I too had a long lay off from riding - 40 years.

I bought my 2006 S40 in April, and have only put 500 miles on it.

As for comfort issues - it's fine for me at 5'11" and 190 pounds.

This past Sat., a local HD dealership had what they call "Demo Ride Day", when the factory brings a dozen bikes of all HD sizes, and you sign up for a nice 15 minute ride, all in caravan.

My buddy went with me - he rode his Ducatti and I rode my S40 to the Harley dealership.  We signed up for two demo rides.

First, I had a 1200 Custom Sportster and for the second ride, I had a Dyna Low Rider.

Both were horrible.  Terribly uncomfortable seats, the family jewels were against the gas tank on the Sportster.

The Low Rider vibrated so badly in the foot pegs, and to downshift it I had to take my foot off of the peg and heave down on the shifter like I was crushing a beer can.  Clunk, clunk, went each gear.

Sure, the power of both of them was nice, but that was all.

I'll take my little S40's comfort level any day over those Harleys.

I can't speak to overheating - I haven't experienced any, but in 500 miles, that's not much experience.

Wow.... All these responses so far... I am floored at the positive feedback about this bike...  

I don't really stay cool unless I'm moving, I wear a mesh jacket, not leather in the summer. Beside that I just sweat and drink a lot of water which reminds me that I might wash my jacket this year. The hear is not that bad unless you get caught in traffic.

PS- I weigh about 200 pounds.

My better half is only about 110 soaking wet and she didn't mind it.  I know I wouldn't want to park my 200 lb butt on that back seat for very long, though.

Ramazith wrote on 06/26/08 at 18:50:14:
It'll handle commuting no problem.  Depending on how steady that speed is, you should get 50-60 mpg.

50 weeks/year, 5 days/week, 60 mile/day = 15,000 miles/year.  At $4/gallon = $2,727 at 22 mpg versus $1,200 at 50 mpg.

If I were to be doing a 60 mile city freeway commute I'd be looking at the 250 Ninja, assuming I didn't think it was fugly.  The super scooters are also an option, especially if you get dressed up for work.  But not much can touch the Savage when it comes to fun factor, and that big upright single is a great ice breaker/conversation starter.

Ramazith wrote on 06/26/08 at 19:07:04:


I've been wondering about that myself. The 2002 Owner's manual I found online says GVWR for that year was 785 pounds. Unfortunately, the weight of the cycle is 352 pounds, and I'm assuming that's "dry" (i.e. with an empty tank). It's got a 2.8 gallon tank, and a gallon of gas weighs about 6.5 pounds.

Sooo....

785-352-(6.5x2.8)= 414.8 pounds available for passengers and accessories (which includes things like bags, etc.)

(am I forgetting anything, guys?)

So you should be ok, but pack light