suzuki S40

[MarkRB]

My wife and I are looking to buy each of us a bike. We have not had a bike in 30 years. We will taking the safty course. We will be doing mostly local riding on back roads (we live in the country) but a highway or two are not out of the question. Our poket book is not huge either so we are looking at the Suzuki Boulevard S40. I am just over two hundred pounds (being a gentleman I will not say what my wifes weighs but she weighs a lot less then me). We have sat on the S40 and we each felt comfortable on it. My concern is the power and I hear it backfires a lot. I know this may have been a question asked lots already but any help would be great. Thanks.

[jstark47]

The S40 makes around 30 horsepower. If you don't feel the need to out-accelerate traffic or cruise at very high speeds, 30 horsepower is more than adequate to move 200 lbs along at a nice clip.

Backfiring due to lean mixture is apparently a bane of the S40 and its predecessor the Savage. Here is an entry on a Suzuki Savage forum explaining the problem and its solution. You can find a lot more like it by Googling.

[Wordherder]

Heh. Your story sounds very much like ours. After passing the MSF, we picked up our licenses and headed to the dealer looking for a nice used bike. My wife fell in love with a new red S40, and we bought it on the spot (gotta love that middle-aged credit).

It’s a great bike: nimble, quick and easy to handle. It’s easy to work on, with all the parts pretty much out in plain view or easy to access (haven’t had much cause to work on it so far, other than installing saddlebags, pulling the battery for winter, changing the oil & whatnot.). It sits low to the ground, so my 5’3”, 100-lb. wife -- and her 225-lb husband with his stumpy basset-hound legs -- can comfortably flat-foot at the stoplights. It’s got lots of get-up-and-go and moves me around just fine, but that big single gets buzzy at >65 mph. It’s fine for a short sprint on the slab to get out of town to where the fun roads are, but you won’t want to take it cross-country.

Yeah, the S40 backfires, typically on deceleration. The mixture is intentionally set way lean to lower emissions. There are various fixes; instructions are easy to find and don't seem particularly difficult. However, my wife has gotten used to the occasional bang, and actually finds it kind of endearing. (It may be she just doesn’t trust me monkeying around with the carb on her bike.) On the plus side, it certainly lets the cagers know you’re there.

After a (very) short time, the wife decided that the S40 was hers, and didn’t like sharing because it cut into her riding time. I ended up with the S50, the v-twin. It was too much bike for my experience level at the time. Were I going to do it over, I’d have gotten a second S40 to learn my chops on, then traded up.

Every once in a while, I take her S40 out for a cruise simply because it’s such a blast to ride. I’d recommend it highly.

Sorry for the long essay. Best of luck, and enjoy whatever ride you end up with!

[MarkRB]

Thanks to both of you for input. We are leaning toward the S40, maybe the Vulcan 500, haven't realy looked at that yet. But first the Learners test then the safty course. One thing I hope to do with my bike; I am an artist, landscapes mostly and a bike would alow me to pull over to spots to do a sketch or small painting my truck just will not allow. We can't wait to get on the road. Thanks again.

[flw]

I'm a bit confused, are you both going to ride the same bike or are you looking at two of the same bikes?

The other two bikes worth looking at are the VLX Honda which is a V-twin but similar in engine size to the S40. The other is one you mentioned the Vulcan 500 LTD. They all have the "no long ride issue with seats" issue but the Honda and Vulcan are smoother than the S40 due the single piston issue in the S40. They are also bigger in the seat and handle bars for those greater than 5'6''. There is only so much that can be done to smooth out a single piston bike. The other two both have 2 pistons. Vulcan costing the least and the Honda the most in that general size and cruiser style.

You should at least sit if not ride in the parking lot both other bikes. As you mentioned you only have so much money and don't want to buy a different bike next year. There will always be something that you didn't notice and don't care for but you should check for the obvious. I even took a tape measure to check the seat and handle bar widths. Seat height can be check here on the sticky post for seat heights in the newbie section I think.

[jstark47]

.....the Honda and Vulcan are smoother than the S40 due the single piston issue in the S40............There is only so much that can be done to smooth out a single piston bike.

That's why big singles are called 'thumpers'!!

It's part of the character of the machine, people that like 'em (e.g. me) don't think it needs to be "smoothed out".....

[flw]

It's part of the character of the machine, people that like 'em (e.g. me) don't think it needs to be "smoothed out".....

Maybe thats why you rarely see any S40's on the road. I say rarely although I have not seen any except the one I test drove. But you are right someone likes them because there still for sale.

[TorontoBoy]

If these are your first bikes, then consider buying used. If you have a little mistake in a parking lot it won't be so bad.

The S40s (Savage), the Honda VT600C Shadow VLX and the Vulcan EN500 have all had long production runs and are available. If you can find one the Honda VT500C ('83-'86) is the predecessor of the Shadow VLX and is also comparable in power and bike style.

There are other possible bike models if you want to go for a smaller motor. A small first bike may be easier to learn on.

[PatArmyRet]

I purchased an S40 used and really enjoy riding it. It is a great bike to learn on. However, I will probably only keep it for a year and get something bigger next spring. It was bought new from the dealer a year ago @ $5000 with all the fees taxes, etc. I paid $3300 last April and it only had 1200 miles. As long as I take care of it, I hope to still get a pretty good price for it next year.