Tara,
I think you hit it when you said the S40/savage feels right and you feel comfortable on it. You made the right choice signing up for the riders course. The 125's or 250's they use will be about the same size and weight of the S40/Savage. The biggest difference will be the more robust torque of the S40/Savage. You will learn to deal with that in just a few starts and it is really a good thing since it is almost impossible to stall a S40.

The speedometer placement is not ideal plus the turn signal indicators are built into the speedometer which is even worse. You will get used to it.

Just my 2 cents and good luck in the course and keep us posted. By the way, my first bike was a S40.

Good hunting

Tara,
Every bike is different but there are no true "quirks" in the bike. The rear drum brake can get kind of grabby. It is a single cylinder bike with a carb, not fuel injected, so you will get some pops from back fire when shutting down and shifting, nothing major.

There are two common issues due to design shortfalls, a rubber head plug that can leak oil and the cam chain tensioner that can fail in a most dramatic way. Both are easily fixed and there is a wealth of documentation on this site. other than that, they are basically bullet proof. One member here just turned 100,000 miles.

Good hunting

Welcome to the Forum!

Personally I don't think there is a better first bike commonly available at any price. I think Blinky nailed it with the comment on the torque. The savage has enough "ummmfff" so you can miss a shift, and generally be "wrong" with the gas and clutch and she still will rumble through the traffic light.

As to quirks:
shifting to 5th - on my bike shifting to fifth is "odd", its like  a "half-step" instead of a good solid step out of fourth.
Brakes squeal... mostly the front.. but both
The "fart"- If you end up in slow traffic, and "lugging" the bike much, the bike will backfire just going down the rode. Its embarrassing, but meh.
The "after-run backfire"... several things line up to cause the Savage to backfire when being shutdown. I have learned a series of steps to eliminate it:
Come to a stop
pull the choke out either half or full till the rpms drop
quickly hit the kill switch

The savage has a high idle rpm ( and requires it for proper oiling), it also fires the sparkplug every rotation. This allows for hot gases to be ignited in the exhaust.

Seat is not comfortable on long trips.
Seat dips into the tank too much, use the rubber stopper trick to make it more level.
Handle bars were too low to suit me. Risers really made it comfortable.
Vacume operated petcock can cause various issues, including fuel starvation at interstate speeds for long periods of time, switch to Raptor.
Any bike with a wet clutch will pose issues for obtaining oil. We have "oil wars here.
The rear end is very llight... this is good and bad. I don't like to ride on the interstate for long as the roads here are bad and the bike is easily tossed about in 70+ speeds. (but smooth as silk up to 60/65)

Not much to add that hasn't already been well said by Blinky other than I just got a 2012 back in March and I absolutely love it. The second bonus is the wealth of knowledge on this site. It is true that with a couple of modifications and the right oil this bike can last a very long time with much lesser chance of mechanical failures than other bikes.

As they say, if the shoe fits then wear it and it sounds like it fits well.  

paulmarshall wrote on 06/14/13 at 12:00:10:

Yep

Suzuki did make a Savage/S40 with a colour scheme deliberately targeted at the female market. You will find that the Savage /S40 can be backed into places easily, as it's light and the low seat height makes it easy for you to push it backwards. Because of the torque you can choose whether to use the gearbox or do most of your highway riding in fifth. A long ride, 300 miles plus, may rivet your backside, but there are seat pads and aftermarket seats which help combat this. Some on this forum have altered the stock seat to suit themselves. You must also be aware that your main fuel is good for 110 to 120 miles at best, the reserve is good for about 20 miles. I thoroughly enjoy mine and don't intend replacing it unless I win Lotto and then I'd keep it anyway.

I don't see how you can go wrong...like everyone else has said.

It's got PLENTY of pull.  Just twist the throttle.  It's well behaved. The balance is good. It's light enough and the center of gravity is low enough that pretty much anyone can pick it up. And, it is big enough to enjoy riding it all over the place.  You won't learn to ride it and then almost immediately say I want something bigger.

You've got at least half the battle won by finding the bike that fits you well and you feel comfortable with it. Only thing worse than having to ride a bike that you hate is having no bike to ride. And, that might be debatable.

Love my Savage.  Wish it were a little more comfortable for long rides and maybe a little longer (more room) when riding two-up but it's a great bike.

Anything you want to know about the Savage, someone here knows it and will be glad to help you out.  

As for quirks...mine always looks like it's begging me to ride it whenever it is sitting in the driveway.  It just looks so lonely.  It likes to go "poof" when you kill the engine.  They sometimes develop rattles but the solutions for all those are available right here. Nothing major.

Enjoy the class.  Learn everything you can.  It will put you on a great footing for your first biking experiences.  Good luck, have fun.