When I bought mine I had no idea how easy it would be to maintain, so, I bought a new one. I wanted the warranty. If I had known then that this site existed & how much help was available & how easy the thing is to take care of, I would have bought a used one & saved a load O $$$. The $$$ saved would pay for all kinds of tools( You gonna need them anyway). A little dinky compressor & a 1/2" impact, a 3/8ths impact & air ratchet, a manual impact screwdriver( about $8.00 at Harbor freight) & some wrenches & allen wrenches & screwdrivers, feeler gauges, drain [pan & bucket for used oil. You can keep it on the road & have fun tinkering. Paladin is playing with fire IMO, the cam chain is one thing that just doesnt forgive a lack of maintenance.

Theres no "tupperware" to peel off to get to the engine. The plug is hard to get to unless a simple little mod is made to one of the upper chrome pieces, Some just remove them & enjoy the shape of the engine,
Its a great little bike, It rips across town. Its light & nimble, the low seat is comforting to me, since my seat is close to the ground, too.It can be puit on the road, very succesfully. One member took his from Florida, to Nevada or Arizona,, cant remember, North to Canada, East to New York & back South to Florida.
Its a sound design, IMO, if it was a flaky bike, it wouldnt still be being built after 20 some odd years.

Welcome aboard..

The only problem I've had is when my brand new 2007 underwent a new bike 'prep' by the dealer who promptly put the front axle spacers on in reverse! Careful buying a Suzuki from a 'Harley only' shop populated by those who consider spending anything less than $20,000 for a bike blasphemy.

Well let's see...
I bought my 05 used in 07 with 2400 mi. on it.
Took it immediately on a 12,000 mi. trip cross country, and ride it almost all the time!has 25,000 on it now!
I've only changed oil, pads and tires.
Don't let it (or ANY engine) run out of oil. That's pretty much the only way you can kill this thing.

I haven't even checked the cam chain, battery! or valves yet. (don't worry, I will)
It's a MACHINE! Treat it as such, and I'm sure it will act like one!
But it is a really reliable and pretty simple one at that.
Besides tinkering is half the fun. If you don't like that sort of thing there is always someone out there that will do it for you. (For a fee!)
Good rule of thumb is just have it checked and oiled ever 3 months or so, and, whatever comes up comes up! Take care of it and don't let things go.
Run it often!! (Which you said you would, so no problem!)
Any repair cost is not that bad. Comparatively. (read: Harley)

Am I sounding "Mechanically" yet? I could go on.......

Anyway, what I'm saying is: I love this bike! and, I would do anything for it!
Including fixing it!

Yes verslagen is right ... and here is addional things to worry about ...
The idiotic starter clutch mechanism.
And Peckerheads at suzuki will only sell the 80 tooth gear that always breaks with the starter clutch mechanism which never breaks ... yea, 165 bucks for the pack, 100 bucks of which you'd leave on your shelf ... never need it ... even on a 45K mile motor, the wear on the mating area on the gear was minimal.

Its a clear case of ... yea you need a rear tail light bulb ... oh, we only sell that along with the whole rear fender ... here you go, that will be 1500 bucks.
Cool.
Srinath.

I bought mine new in July as my first bike. Originally I figured somewhere own the road I would trade for something bigger. But the more I ride, the more I like my S40. I do plan on an Atlanta to Cleveland trip this summer to visit family. I will buy the Air Hawk seat cushion for this trip, since after a few hours my butt starts to numb.My next oil change I will do my cam chain tensioner mod so no more worries there.