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SuzukiSavage.com
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Is the S40 the bike for me? /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1589292946 Message started by akhsha on 05/12/20 at 07:15:46 |
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Title: Is the S40 the bike for me? Post by akhsha on 05/12/20 at 07:15:46 TLDR: Riding from NM to MD; is an S40 a good bike to take? Can I wait til I get home to fix the cam chain tensioner? Someday in the future, how inexpensively and easily can this bike be raised up and tilted forward a bit? Hi All, I just posted in the intro thread on the forum. I'm currently in NM (GF is a travel nurse assigned here) and I'm looking for an inexpensive and reliable bike to ride home to MD whenever things start to open up. (If you have an S40 for sale near Taos, please let me know!) My budget is about $2k. I'm in Taos now, with an elevation of about 8500', and I'll be traveling down to sea level. I'd really prefer a fuel injected bike so that I don't need to worry about the carbs, but if I need to get a carbed bike, I'd prefer a thumper with an easily accessible carburetor, just in case adjustments are needed along the way. I don't mind taking the scenic route to avoid highways whenever necessary. I've driven across the country 5 times now, so I understand how far this is, but I've never done it on a bike. If I find a low mileage S40, can I ride it across the country without worrying about the cam chain tensioner or the petcock? It looks like those start to go bad around 15k miles? Is there anything I can do to avoid cam chain wear while traveling? You all recommend Rotella T for this right? I have some very basic tools with me, and could probably change the cam chain tensioner in NM if need be, but I would rather do that at home with all of my tools handy. I've reached out to about 6 local S40 listings, asking whether the cam chain tensioner has been changed, and more often than not, people tell me that "no, this is a belt driven bike you don't need to worry about a chain" :-? Is there no recall on that part? I can't even find anyone on this forum complaining about the lack of a recall on the cam chain tensioner, which is really confusing to me. I prefer a standard riding position to a cruiser. Are there any other bikes I should be looking out for? I love the ride, size, and feel of this little TU250X we just picked up, but I'm worried that it might be too small to ride back across the country. Also, my girlfriend also loves the TU250X, so I would have to fight her for it. On that same note, how hard is it to make this bike ride more like a standard bike? I can't afford (nor do I want to do all of the work involved on) the Ryca conversion, but I could probably install intruder shocks (or even higher if available) and clubman bars no problem. I know that I'll need to grind the belt cover and install an aftermarket muffler to clear the passenger foot pegs for the intruder shocks to work. I have a friend who is teaching me to tig weld in exchange for some kiln repairs (I'm a technician and teacher at some pottery studios). I don't intend to make any alterations to the frame, but I could probably make a triangular bracket to mount a street tracker seat to. Any other common problems I should be looking for? Any other bikes I should be looking at? I like to ride my vehicles into the ground. I normally get 200k+ miles out of a car, I'd really like a bike that'll make it to 100k without any major issues (not sure if that even exists) Thanks a ton for all of the info on this forum! I'm learning a ton! Ryan |
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Title: Re: Is the S40 the bike for me? Post by Gary_in_NJ on 05/12/20 at 08:02:06 Ryan, I responded to your welcome post so I wont repeat that. If you prefer a fuel injected engine AND a standard riding position, I would encourage you to look at a Yamaha FZ-6. They can be purchased for a price that is close to your budget and they have the two features noted. Moreover, its a smooth engine and can be ridden coast to coast. Being a 599cc engine, insurance is also low. Bonus, they have a fairing and wind protection. I have an '05 model and really enjoy the bike. |
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Title: Re: Is the S40 the bike for me? Post by ohiomoto on 05/12/20 at 09:47:46 I'm 6'3" and I pretty much hated riding the LS650 in stock form. I turned mine into a standard much like the TU250X. I like it much better, but I don't know if I would want to ride it that far. I agree with Gary. Don't buy this bike if you don't like cruisers. You're better off getting another TU250X. Look at this thing like a tool. When I need an expensive tool or piece of equipment, the first thing I do is look on craigslist. I'm looking for something that I can buy, use, and then resell without taking much of a loss. Get something like Gary mentioned, ride it to MD and if it's not what you like, sell it. Hell, you might even look for something like a big ass Kawasaki Vulcan for cheap. You'll enjoy your trip and it will probably cost you less than renting a car. |
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Title: Re: Is the S40 the bike for me? Post by Zepp on 05/12/20 at 14:25:15 43494A514A43220 wrote:
Its a lot of question, but if you like the smaler bike i dont think you regret buying a S40 frome start.. if you can find one not that much used. I boght me a LS650 Savage anyhow.. and did you know.. this forum and all those here that make me doing it! Its a big thumper, cheap to buy and easy to ride.. I only ride in sparetime, its a cruiser.. but not that much a hiway cruser! Go for a not that much used S40. And about any technical problems check for a nerby Suzuki dealer/garage, if you dont like to do all your self.. ther is seldome that much to do! In any case.. its a big thumper.. its a crusing bike.. its not that much a higway cirusing bike,, but its crusing bike kind of bike, lean bak and put the foots forward kind of bike! In anyway.. you can always buy a HD afterward if you want! In any case my old friends drive Ducati diavlos or brand new Triuph, one of my friends have a new triumph and a new Hareley.. another old friend how is a girl (about 64 as mee) drive her Suzuki Maruder! In anyway, Im not even thinking about to make you a Savage or Boulevard S40 biker, I say try one out its a god bike for a man/or women! [mediahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UanC_kkHgRw][/media] |
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Title: Re: Is the S40 the bike for me? Post by Zepp on 05/12/20 at 14:27:37 And then it happends again I cant get the links to work! Try another; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UanC_kkHgRw |
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Title: Re: Is the S40 the bike for me? Post by pg on 05/12/20 at 15:53:04 575D5E455E57360 wrote:
I am familiar with that part of the world and you will travel some long distances between towns. Please be aware the S40 gas tank capacity is 2.7 gallons. If it were me I would take something with a 5 gallon tank.... Best regards, |
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Title: Re: Is the S40 the bike for me? Post by akhsha on 05/13/20 at 13:57:21 6E69686E6C6E756E010 wrote:
Thanks Gary, Ohio, pg, and Zepp. Gary, I had not considered a Yamaha, but I think the FZ6 looks like a great choice! I'll add it to the list of bikes I'm considering. My only complaints are the way it looks and the price. I can ignore the looks, but the cheapest FZ6s in Northern New Mexico are around $4k. That's a little more risk than I'd like to take with a bike right now. Great looking savage in your signature by the way! Ohiomoto, I'm only 5'10", and I think I'd like a bike that I could hold on to for commuting and whatnot when I get home, rather than dealing with trying to sell it later. Although buying here and reselling at home is an option worth considering. I took out the TU250X for about 250 miles yesterday just to see what that would be like. I think I was at full throttle more than half of the time, which might not be a great option for traveling cross country. May I ask what mods you did to your Savage and if you have any pictures? I searched your post history but couldn't find any pg, very good point about the gas tank. I'm getting about 200 miles per tank out of this TU250X. How many miles do you get on a tank with an S40 on the highway? All who replied: Great suggestions, I have at least 2 more bikes to be looking in to. I think I'm still considering the S40 though. It fits many of my requirements for a bike: -Inexpensive (there's a 2014 with 5k miles nearby for $2100) -Easy maintenance (single, easily accesible carb, belt drive) -Relatively bulletproof (after the CCT mod and raptor petcock) - -readily available (there's 3 nearby in my price range, while there aren;t any TU250X or FZ6 nearby, although I'll definitely be looking for them) |
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Title: Re: Is the S40 the bike for me? Post by verslagen1 on 05/13/20 at 14:51:43 000A09120900610 wrote:
shocks and handlebars are easy, but will change the riding characteristics, usually done for the cafe riders. even changing the seat so it sits higher is fairly easy. changing the footpegs to a more standard location will require quite a bit of effort. |
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Title: Re: Is the S40 the bike for me? Post by ohiomoto on 05/13/20 at 15:27:25 You can find my build listed in here: http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1383565946 Range on my bike is about 120 miles to reserve. About the same as stock. We all love our bikes for different reasons, but I think it's a poor choice for a cross country trip. On the other hand, people have ridden further on worse! |
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Title: Re: Is the S40 the bike for me? Post by akhsha on 05/22/20 at 10:55:58 I wound up buying a 2009 S40 with 6500 miles up in Denver for $2000. It came with a bunch of gear (some of which is nicer than my own), a big windscreen, and 3 big saddle bags. Thank you all for your advice, but the Yamaha and Tu250x suggestions were just too pricey, or if they were in my price range they were trashed. I love the S40 so far. I think I didn't like cruisers because I had never ridden one. I definitely need to replace the petcock. I think I figured out how to differentiate between electrical ignition problems and petcock fuel starvation problems. I haven't found a similar insight anywhere else on the forum, so I'll start a new thread for that. I rode back to Taos from Denver with a faulty petcock that was starving the engine intermittently at highway speeds. It was about 7 or 8 hours of riding. Will I have damaged my engine in any way? Should I replace the oil with Rotella T before heading back east in order to preserve the cam chain? |
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Title: Re: Is the S40 the bike for me? Post by Matchless G11 on 05/22/20 at 11:08:16 I would change oil, but if your chain is on the way out... well. You might want to check it. I would think if it is quiet. you might be ok. but there are others on this forum that are far more knowledgeable on the chain issue. |
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Title: Re: Is the S40 the bike for me? Post by akhsha on 05/22/20 at 11:55:02 The chain is still quiet. The bike only has about 6800 miles now, so I think it's fine at the moment. I just want to prolong its life I saw someone mention that the length of your average ride would correlate to chain where somewhere on the forum, but I can't remember if short rides=chain wear or long rides=chain wear. This has mostly been a highway bike. I think half of its miles were highway miles. |
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Title: Re: Is the S40 the bike for me? Post by Zepp on 05/22/20 at 14:39:44 Anyhow my answer got intermingled whit yours. About the petcock I refer to other usely more experianced LS650/S40 owners! My only corncern in this topic is wineratiation.. I got my exhauste geting blue and yelow! |
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Title: Re: Is the S40 the bike for me? Post by LANCER on 05/22/20 at 14:47:08 Blue and yellow color on the exhaust header if normal for this bike. |
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Title: Re: Is the S40 the bike for me? Post by philthymike on 05/23/20 at 06:12:04 I just replaced my tensioner at 17K+ miles. The original still had a little bit of life in it. I gather your budget is limited but for long distance riding I recommend getting the best tires you can afford. You don't want to get a flat out in the middle of nowhere with tube tires. That's an expensive tow. Get quality rubber to lessen the likelihood of flats and tows. And focus on comfort upgrades that are affordable. Wider handlebars, cushion pad for the seat, used rear shocks from a better bike. Those OEM shocks are trash. I've ridden mopeds with better shocks. Before I upgraded the shocks I couldn't ride the bike much more than an hour or 2 at a time on the rough road conditions in PA. Enjoy your thumper and be safe! |
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Title: Re: Is the S40 the bike for me? Post by HAPPYDAN on 05/25/20 at 06:21:53 Some good advice, here. As for the stock petcock, if it's not leaking, you can run on "PRI" just fine, just be sure to change back to "RUN" when it's not running. If it is leaking, replace it. Or, like most of us owners, just replace it and save the headache. One of the first changes I made on my 2012 was to add Progressive (TM) shocks, designed for the Suzuki Intruder, S50 I think. Big help. The Stocks didn't give at all under my 170# self. Like riding a hard tail - miserable. I also adjusted the air mix screw, and add a commercial fuel stabilizer at every fill up - really cuts down the after firing. |
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