I will be purchasing a 2011 Suzuki 240 Boulevard on Saturday morning.  When I looked at it last Sat. it looked like new (5K miles) and it seemed to run great and very solid.  However I have a few questions.

Info about me that may help.  I have ridden since I was 14 years old, and am now 67. I have owned many bikes since high school when I worked for a Honda dealer.  My most recent bikes (last 30 years) have been BMW's.  A 1968 R50/2 (purchased when 15 years old, and fully rebuilt), a 1974 R90/6 (purchased when about 15 years old, but only needed partial rebuild - heads, pistons, etc.) and lastly, a 1978 R100/7.  All ran great.  The first two sold about 20 years ago (had small kids, and didn't want them to grow up without a dad!).  Last one purchased 4 to 5 years ago, and sold 2 weeks ago, due to the fact that I was getting old and the bike, though it ran great, was just too much for me to handle - the weight, and high seat size - getting on was a chore.

Now I want to purchase this Suzuki, and have a few concerns:

Are there any engineering problems, and or issues that should get my attention right away?  Are there any problems that keep recurring?

Where is the best place to purchase parts - aside from my local dealer which I don't like already!  I would rather purchase off Internet if reliable.

I would like to raise seat height, and maybe even move pegs and shifter and brake pedals back about 3 to 4 inches (I am a machinist, and should be able to manufacture items to do this if I need to).

Is there an aftermarket tachometer that will work on this bike.  I am a tach person rather than a speedometer person.

I am sure I will have a lot of questions in the future, but this is good enough for now.

Thanks in advance,

Piedmont Buckeye - Go BUCKS!!!

Generally they are reliable bikes - but they do have some quirks that can be addressed.

Petcock - The stock petcock is vacuum operated.  The ethanol fuel can cause the diaphragm to become stiff - or get holes in it.  When it fails it can cause all kinds of weird symptoms, and folks will go looking in all directions for electrical or carb problems that don't exist.  Some folks can run a long time on the stock petcock, others can fail pretty quickly.  The most reliable fix is to install a genuine Yamaha petcock from a 660 Raptor, and then it becomes a manual operated petcock.  Others folks prefer the vacuum one - and they need to be aware that you can identify the problem as being the petcock by removing the vacuum hose and plugging both ends - then switch the petcock to PRI.  If the problem goes away, it confirms the petcock is causing the problem.  You can also be prepared for this scenario by putting a rubber vacuum cap and a golf tee in your tool kit.

There is a rubber head plug over the left front cylinder stud.  This plug eventually starts to leak oil and make a dribbly mess.  You must then take the head cover off and fix it - and Verslagen makes and aluminum one with O-rings that is a permanent fix.

The cam chain tensioner is over zealous, and can result in the cam chain stretching/wearing too fast.  You need to check yours at about 10,000 miles, and get an understanding on how your riding style is affecting the cam chain.  Short trips result in faster wear than longer trips.  Verslagen makes a modified adjuster that has an additional hole you can use to double the life of your chain, and it has a pin and slot to prevent the engine damaging failure that can occur if the plunger comes out of the tensioner body.

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1366651397

Unless you're really short moving the pegs and controls back 3" or 4" is going to leave you really cramped. You would definitely need to build the seat up. Here's a site you can explore some rainy day when you can't go riding.

http://diymotorcycleseat.com/

Welcome to the forum!

Thumpers do tend to vibrate and the license plates tend to crack near the bolts because of this. It would probably be a good idea to isolate the plate with rubber to keep from losing it.