Hi there,

I recently got my license and have been shopping for a used beginners bike.  s40 is one of my choices.  (i devoured this site last nite, lots of useful information.)

Today I went to see a 2007 s40.  overall it was ok, but I have a few questions.  What do you think?  Are these show stoppers or not?

1) I told the seller not to warm up the engine before I arrive.  so it was a cold engine.  After doing some physical check, we turn on the ignition.  did not start the engine yet.  for 1~2 minutes i verified all the switches, lights, turn signals, etc. are working.  then I tried to start the engine.  I cranked for 1.5 seconds, it didn't start.  then i tried again, it started weak and then 1.5s later, it went silent.  The owner said he never had this kind of behavior before.  he turned off the ignition, waited a few minutes then he cranked 2~3 seconds and it started.

I think the battery is dead.  Reading thru the forms, i saw a few posts about this issue.  The weather was not that cold, (california, morning weather. probably 50s).  What do you think?  what could be some issues that i may be facing, even after replacing the battery?

2) After starting it, I revved up the engine at neutral.  After a quarter turn of the throttle, the engine revved up fine, but I felt a lot of vibration,shaking on the seat.  Very similar to the electric massagers you buy at electronics stores.  I didn't feel anything particular while riding it.

Do you think this shaking at neutral is an issue?  is it normal for this bike?  (I don't remember anything this much during MSF class.)  

3) While steering at low speeds, I had a feeling the steering bars wanted to fall on the direction of the turn.  For example, while turning left, I had to counter-hold it.  Unfortunately I haven't tried turning right (which I should've).

Again, is this normal?

4) On a straight road, I changed from 2nd gear to 3rd gear.  The engine ran but wasn't happy, it sounded like the rpm was not high enough.

5) S40 does not have much of gauges, i.e. no oil light, no over temp light, etc.  are these concerning?

Thank you,

atilla457
Other than that, it seemed fine.

With regard to the handlebars flopping, the Savage has a bit of a rake. It's slightly "chopped" so it may take a bit getting used to. Felt fine to me when I first hopped on mine, but I was cutting the front ends off found bicycles to chop my own when I was a kid. Also, if they're drag bars, or "Straight", those are a bit harder to steer than buckhorns in my opinion.

Before my battery died, I did notice that the horn sounded weak. Thought that my horn was heading toward the rubbish bin, but should have seen the obvious; battery was dying. So, hit the horn.

Check for oil leaks. Really. Take a ride for 10 minutes or so. Get it good and hot with a lot of revs. Then park it, and look to see if there's any oil around the cylinder. Look between the fins, and up under the cylinder covers.

What TMack mentioned about the choke, yeah mine too. I always pull the choke out before I turn the key, and do so with no throttle at all. Give it about 10-15 seconds after she fires, and push it almost all the way in for another 5 seconds or so, then all the way in. Now you can give it throttle.

Thanks for your responses.

Regarding cold start, we actually didn't pull the choke.  I was going to do it and reached my hand, but the owner said it doesn't need it.  I think he was just trying to show his bike.  I'm more concerned about the battery not being able to crank a third time. (Thinking of my cars, I never had to, but I think they can crank 5~10 times no problem.)

Switching from 2nd to 3rd, I didn't have time to look at the speedometer, my speed was probably 20~30mph's. Come to think of it now, it probably makes sense it's a big engine and my rpm wasn't high enough.

I checked the engine for leaks carefully, the seals were clean, mostly white.  I didn't run the engine for 10 minutes, so there is a risk there.

I read about the carb tweak in these forums.  I think everything is stock so I can at least improve it.

let me make him an offer tonight.  let's see what he comes with.

PS: Anybody in the bay area, ca?

they were asking for ~$3300, but according to kbb there is some room to negotiate.  (I am thinking a fair price should be <$3000).

You've received some good advice from others, I would endorse all of it.  The bike does not come equipped with a tach, but one can be installed if you want it.  Just remember that it is a single and does its best work at lower RPM than duals; it will feel different when shifting but has tons of low-end torque, unlike the twins.

The starting/battery issue is real, but it can be influenced by the type of riding you do, particularly if it is biased toward short (1-5 mile) rides; that often isn't enough running time to fully recharge the battery from start.  Review the earlier discussion of battery issues.

If you plan longer rides that'll probably be fine; if not just plan on occasionally pulling the battery to trickle some into it from time to time.  Or consider installing one of the rigs mentioned in that earlier thread to make trickle charging easier.

My own battery (suffers from the short-run condition) OE lasted 2 years before it was trash, without trickle-charging.  If it still has the OE battery I'd suggest replacing it outright with a sealed cell battery just to avoid unnecessary issues.

Enjoy it; it sounds like it can serve you well.