Welcome Jerry,

There is a wealth of information about the Savage on this forum.

Savages are plenty durable and rideable. Bottom line for someone like you this is probably an ideal MC. It's simple enough that even mechanics at the dealership will be able to fix it.

Let me be the first to suggest a MSF course. It's a great refresher for someone who hasn't ridden in a while, plus you get to do it on someone else's MC.

Geg -

Back in 1964 as a high school kid I had an Italian motorbike called an Itom.  It was 50cc, and I've never seen one before or since.  Then, a Honda 90, a Honda 150, and finally graduated all of te way up to a Honda 305 Dream.  Back then, a 650 was a huge bike.

The big bikes of the day were the Triumph Bonneville, Norton Atlas, Royal Enfield.  Of course, Harleys were around, but they never interested me.

I've always been an imported vehicle guy - I've only had a couple of Detroit cars; I mostly have driven British or German cars.  Lots of VWs, a couple of Audis, 4 BMWs, and after I stopped riding in college and bought cars, I had a Sprite, TR-3, Jag XK 140, MGA.

So, that's pretty much my vehicular history.

Greg -

I'm not all that tall - about 5' 10.5".

I've sat on a Rebel and the Suzuki 250 comparable to a Rebel, and both seemed to fit OK.  The Rebel has the footpegs a little farther aft than I'd like, but most people get used to it.

I'll go to the dealer and sit on an S40 and see - I don't anticipate a problem..I found the Suzuki 250 (can't recall the name) more comfortable than the Rebel, particularly the seat is much nicer.

S40 is very good for us older riders -- you can get all the thrills of dragging a peg and dodging traffic and have VERY FEW of the expensive maintenance aspects of bigger, more modern construction bikes.

You can do ALL of the maintenance on your S40.  Try that on a whoop de doo computerized injected modern style bike.

30-35 HP out of a S40 gets you around town better than a 883 Sportster can, period.  Short seat height and such means a partial crip can ride just like a kid again (and this is a rare pleasure as you get older).

Lastly, you can pick the sucker up yourself when you let it fall over in a Hardee's parking lot.  Try doing that with a bigger bike ...

Plus there's us -- the lot of us -- which is a good place to be when you got a question.   Get a modern bike and you can talk to the teenager squid types about how to take care of it.

Oldfeller

Hi Jerry
Get the bike I'm 63 6'1 165 Mines 06 S40 got it used no regrets I've had it just over 1 year. If you need help or just a question this is the site to be on. These guys and gals are great. Last bike I owned was a yam. big bear @250cc. and thats when we had to mix oil&gas.
Ride on Ride safe
Viper

Welcome Jerry, I also started with the S-90 and then up to the 305 Superhawk. Left the 305 at Fort Holabird when i did the overseas thing. Drove MG-B's '64, '67, and the really fab Sunbeam Alpine Coupe
If you don't want to tinker, that's ok cause the bike doesn't need too much EXCEPT if you want to ride over a couple of hours, you'll probably need a seat upgrade.  If its been a while, this is a forgiving bike to ride with so much torque you can stay in third for almost everything except the highway.  And one thing hasn't changed, practice makes perfect which is a great reason to ride as often as you can.  I use a windshield, makes for a longer more comfortable riding season  and I really don't miss the bugs in the teeth.  Enjoy.

SavageWahine wrote on 01/16/08 at 19:30:33:

Yeah.  Thanks for including us guys Viper