Hey,

Currently a yamaha XV250 rider, geared up nicely, finding suspension weak (near 20k miles) and motor a bit weak in hills, but nice light fun bike. I've been riding a Suz Bandit 600 and a Suz VStrom 650 in the last decade. The S40 I'm looking at isn't registered and I've got to buy it w/o a test ride, it has 1k miles.

What change should I expect with the S40? Is the suspension pretty good on bumpy roads? Can I pass on rural roads at 60 mph ok? Should I stick to stock machines for sale (1 for sale has a harley pipe and an aftermarket carb)? Not planning anything but buzzing or thumping around the countryside.

Thanks

Ted

Rear shocks are terrible, swap them out for 800 Intruder versions. Front fork is very soft, drop the tubes out and add enough oil to bring it level with the spring tops.

Passing on rural roads is no problem, the bike will do 80 all day if the carburetor is behaving and you don't have a massive windshield stealing power.

The seat needs work.

Savage/S40 is a nearly ideal back road bike. Switch the tires out for 90/90-19 front and 130/90-15 rear to improve the handling. A 140/90-15 rear is optimal if you want the speedometer to read correctly.

It is a terrible highway bike. Mainly due to excessive oil consumption at sustained over 55mph speeds. It is also lightweight enough that the air wall from a full sized pickup truck can blow you around in the lane.

For your stated planned use, it is a good choice.

This bike is no hotrod... but, it will feel twice as strong as your 250...
...and it will hold 75mph over most hills...
You won't even worry about hills...

Downshift to 4th gear and it will pull 80mph up hill...
...Unless you ride up cliffs... ...

But just reemphasize... it ain't a hotrod.... There are bikes with 5 times more power...  
I don't know why anybody would need that much, but they are out there...
This bike will do any legal speed on any road... and then some...

The torque factor of the S40 is good you shouldn't need to work your gearbox too hard even in twisties, but like the others said, don't expect to compete with large sport road bikes and you also have a small fuel capacity, officially 2.64 US gals. Ive ridden mine about 23000 miles and very much enjoy it.

Since my last bike was a 650 VStrom before the little xv250, I was spoiled regarding suspension. Man I love the size of the little bike for just tooling around....if it just had a better ability to pass and hold hills I'd be good. Any idea what mpg will be? The Strom was 59ish, the xv250 around 70....maybe mid-50s?

I prob ought to go to a dealership and try one out prior to buying though.

Thanks to responders. This is a great forum. Really neat to see a lot of people that just like to ride these little machines. I've tried a few big cruisers and they just seem boring (unless you're touring).