I was recently looking for a new bike for my son and thought that the Suzuki s40 would be a perfect bike.  We went to the dealership and he ended up wanting a Yamaha V-Star 650 instead.  Probably an OK bike but 200 pounds heavier than the S40 and I felt it was too heavy for a first bike.  He told my son the S40 was not fast enough on the highway.  I found that pretty hard to believe, when I started driving bikes a 650 was considered a pretty big bike.


Anyway after sitting on the S40 I decided to buy one after Christmas as I really like the bike.  Has anyone here owned a XT500 or a Triumph 500?

I was wondering how the Suzuki compares with those bikes as I owned
them before and found them quite adaquate on the highway.

Thanks

Flint,

The Yamaha V-Star 650 twins are very popular and have great resale value. I owned one about 3 years ago and was able to sell it on Craig's List a year later for $350.00 more than I paid for it.

I found the V-Star too heavy for the amount of horsepower that it had and it was especially difficult to back up. If you must have a V Twin get a Honda that is liquid cooled and over all a better machine then the V-Star. The V-Star has a terrible clutch for a beginning rider.

That being said, and me being at least a half of a century older than your son, I have trouble on the highway keeping it under 70 MPH. I am still breaking in the S40 so I am intentionally trying to keep the RPMs down.

Other than lowering the handlebar risers, and jacking up the seat, and drilling out the infamous brass plug in the carburetor my S40 is stock. I find the handling to be excellent at low speeds and absolutely rock steady at highway speeds.

The S40 is a great bike for a beginner because of it's light weight and easy handling characteristics. When your son moves on to something with more horsepower you will probably keep the S40 for yourself. LOL  

Kenny G

Kenny G wrote on 12/22/14 at 17:32:19:


Hi Kenny,
After looking over the S40 and sitting on it I decided to buy one for myself after the Christmas holidays.  

Flint,

A very wise decision.

Only one problem, what are you going to do when the kid wants to ride it?

Justin,

You are a real gentleman, slowing down for the cool guys to catch up. LOL  

Kenny G

I am going to let him take my XT250 to do his motorcycle course with.  He ended up not getting any bike.  His older brother has an Army surplus Kawasaki 250 he can borrow as well

How old are you Flint? I brought an S40 new some four years ago. I'm 65 and have loved every dry minute I've spent on it, I have a somewhat different attitude to wet minutes. An unofficial survey run on this site showed the bulk of Savage/S40 riders to be 40 to 74 year old males, there seems to be a good few ladies but they're probably a minority. As others have pointed out, these bikes are nimble and quick enough for those who don't demand 90 mph continuous performance. The stock rear tyres are a minor short coming, but you will be replacing the rear at 5 to 6 thousand miles anyway. Ive made only one three thousand odd mile trip and my bike kept comfortable pace with everyone else in the group, and everyone else had bigger more powerful bikes, ok we were only travelling in the 60 to 70 range most of the time. We did 75 occasionally and three of us , two on flash and much more expensive, larger Triumphs hit 80 or so one day, grossly illegal where I live. Critcsism  they are a butt riveter on a long haul, but the short fuel range allows you to stretch your legs. Opinion on what you people call super slab performance is divided. We only have two to five lane blacktop so I can't comment. You will enjoy this machine and it's not compulsory to bob, chop, rat,brat or do anything else. The beautiful chrome head covers  look sexy in the minds of many and are an enhancement to middle aged to elderly fantasies.

I have no idea how accurate this information is - but I found this chart that has information on a lot of bikes:
http://www.mcnews.com/mcn/technical/200801perfindex.pdf

It shows the following:              LS650              V-Star
HP                                          24.6                  33.4
Torque                                    30.5                  35.4
O-60                                      6.98                  7.82
1/4 time                                15.30                 15.82
1/4 speed                              81.1                   82.1
Weight                                  390                    535
pounds per hp                      15.85                 16.02

The chart shows the single is faster off the line - but the twin gains a bit of speed advantage at the end of the quarter mile (although the twin is still half a second behind the single).  The twin is 37% heavier than the single.....and the chart really can't give you an idea how much more nimble the Savage is than the V-Star.

Flint,

I Rest My Case!

Dave,

Thank You!
As a wise man once said, "The Proof Is In The Pudding".

Kenny G