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.

Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

This bike is economical, and will go faster than I will probably ever take it.

I got the red and white one, and I get approached quite often by strangers telling me how good it looks.

It handles so well at low speed that you can actually turn around on a single lane road without putting a foot down.

Ride is excellent at all speeds, and I guess the bike fits me perfect as I can run a whole tank of gas through it and not get a sore rear end like I hear other people talking about.

I'm 5'9 AND 190. I'm getting between 55 and 62 mpg. I had it up to 80 and it had more to go, but that was too fast for me. You can pull out in traffic with confidence as you can get up to 60 before you get run over.

Everyone that sits on it mentions how light it is, and that's one of the main reasons I bought it. I had a 2007 Vulcan 500 that was just heavier than what I want. In comparison the S40 would finish first in every one of my categories, especially low speed handing, except the 500 would be probably be a better option if you only did Interstate riding, and it doesn't get as good gas mileage.

I just cruise around and commute occasionally. I like the belt drive as you don't have to worry about oiling a chain, and Suzuki includes a tool to check the tightness of the belt if needed.

I added a windshield and saddle bags. It has the single banger backfire occasionally you hear about when going down through the gears, but it's not loud and after the 600 mile dealer checkup it's now reduced in volume and frequency.

The front brakes do squeak, but perform very well, as does the back brake. Without my even knowing the rear brake pedal needed adjusting, the dealer did it during the checkup, and the back brake is excellent also, and even better with the adjustment.

Of course I already think about moving up to an 800 or so cc bike, but I won't for a while as this one does everything I need in a bike.