The wife finally got to ride her S40, her only complaint was the reach to grab the clutch and brake levers.  She has very small hands and it is a bit of a reach for her.   Are there any direct replacement levers that are less of a stretch?

You may have a few options....you will need to do a bit of research.

The Master cylinders on most Japenese bikes are made by the same company.  They tend to have the same pivot bolt size, same leverage distances to the pivot point and caliper piston - however the length of the lever can change to match the bike.  Sport bikes tend to have really long lever - dirt bikes really short ones.

You may be able to find a brake lever for a different model of bike that will work on the Savage....and maybe it will be one that is adjustable.  It is surprising how similar the mounting point and brake light actuators are similar.  I will look at my Ninja 250 tonight and see if the lever will be interchangeable....a few years of Ninja 500's are adjustable and will interchange with the Ninja 250.  The clutch lever will be harder to find a match....a lot of bikes are using hydraulic clutches now.

You can heat the levers and take some of the bend out of them.  Take the levers off and clean the oil/grease off of them.  Then put a stripe of bar soap on the levers, and heat them just until the soap turns black.  This is the point where the aluminum is annealed and will bend easily without breaking.  Carefully take some of the curve out, and then let the lever cool to harden.  It would be good if you made a pattern of he original shape - and the estimated final shape you want...being careful to leave enough room for adequate travel.  For the brake lever you should pull the stock lever hard and see how far the lever is from the handlebar when the brake is applied fully - this will give you an idea how much room you have to work with. After bending put the lever on and check the fit and actuation....adjust if needed.  The aluminum will harden partially harden again once cool...and supposedly will regain the original hardness in a few days/week.

I will check the Ninja brake lever and let you know.  Don't buy the aftermarket cheap levers from BikeMaster.....I bought one and took it back as the pivot point bushing was over sized and the lever wobbled up and down like it would if the thing was worn out.    

I can solve one hand....the left hand.  My wife had the same issue and the biggest challenge came in operating the clutch smoothly and not ending up with a sore thumb from rolling her hand forward to stretch for the clutch.  We tried to adjust the clutch with more play to bring the lever (and feather point) closer to the grip but that leads to not fully engaging the clutch and makes for tough shifting which is hard on everything.

Here is how we fixed that.  I ride many bikes one of which I had just put new grips on.  My old ones were smooth black ones.  All my bikes have 7/8" bars.  What one needs to remember is the throttle side of a bike is always 1/8" bigger than the clutch side.  So my grips I had just taken off were 7/8" and 1" inside diameter.  They were from a sport touring bike so they were smaller outside diameter than cruiser grips usually are.  That last point is key.

Now S40 bars are 1" and then the throttle side is 1-1/8" id.  This is typical of cruisers.  That combined with the typically larger OD of grip leads to some very big grips for little hands.  

What I did then was to take the throttle grip from my sport touring bike (which would have a 1" ID) and slide it on the clutch side of the S40 which like I said has a 1" bar so it fit beautifully.  It was smooth black and no end on it since the Triumph has bar ends so I just popped the stock S40 end cap on step 1 is done!  It is smaller in OD than the throttle side but looking at the bike you never see it.

Now step 2.  Since the grip is smaller a small hand can reach further around and past it out to the lever.  That is win #1.  Win #2 and step #2 is to adjust the free play in the clutch cable.  Where I said above you get hard shifting because your don't fully engage the clutch doesn't happen at the same point now.  It did with the stock grip because it is larger in OD and limits how far you can pull the lever.  With the smaller OD grip it allows you to pull the lever farther making up for the added play you put in the cable.  Win #2!.

So basically you give her a smaller grip and this allows for better reach and couple that with a longer lever throw allows you to put a little more play in the lever to bring the feather point back just a little but you still have the stroke for full clutch engagement for smooth shifting.  Combined we had a very successful mod!  

She then proceeded to put 6500 miles on last summer!

let me know if you have any questions

I have yet to find "small" grips for 1" bars which is what most cruisers run.  What I used on my wife's bike was the throttle side grip of the Pro Grips 780 superbike grip set  PG780bBX.

http://motorcycle.chaparral-racing.com/racing/Pg780bx

I put the throttle side grip on the clutch side of the S-40 and left the S-40 throttle stock.  It is larger diameter but she doesn't have any issue with the brake.  The larger throttle will lead to less hand fatigue on long rides.

That's great news, Dave. My brother in law has an aluminum plate in his skull and is having trouble with getting a hat to fit. I Have a torch and rubber mallet, And, his birthday is coming up soon.
I think I'm gonna take him camping and surprise him.