I  go on reserve at about 135 miles.

I sure appreciate the responses.

My wife just got a rebel and I must say after doing a quick maintenance that it's absolutely simple to work on and a breeze to check the valves. I didnt go any faster than 55 on the test drive of her bike but I found the torque very nice on take off (almost comparable to the ninja). Looking in the mirror, I noticed the cars behind me fade quickly as I pulled away from them at the light. I dont know how her bike performs at higher speeds but at low speeds I was completely satisfied.

If the S40 has considerable more grunt at low speeds than the rebel, I'm sure it will it will win points there.

The determining factors of buying an S40 will likely toss around in my mind for the next  couple of weeks, contemplating fuel economy, valve adjustments and the mentioned cylinder head retorquing (not liking that part).

In the rebel service manual, I didnt see anything about cylinder head retorquing. Hate to say it but as far as fuel economy goes the rebel scores searious points there from what I'm reading.

I don't mind turning wrenches and I'm competent in that area but I don't have a garage so open engine wrenching needs to be quick... I wont miss the ninja. It's a great bike but those valve adjustments alone are the main reason I'm getting rid of it. It's simply a pain in the rear to do (especially if a gust of wind stirs up dirt and the rushing and cussing starts).   This is what's also keeping me from buying a much larger cc bike. Although I hear somebody makes a bike with hydraulic valves.  

Maintenance as far as cables, chains/belts, oil changes etc is normally fun stuff and allows the owner time to appreciate and bond with the bike. Valve adjustments on the other hand can cause an owner to get rid of the bike if it ends up taking hours to do (ninja).

Anyhoo, thanks for the replies and YES you are a great bunch of guys

Suzuki makes two 250 singles.  The GZ250 and the TU250.  I'm wondering why they put a two into one exhaust on an engine that they describe as "single cylinder, SOHC, 2-valve engine with Twin Dome Combustion Chamber (TDCC)"?

The photos look like the engines on the two bikes use the same bottom end with different cylinders and heads.

I talked to a few bike owners before buying my first bike, my 07 S40. EVERY one of them said to start out with no less than a 500 as you will outgrow it soon. I've very glad I did and jumped on the S40.

Fuel mileage. I did great before the muffler/jet change. I was getting about 65 mpg. Speed also seems to effect it quit a lot. If I do 70 or above, it sucks the gas. I hit 98 miles and had to hit the reserve, the engine died on the highway. Came back to life after hitting the reserve. If I keep my speeds below 70, it does quite  bit better. My normal drving, I fill up every 100 miles.

Most big v-twin riders will say the Savage is a starter bike, but in my opinion the rebel is more of a starter bike than the Savage. I used to own a '85 Rebel 250 when I was a teenager, I outgrew it within a couple of months.

depends on how you define beginner, for me the intimidation of motorcycles was that I couldn't reach the ground on most of them, unless they were very small, rebel size, but I couldn't convince myself to spend 4 years paying off a rebel, so thankfully suzuki makes this s-40 thing, it's great!  best starter bike out there, has some power so you don't feel like you need to upgrade right away, I've had a s-40 for a year now and I could handle a bigger bike now, and I want a bigger bike, but I don't NEED a bigger bike, this bike fits me like a glove, a sportster pushes my comfort a little since I can reach the ground but not flat foot, well not really, but I've ridden a victory vegas and that's just a cool bike, but I wouldn't want to learn on one when you have to stop just cause something doesn't feel right, it's a bit harder when you have to reach for all the controls

My daughter got a Rebel about seven or eight years ago when she was in high school.

I rode it a bit and liked it....nice and smooth.  However, I noticed that my knees hit the handlebars in tight turns(!)  I'm 5' 10" with a 32" inseam.....not a real big guy.

For a male adult beginner, I think the Savage is a better starter bike than is the Rebel by far!