I'll be ready to buy a new S40 in February when I get my tax refund. I won't need to finance, so that's off the table as a bargaining chip, and right now my local dealer won't budge off the MSRP.
  I'm hoping that come February the dead of winter will have made the showrooms empty and the dealers more willing to deal to discount a new bike. Right now he's only willing to give a discount on accessories purchased at the same time. I pretty much alredy have all the riding gear I need.
   Anyone know of a dealership (within driving range of Portland, Oregon) that regularly discounts new machines, or does this just not happen with the S40?

I just bought a 2006 at the beginning of the month...cash in hand....no discount. I did get 20% off all accessory purchases for a month and my 1st service free

Back in 2003, I looked for a new LS in St. John's, Nfld. ... neither of the 2 'Zuki dealerships had any at the time ... the listed price for a Savage was the same at both; $6100 Cdn. Came across a multi-brand m/c dealership in Toronto via the Internet ... they had several LS' marked down to $4659 Cdn. ... called 'em up ordered one and had it shipped by a 3rd party shipper in the factory crate to one of the local Suzuki dealerships for $400 Cdn. where it was un-crated and prepped (this kept the original factory warranty valid) for an additional $150 Cdn. ... so I essentially got a new Bike for approx. the price of a good, recent model used one.
Point is, that good deals can be found on any new motorcycle ... if you are willing to do a bit of research and a bit of leg-work ...

I just bought an '06 a few weeks ago and I considered it for some time before I commited.  I'm not a big buyer of "New" (8 cars, 4 bikes over the past 20 years...1 car was new - and now my S40).  But I decided I wanted the fun of a bike _right now_ without having to worry about some PO that did who-knows-what.  If anyone was going to screw up this bike it was going to be ME.  The problems with buying new are (1) you eat the depriciation 30 seconds after you drive it off the lot and (2) you eat the "Dealer Prep" "Documentation" "Frieght" and "Actual Sales Tax " the second you write the check.  On an MSRP of $4399.00 I wrote a check of over $5300.00.  Did I get ripped off?  Dunno...probably, but I got 10 points off accessories and have had a relationship with this dealership for over 5 years and they never worry about how much I take up their time in the bike, parts, or accesories departments.  Always willing to help and never sold me the wrong part...ever.  It's all about choices...