MichaelK wrote on 09/08/08 at 19:03:58:...I'm aware of some limitations the S40 has in terms of sustained high speed cruising...
The only limitation I can think of is if by "sustained high speed" you mean in excess of 80 mph.
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.