Faults:

Nothing has broken.

General Comments:

First bike after 44 years. Runs and handles great after the normal tweaks were applied. Harley late 90's Dyna muffler, carb rejet and needle height adjustment, K&N drop in filter and opened-up airbox, plus the extra step of porting the exhaust side of the head. Intake is pretty good as is. Heavier fork oil and a good sag adjustment. Also installed a Corbin seat, Progressive Susp. R. shocks. Chain conversion to 2.65 final from 2.95. This bike is so easy to work on and customize. A rolling hunk of clay you can mold into any bike you can dream of.

Faults:

Really nothing has gone wrong. I've not had to do any repairs as such. Just maintenance and upgrades.

General Comments:

People keep calling it a starter bike. When I had my first 650 in 1972, that was considered a pretty decent sized bike. Unless you plan on doing real highway riding (it's just too light when those trucks buzz by you), the bike will do pretty much anything you like. I live in a small town in Kentucky and have LOTS of nice rolling country roads. Most of my riding is 50-65 on them, and the bike will do that all day effortlessly.

It is a very fun bike to ride, easy to sling around.

Pros:

Easy to maintain if you have some basic wrenching skills. Even if you pay for it, valve adjustments are way cheaper than the shim/bucket method that most bikes now use. It's air cooled with a single carb.

Oil changes are a breeze.

Negatives:

Cam chain adjuster is bad design that could easily be fixed, but Suzuki won't do it. If you get the bike, plan on getting the Verslavy mod and preventing an expensive failure down the road.

Petcock is problem prone but very easy and cheap to replace with a Yamaha Raptor 660.

Seat is hard on your butt. Plan on getting some sort of accessory like an AirHawk or gel or something in that line. Makes a big difference for long rides.

Stock tires are mediocre; research and get better tires when they wear out.

(pro & con) - While the bike comes from the factory WAY too lean, it is easy to rejet the carb which makes a significant difference in the bike's performance. Along with that I recommend ditching the stock exhaust. It is very quiet, but far too restrictive. With a rejetted carb and a Jardine slip on, mine runs much better and has noticeably better pickup. 0-65 is nice. I have no trouble keeping up with my Harley riding buddies.

Suggestions if you buy this bike: Because it is virtually unchanged for decades there is a large pool of owners out there with a lot of experience on them. Suzukisavage.com is the best resource for knowledge & support I have ever seen for a bike. It has made ownership of this bike so much easier and nicer.

I have seriously looked at a number of other bikes and I can't bring myself to give up my S40.

Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

It's the best starter bike out there, as it is light, handles well, and is freeway-capable for short periods.

It handles well on gravel roads - I always wanted to flat-track it.

My wife did a 380-mile day on it, then decided she needed a bigger bike. No Sportster for her! (like I ride) - instead, she traded for a C50. I miss this bike.

Faults:

After a 25 year break I decided to get another motorcycle. The S40 brought back all the memories of how fun a motorcycle is. This was the perfect size to relearn all the basic riding skills. Enough power to keep up on the interstate, but not much bigger than a 250cc.

The bike does have a few weak spots, though. One was the seat. About 100 miles was all I could take of it at one time. I bought some rigid foam from the hardware store, and shaped and contoured it with a heat gun and sander. I took the seat apart and inserted it between the seat pan and foam. Not only did this make it much more comfortable, it also raised the seating position about 1 1/2", let me sit further back on the seat, and gave me more leg room.

I also changed the rear shocks for a smoother ride and a little more travel, changed the vacuum petcock for a manual one, and replaced the cam chain tensioner with a much more reliable one.

General Comments:

I occasionally think about trading it in on a different bike, but its light weight makes it so easy to ride. And, the single cylinder makes it very easy to maintain. Plus, it just looks so good. I'm totally happy with it after the slight modifications.