I rode my Rebel all over for 2 years before
buying my Suzuki S-40.
It was a great lil bike and never left me stranded
or gave me any mechanical problems.
IF I was going to downsize I would look at the Rebel again
as like I said, it was a great bike and mechanical sound. At
least mine was..
Happy hunting and keep us posted.. kim

My 1st Bike was a CMX250 Rebel (an '85 that I bought back in 2002) and I've Ridden the V-Star 250 and would have to say that the V-Star was, IMHO, the better of the two by far ...

That said, the Savage/S40 is a faaaaaaaaaar better choice than either the Rebel or the 250 Virago/V-Star ... more torque, more usable power, totally noob friendly, physically not much larger than either of the aforementioned 250s and less than 50 lbs heavier ... most LS650 Riders would not need to downgarde to a 250cc Cruiser ...

The fellows in this area that are downsizing from their 900 pound cruisers and tourers......are getting Burgmans, and they love them!  I thing the Burgman is still 600 pounds....but the weight is very low.

I have a female freind whose husband rides a big cruiser and she had a Yamaha 250 scooter and has taken week long rides with him and had no trouble keeping up.  Most recently she upgraded to a Burgman and they did Yellowstone and Yosemite.

Pallidan on this site now rides a scooter........they can be great transportation for when you want to downsize.

MMRanch wrote on 12/09/13 at 12:37:28:


Yes, I got on face book and was talking to a lot of the CCW folks, they are like the savage/s40 group.... dedicated to the greatness of the small frame single piston engine. But the Heist (bobber ccw), looses power in the hills and in windy conditions, great for country roads, but not interslab.
I am probably going to buy a used savage, (been offered one, will take him up on it when Harley sells) and strip it down to nothing (motor and frame) and look for plastic fender replacements, aluminum brackets and mounts...ect...ect.... skim it to its lightest possible weight.
And then, I will make brackets and add-on capabilities to travel that will be removable at the destination so it will become a light weight around towner again.
I realize the savage is already considered a light weight girly bike, but with my disability I want it lighter yet and will strive to get it "right". Like I have said many times before.... I still haven't found that comfortable sneaker that I would refuse to stop wearing.....

I had a Burgman 650 and it weighs the same as my V Star 1100, balance is way different between the two. After riding either the Burgman or V Star makes the S40 feels like a toy. When I got back into riding, I looked at the different 250s and they are all real close to the same weight as the S40. Best way to put the S40 on a diet is to turn it into a bobber

OR,

Glad to hear that the Harley sold.  Good luck with the S40.  You know you'll be able to keep it going with no trouble.  I like your idea about removable travel stuff.  That would be really nice to get where you're going and have a bike instead of a hauler to ride around.

I test sat a V-star 250 at the shop one day.  Felt super heavy compared to the Savage.  The weight is higher up. I also felt very cramped on it and the rebel where I feel fine on the Savage.

I'll be interested in seeing how you handle the attachables...might have to borrow a few ideas for myself.

My next one will be a used VLX600 if I can find a clean one. I like MY Savage just fine, other than the electrical system, but... I really miss riding a V Twin with chain final drive. I'd prefer a Kawasaki VN800 (A or Drifter, Classics are just engine donors) but clean ones are going for the same money as a VN1500 Classic in comparable condition.