don't think I'd want to run much more than 75, but that's just me. That's getting pretty close to WOT. |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by WebsterMark on 09/08/08 at 19:30:23 I ride about 18 miles one way to work part of which is on I-270 around St. Louis. Like most major cities, this is the circular interstate which loops around town. The traffic will slow to a crawl one moment and turn into a mini Nascar race the next. I've had my S40 for one summer and just passed 2500 miles riding like this and have never been in a spot yet where I needed quicker pickup. Have gone on a couple 100 mile rides and other than the seat, it is acceptable. No one's going to mistake it for a Goldwing however. |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by Irish on 09/08/08 at 20:24:40 I am considering the Boulevard S40 to replace my Honda Rebel. How does the bike handle mountain passes and long rides? This bike seems like what I am looking for. Larger engine and fits my short stature (4"10") We live in the Pacific NW and are looking at traveling to the Midwest. |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by BurnPgh on 09/08/08 at 20:33:17 I started on a Rebel myself. The Savage/s40 is IMO the best step up bike from the 250 cruisers. Its almost as light, almost as cheap, easier to maintain than most except the gz250 which its basically equal to in maint. and has a GREAT deal more kick. It also have a few quirks. look up "plug leak" and "cam chain tensioner" on the search function. My '95 will do 70 without even trying and will definately hit the indicated 100mph. I havent gone more than a few hundred miles at a time but Ive had no issues with it keeping up on the interstate. You'll stop before the bike as long as you keep it maintained. On long rides check your oil level frequently. |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by PerrydaSavage on 09/09/08 at 00:30:00 My 1st Bike was a CMX250 Rebel ... my next an LS650 Savage, then a VS800 ... that was too heavy ... now back to an LS ('05 S40) ... LOVE IT! I'd say go get the S40 and be happy! 8-) |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by Rustbucket on 09/09/08 at 00:35:26 The S-40 would be a good choice. I use mine mostly in city as a commuter and some hwy cruising on weekends. This bike likes them both equally IMO. Just today i had to run the interstate for about 40 miles and the bike and i loved it. There was a moment where i needed to get out of a hole i was in and a twist of the throttle took me from 65 to 80 in a matter of seconds. This bike has great response and it's quick!!!! |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by EssForty on 09/09/08 at 03:21:03 I did exhaustive research before picking the S40 to fit my needs. No regrets whatsoever. The bike performs more than adequately, easily doing 70 with plenty of passing power ("I'm 6'2 and 175lbs) , it's very easy to work on and there are some very simple mods you can do to improve performance and comfort. All of them are documented here on this site. As mentioned, some people have taken it on long distance interstate tours. It can be done, but I also suspect that the riders also routinely chew glass & sleep on a bed of nails just for fun. Distance touring was not a factor in my decision-making process. I might take it down to the Florida Keys once hurricane season is over, but my typical trip is a 50 mile round trip daily commute or a 120 mile RT weekend ride. Overall, the bike sounds like a good fit for your needs. If you decide to do more touring , riding 2-up at highway speeds, you'll likely want to trade up, get another bike , or find a more petite passenger like a small dog or a ferret. |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by Paladin. on 09/09/08 at 04:49:53 73756D727F6B79766A7B6C1E0 wrote:
I have a 2000 that I obtained in '04 with just over 5K on the clock. It had the stock muffler, I replaced with a nice very loud Harley Fishtail, and then with a slightly quieter MAC on the insistance of Wife1.0. The cover over the idle screw was missing, I do not know if the PO did anything else to the carb, but the bike runs fine. It is about to turn 25K and I have yet to even look at the spark plug. It merges onto the freeway (60-65mph) easily in third gear, I timed the 40-70 mph roll-on at 6 to 8 seconds, it'll do an indicated 80 no problem, but 85 on our pavement starts rattling my eyeballs. This bike is a LOT quicker and faster than I'll ever need. Last September was a GEEIA Reunion in OKC, I took the bike. L.A. to O.K.C. was via the superslab. Gardena-Barstow, 127 miles, 135 minutes, 56 mph (L.A. traffic.) Gas and food and lookythar stops sure eat into travel time, but managed to do the 570 miles to Holbrook AZ that first day, mostly 65-70 mph pacing traffic. Day two was 520 miles into Amarillo TX, again running about 70 mph, but needing more and more rest stops. 60 year old body just can't take the sitting in one position endlessly. But the Bike did jes' fine. Lots of gas stations along the Interstates, you can use http://www.truckstopinfoplus.com/ to plan out stops at <=140 miles using 24-hour truck stops/ so the smallish tank is not a trip killer. I have a new saddle, and I want to add floorboards for the next Reunion, about a year from now, in Fort Worth -- should ease the pain of long hours in the saddle. The return to L.A. was via US-60 / CA-62 at a more reasonable 55-60 and roughly 300 miles/day. MUCH more enjoyable. While the superslab traffic is 50-100 cars per mile, the old roads are more like 5 miles per car. Need to know your gas stops better, but if you simply gas up on your hourly butt breaks it's still not a problem. |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by skrapiron -FSO on 09/09/08 at 05:15:06 The Savage is a capable solo highway cruiser. It will take you (and your luggage) anywhere you care to ride. One member rode his clear across the country, another from Kentucky to Minnesota. I put just over 38,000 miles on mine in under a year. It is a good bike. It is a simple bike. It will do the job without alot of fanfare and bling. You can't go wrong with a Savage. Be it your first bike or your only bike, it will get the job done. |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by sockmonkeygirl on 09/09/08 at 05:16:19 3 hour interstate trip to NYC with no problems. Mostly in the rain, nonetheless. Go for it! :D |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by mornhm on 09/09/08 at 05:59:21 Michael K If all you are going to do is superslab riding, especially if you are going to take mostly long trips, there might be better choices out there than the Savage. This is not to say that it can't be done, but it is getting out of the Savage's comfort zone. |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by MichaelK on 09/09/08 at 14:58:50 First, thanks to all for the input. I'm leaning more and more towards trading the GZ in for the s40 by midwinter or so. mornhm: In fact no, I wouldn't use the S40 for much superslab riding at all. It would be mainly an around town(St. Cloud, MN) and commuter bike to work and back(20 miles, round trip), where speeds wouldn't and legally can't exceed 55mph on county highways. I'm just playing with the idea of riding the bike down to a family reunion in Illinois next July....I'm now pretty convinced that it would indeed be possible....Thanks again for the advice everyone. |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by PerrydaSavage on 09/09/08 at 15:21:09 Did 350 highway miles (550km) from Springdale, Nfld. to St. John's, Nfld. on my newly aquired S40 back in late June ... in very inclement weather too I might add ... Bike sucked it up better than I did! |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by Jay on 09/09/08 at 23:26:17 51606D6065686F010 wrote:
I have a 2000 that I obtained in '04 with just over 5K on the clock. It had the stock muffler, I replaced with a nice very loud Harley Fishtail, and then with a slightly quieter MAC on the insistance of Wife1.0. The cover over the idle screw was missing, I do not know if the PO did anything else to the carb, but the bike runs fine. It is about to turn 25K and I have yet to even look at the spark plug. It merges onto the freeway (60-65mph) easily in third gear, I timed the 40-70 mph roll-on at 6 to 8 seconds, it'll do an indicated 80 no problem, but 85 on our pavement starts rattling my eyeballs. This bike is a LOT quicker and faster than I'll ever need. Last September was a GEEIA Reunion in OKC, I took the bike. L.A. to O.K.C. was via the superslab. Gardena-Barstow, 127 miles, 135 minutes, 56 mph (L.A. traffic.) Gas and food and lookythar stops sure eat into travel time, but managed to do the 570 miles to Holbrook AZ that first day, mostly 65-70 mph pacing traffic. Day two was 520 miles into Amarillo TX, again running about 70 mph, but needing more and more rest stops. 60 year old body just can't take the sitting in one position endlessly. But the Bike did jes' fine. Lots of gas stations along the Interstates, you can use http://www.truckstopinfoplus.com/ to plan out stops at <=140 miles using 24-hour truck stops/ so the smallish tank is not a trip killer. I have a new saddle, and I want to add floorboards for the next Reunion, about a year from now, in Fort Worth -- should ease the pain of long hours in the saddle. The return to L.A. was via US-60 / CA-62 at a more reasonable 55-60 and roughly 300 miles/day. MUCH more enjoyable. While the superslab traffic is 50-100 cars per mile, the old roads are more like 5 miles per car. Need to know your gas stops better, but if you simply gas up on your hourly butt breaks it's still not a problem.[/quote] Hey Paladin, give me a shout when you make it out this way. Beer's on me. |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by Paladin. on 09/10/08 at 04:28:31 5B50485D410000310 wrote:
Seriously, I find it fascinating to meet other Forum Members. Anyone willing to ride our little big single and put up with all the jibes from the V-twin folks is alright in my book. |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by sidny4 on 09/11/08 at 12:02:49 Hey Paladin, what kind of saddle did you put on your bike? I remember reading a post about it but I can't find it now. |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by flcruzr on 09/11/08 at 15:05:01 I take my S40 on a 12 mile highway ride and rolls perfectly at 70 mph and it still has enough to go more, and all this with a Stock S40. Not bad, not bad at all! 8-) |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by Paladin. on 09/11/08 at 16:06:27 2B313C36216C580 wrote:
Ultima (brand) High Noon (model) -- 13" wide, leather, just $50 from Jirehcycles. (Try searching for "High Noon" for a year back.) |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by 07S40rider on 09/12/08 at 08:22:10 In all honesty, I do enjoy my bike very much and it will ride at interstate speeds just fine. However, If I were going to buy a bike that I intended to use at 70mph+ consistently, it would not be the S40. My bike was purchased as primarily a work commute vehicle and it is excellent for that as well as short to medium length weekend rides. The seat is just too uncomfortable for long rides without stopping every 30 minutes or so (for me) and the vibration at those higher speeds makes me numb as a stone after about the same amount of time. Sure, the S40 can be modified with a newer seat etc... but (assuming one buys a brand new bike at approx. $4k +/-) it doesn't take long until the comfort mods add up to the price of a bike more suited for interstate cruising (S83 as a weak example). I have a co-worker that rides a Yamaha V-star 1100 custom and I could easily see owning one of those for longer trips. |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by Paladin. on 09/12/08 at 12:28:43 21264225216378757463110 wrote:
Seat comfort and vibration level is highly subjective. Prior to my OKC run I twice did Full Moon runs across Joshua Tree Nat. Park -- leave the house on a Friday after work, circa 9 pm, go 140 or 160 miles to the north or south entrance, 60 miles through the park, then the 160 or 140 miles back home, arriving circa 6 am. 360 miles, stock seat, windscreen; not a problem for me, even with going 75-80 to keep up with traffic. On the OKC trip the 570 mile day was not a problem, but the 510 the next day added to it started getting uncomfortable -- but that was a stock saddle. The saddle replacement was in the work queue even without the trip. My commute takes me over the RR tracks at Vermont and a rather nasty dip a block later -- stock seat I'd pull myself up onto the pegs, with the springer seat I can remain sitting. My mods have been $430 for the saddlebags (which would cost the same on any bike that didn't come stock with saddlebags) About $200 for the two windscreens (ditto). The saddle was only $50 plus springs, shipping, material to mount -- less than $70 total. Floorboards will be similar in cost as I'm a cheapskate. I think the intent of the original question wasn't whether or not the Savage is ideal for Interstate Touring, just whether or not it was capable of safely running on the superslabs. It is. I'm not about to buy a bike for a once a year trip, but it is nice to be able to load up the little guy and go on an extended run -- which I don't think I'd want to do on a GZ250. But wouldn't mind trying. (I took a rented Suzuki 90 from Biloxi MS to New Orleans -- 160 miles round trip) I definitely agree that if touring was the purpose I'd not be on the Savage -- I already looked at a Concourse and would also check out an ST1100/1300. |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by 07S40rider on 09/12/08 at 12:55:11 Paladin - Your points are correct. I think we are more or less saying the same thing, just from slightly different angles. Reading back through the original post I see that the OP did indeed simply mention the ability of the S40 to handle occasional interstate speeds/traffic while the rest of the riding would be "around town and to work". That being said - given the relative low cost of a used LS650 or even a brand new S40, I would say it is the best option. MichaelK - your physical size is identical to mine and I would not hesitate to recommend the S40 as a good bike for you. I avoide the interstate simply because I don't like riding on the interstate - but when I need to, I don't hesitate to take the S40 up to interstate speeds. if/when my butt starts to go numb I just roll off the throttle real quick and let the backfire get my blood flowing extra hard. If that doesn't do it - then I stop for fuel and fondle my McGoofy a little. works every time. :D See associated McCuff/McGoofy thread for explanation -->>> http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1216913435/0 |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by MichaelK on 09/12/08 at 18:32:42 Yeah, well it seems there are many trade-offs involved when considering a new bike....more so than with cars. That's what's so alluring about S40, while it's definately not perfect, it comes close to "do it all" ride in the cruiser format (which is the style that I prefer). |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by Bear_Rider on 09/12/08 at 22:33:20 MichaelK, I don't know what part of the country that you'll be riding in, but if you're out in the west and you get off onto the secondary roads, keep that small gas tank very much in mind. There seems to be a trend lately of gas stations in small towns closing. I just completed a 1200 mile round trip across northern nv and california to the oregon coast. Everything went fine until I pulled into Cedarvilla, CA and found out that the Texaco station that I gassed up at last year closed down about two months back. It was the only station in town. Fortunately the locals were kind, because I MIGHT have mad the next town (which did have a gas station), but I wasn't real eager to test the theory. Before coming back, I picked up a one gallon gas can. If filled it just before the long jump and sure enough, I didn't need it. Isn't that always the way? Of course we all know that if I hadn't had it, the Savage would have wheezed to a stop in the hot desert sun about ten miles shy, in an area with no cell service and little traffic. |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by Jay on 09/13/08 at 01:34:25 62535E53565B5C320 wrote:
Seriously, I find it fascinating to meet other Forum Members. Anyone willing to ride our little big single and put up with all the jibes from the V-twin folks is alright in my book. [/quote] For sure! Give me enough of a heads up and I'll make sure I'm off. A trip to the Flying Saucer sounds about right. Over 200 beers on tap. Oh, and food if you go for that sort of thing. :) Oops. Just checked the GEEIA website, and it says the 2009 reunion is going to be in San Antonio. http://www.geeia-mda-ei.org/html/2009_reunion.html Might still be able to meet you out there. Mi Tiera for some cabrito y cerveza. Si? Might get to meet some more of the Savage crowd from down that way too. |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by desert_cruisers on 09/20/08 at 07:15:46 People have been debating this question for years regarding interstate use and the savage. If you add a K & N filter, use synthetic oil and remove the spacer and turn the screw out 2-2 1/4, you will be able to cruise at 75 with no problem and room to spare. People mention comfort zone all the time with the savage and running it WOT. Man, the bike is bullet proof. I have been running mine 75-85 for years with many other bigger bikes in my group and it is definitely close to full throttle. No problems, no smoke, starts up and idles perfect every time I use it. Now I would defintely say, regardless of the mods, if you want to cruise beyond 75 and have extra to get around stupid cages, you need to know that it will not be very much. I agree regarding the bike being angry at 60mph. Even without any of the mods, you can easily cruise at 70-75 and still have extra for emergencies. At 75-80, I routinely get 55-60 mpg or 115-120 per tank. Now is this bike comfortable for long trips, not particularly, depending on your definition of comfortable, which is all relative. I can ride it all day and am ok but that is no more than 6-7 hours. I would recommend a w/s for the freeway. I don't have one but wish I did. Another thing. Everytime I ride with new people in my riding group, they are also riding with many others that have different bikes. However, they seem to only be interested in mine after we get to the first stop. They always want to know how big the engine is and when I tell them, they literally drop their jaw wide open in disbelief. They do not understand how I keep up with them with no problem. It is simple, the bike only weighs 352 pounds dry. My old Honda Rebel 250 weighed in at 300. That is a very light easily manuverable bike. I can take corners and twistys same as the crotch rockets. Yes the other bikes pull ahead after 90 but that is fine as I do not need to go that fast as you don't get a second chance on a bike. Just ride the bike where you want when you want and do proper maintenance and ride safe and you will be fine. I can ride with my wife, who weighs 175 and me 210 and cruise at 70-75 with no problem. Every bike is different and you will never know by other peoples opinions only by taking it where you want and seeing if it will do what you want. Thanks |
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Title: Re: The S40 and Interstate Use/Touring Post by MichaelK on 09/20/08 at 11:14:35 Thanks, desert_cruisers, for the informative post. I think about getting the silver S-40 at the local dealership every day now. I have to pay the $1400 I owe on the GZ250 first, however. Then I imagine I'll trade that in for the Savage. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, most of my use for it would be around town and on county roads and highways, with the occasional interstate cruise mixed in to visit my out of state relatives. |
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