I posted earlier, but don't know if it ended up here...

Anyway, I am thinking of buying an '01 Savage with about 10,000 miles. How long do these things realistically last with proper mainenance and a calm rider? I don't see too many people sell or talk about their bikes with 20,000 miles, and most are well under that. Does the single cylinder have a tendency to die out? Anyway, just curious before I drop almost $2000 on a bike. I'd like to have it for another ten or twenty thousand miles... Is this possible?

True on the price--it is sixteen. The site I went to said that 1800 would be a "midrange." Does that seem accurate? Any other recommended sites?

clean '01 at $1600 sounds quite reasonable -

have you ridden a bike much before?

Yes, 60 to 65mph for about an hour or so is reasonable. There are in fact several members here who have done cross country trips without any problems.

I myself am 6 foot 254 lbs but with a set of homemade forward controls all is good. A member here by the name of Ed L makes forward controls for these bikes at a very reasonable price if you decide you need more leg room, but as you say, that is up to the individual rider on whether it will be needed.

Fantastic picture. Thanks for the replies. I am looking into using the bike as a daily commuter, which would entail about thirty miles a day roundtrip during the week and one hundred and twenty or so roundtrip once on the weekend on a smaller state highway. I definitely feel a lot better about finding out more on this bike! Thanks again all... Keep any comments coming.

We hear alot of people say that they wanted to start off on this bike, then get something bigger.  Well most of us fall in Savage Love.  I still enjoy looking at and maybe dreaming about a bigger bike, but when it comes down to it, I love my S40, and don't want anything else.
 
They are easy to customize, plenty of things to add or do to it.  We have a saying around here that you are only limited by your imagination!  You have to be creative though, because we are not "catered to" by aftermarket parts companies.  Its not an HD... wink, wink.  But we've found alot of things that work!

And this site is full of some of the best "mechanics" you'll ever find.  Some are good with one thing and others are good at something else.  Throw us all together, and we have a whopper of a little bike!

Oh, we have alot of fun here too.  So stick around!  

I'm 6' 240lbs, I've got a 25 mile one way commute, I hop on the freeway and fly to work where it's shut off smokin'.  I did that on my 1st savage for 46,000 miles and going to break it down and replace the cam chain, piston and bore it out.  Whilst I progress on that, I've gotten another savage and have 30,000 on it.  You will need to check the cam chain after 20,000 miles.

I bought my 2007 s40 with 800miles on it for about $3200.  I think you can find a better deal.  

I bought mine with intention of upgrading to a larger bike later this year.  I knew nothing of s40/savage, other than the fact that it was the most comfortable bike I sat on.

Now the fun suprises... s40/savage is super simple, tough, good bikes.  I already started doing modifications and plan on many more this year (myself).  This was not in the plan, as I am mechanically challenged, and normally let the mechanics do all the work on my car.  Now, having seen the cost of tune up ($300-$700 wtf!), oilchanges ($80) at the local bike shop... and seeing how simple my bike is... I'll do all of them myself, and do it right.  

If the bike is a good fit (assuming you are not 400lbs, 6'5"), you will be very pleased with the decision to go with the savage.