Hello, I am new to suzukisavage.com.  I had a GZ250 (and loved it) but wanted a bit more power so I moved to a 2005 S40.  I have been riding the S40 for a couple of months now.

I have a question about the feel of the ride.  There are times when I feel that the bike has a push/pull feel to it.  It is usually when I am cruising along without a load on the engine.  So, is it just that I am at that point where I am in the middle of acel/decel?  Have others felt this?  I did not feel this with my GZ250 but now I have more power and belt drive.  I am just wondering if this is how the big single 650 behaves.  

I do a lot of back road riding.  I often go where ever the wind takes me.  I also use Google Maps, switching between the terrain & map view to find interesting roads to ride on.

In any case, I am having a lot of fun with my S40.  I mounted a Garmin Quest GPS in the center of the handlebars.  I used a RAM mount frankensteined to a Garmin Nuvi motorcycle mount and it is easier to see the speed on the GPS.  I also chose one of my display settings as the trip odometer so it always shows my trip mileage (handy).  I put a new battery in the Quest and It does run for a long time before it needs charging (I don't know that it lasts 20 hrs on the aftermarket battery but I can get 3 or 4  trips of 3-4 hrs before recharging).  So, I do not need to wire it for power.  My quest was about $65 on ebay and the new battery was $25.

I relocated the turn signals to the license plate mount and I use a set of small TourMaster saddlebags.  Those are my only changes.  I get about 55-60 mpg (not as much as the 68 mpg that the GZ250 got but very respectable with the greater amount of power).

I hope to get a wide angle lens adapter for my flash camcorder and mount that for a few of the rides I take.

I custom made my saddlebag mounting bars and I will have some pictures and text on that soon.

Well, that's all for now. Hello, again, hello.
Don

I'd recommend a fork brace.  The forks are a bit whippy and the brace make them feel more solid.  Especially over uneven road surfaces.

npcrs40 wrote on 05/29/10 at 17:34:42:


That sounds very similar to my experience. If it is the same, it's called "lean hunting". Read up on the "white spacer mod".

-D. Dwarf

Your problem is engine related (surging) caused buy a lean fuel condition, typical of these bikes. In my experience, the white spacer mod fixed it perfectly. But the white spacer mod will do nothing for the backfiring,......which is also typical of these bikes,....despite what some here will tell you. If the backfire is severe, it can be improved upon, but eliminating it completely, is near impossible.

If you do the spacer mod, be very careful that you don't ruin those 2 little philip head screws trying to get them out,....sometimes very tight. A small impact driver from HF is reported to work good on this. If not, use a good fitting driver, and lots of body weight.

Yeah, the dimple goes DOWN.