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I was at a dealer that sells Yamaha, Kawasaki and now Suzuki. I was slightly surprized by suzuki's S40 (650 cc's) single cylinder bike.

The handle bars were so narrow (I'm 5'10 and normal build), I felt it was for someone 5'6 or smaller. The reason I was so shocked was the handle bars on a Honda Shadow 650 or Kawasaki vulcan acutally fit a average size person with a v-twin engine.

This Suzuki S40 fly's a bit in the face of th 500'cc's for begnners concept when it won't even fit a average size guy. It was like trying to ride your little brothers bicycle. My God it was a 650 not a 400 and a single cylinder at that.

Suzuki should be ashamed of the S40 and its lack of everything. Compared to most of their other bikes of ok to good feature and quality it stood out like a sore thumb.

I'm I the only one that see's it as lemon or are there some redeeming value's? Other than the belt drive.

It must have some redeeming values as the sell all they make. Perhaps it is for somebody of lesser stature.

There is also something to be said for single cylinder motorcycles. I'd love to find an old 500cc BSA Gold Star or even a Yamaha SR500. So cool!

I'm not looking for a bike like that, but - made for 5'6" person? Great!

I was considering financing an S40 when I was looking for a first bike. And I too was surprised at how small it was when I saw one in person at a dealer.

But I think it has some good feaures, like the belt drive. Plus the fact that its air-cooled single is pretty low maintenance.

The Savage (now S40) is a 650cc engine dropped into a 250cc size cruiser frame. If you're too big for a 250cc size bike, avoid it.

The big single has a lot of the retro-coolness thing going on. Try and think of the S40 as a more reliable Royal Enfield. Chuck Hawks explains the appeal: "A big single feels as if it kicks you about ten feet down the road with each power pulse from the engine thumping beneath you. When you twist the throttle open, you don't accelerate with the turbine like thrust of a modern multi; the thumps just occur in more rapid succession and the chunks of road whiz by faster."
http://www.chuckhawks.com/enfield_bullet.htm

flw wrote:I was at a dealer that sells Yamaha, Kawasaki and now Suzuki. I was slightly surprized by suzuki's S40 (650 cc's) single cylinder bike.

The handle bars were so narrow (I'm 5'10 and normal build), I felt it was for someone 5'6 or smaller. The reason I was so shocked was the handle bars on a Honda Shadow 650 or Kawasaki vulcan acutally fit a average size person with a v-twin engine.

This Suzuki S40 fly's a bit in the face of th 500'cc's for begnners concept when it won't even fit a average size guy. It was like trying to ride your little brothers bicycle. My God it was a 650 not a 400 and a single cylinder at that.

Suzuki should be ashamed of the S40 and its lack of everything. Compared to most of their other bikes of ok to good feature and quality it stood out like a sore thumb.

I'm I the only one that see's it as lemon or are there some redeeming value's? Other than the belt drive.

Odd, the bike's design is now 20 odd years old. And remains virtually unchanged except for the addition of a 5th speed in the gearbox. It's a single cylinder 650cc bike that is amazing for a first time rider who is interested in a cruiser and isn't a supersized North American.

Remember, just because it isn't something you want doesn't mean no one else wants it. It's been selling well for 20+ years (originally the LS650 Savage) and will continue to do well.

The S40 is a top selling bike for Suzuki, its designed as a beginner or a womans bike, its very easy to ride and it has great power for its size. What you guys don't know for the past 5 years 3/4 of the sales are to new riders, to beginners that never been on a bike before. Suzuki sees that market and keeps making the bikes that sell. If ur a returning customer, Suzuki doesn't care about you, the last sales figures I seen is less than 15% of the current Suzuki owners upgrade and buy another Suzuki. Thats the reason why ur treated like dirt when you return to the dealer after you purchaced a bike.

Don't know if price is a factor but check out the Suzuki Intruder. Fits a small frame well and has good seat height. Lots and lots of power. A fun bike to ride.
((Word to the wise. The bike is hard to work on. Tank must be removed to change the plugs and the battery holder really sucks ))