Today we are back to answering questions on Ask a Motorcycle Guy! I had a recent question from one of you regarding the Yamaha SR400 vs Suzuki S40 as a beginner motorcycle. Ask and you shall receive!
Suzuki discontinued the S40 for 2020. Retired after 32 years. The beauty of the bike was the fact it was an open canvas, a modders dream. So simple to work on. I've had an 06 S40 since 2012. I'm also 6'2" and weigh about 245#'s. While it is rather mild in stock form, It's also only 370lbs, and with a little work can be woken up quite nicely. ;-) Over 8 yrs. of ownership I've installed a Corbin seat and raised the front about 2" for better leg room, added Progressive Suspension shocks(+1/2"), Lowered front susp. 1/2", Total carb rejet and needle height adj., K+N drop in and opened air box, Exhaust side head porting, HD Dyna muffler(Way better flowing), Drilled front rotor, under tail cats-eye brake light, custom oval mirrors. and minor trim items to dress it up. She's my baby, and I wouldn't give her up for anything. Just love the gobs of torque when you roll on the throttle. Next step might be the 97mm Big-bore kit and a hotter cam... lol ! No matter what bike you have or get, Ride Safe! and see ya out there.
Sweet, thanks for sharing your experiences! I like the blank canvas nature of both of these bikes. Exactly what I’ll be looking for when the time comes.
Im thinking of getting the S40 but the size of the fuel tank is a sticking point for me, know of any of a larger capacity that fit either aftermarket or swapping from another bike?
I'm 6'4" tall and my S40 feels great. And as far as the carb goes, very easy to tune and modify. I do like the old styling on the SR400, especially the kickstart, but I hate the fact that a bad sensor or a fouled fuel injector can make the bike not work. Make motorcycles simple again.......
I'm 100% with you. The SR400 is a classic LOOKING modern bike, with all the modern computer controlled electronics to fail on you in the worst possible place at the worst possible time.
I have the 2018 SR400. Super fun first bike. Once you get a hang of the kickstart, it's a breeze. Starts getting vibrations around 60mph. It will hit highway speeds, but its happy around 50-65 all day long. I'm 6'3 and don't feel squished although it is smaller.
Both great starter bikes. It depends on what you like...what your style is. But I will say that they are also good bikes for when older riders are slowing down and arthritis and other issues are taking their toll. I am 67 and been riding for 42 years. I cannot even remember all the bike models that I have had, and I am now down to an S40 and Royal Enfield Classic 500 in Battle Green. I just love thumpers because of the gobs of low end torque and the easy ride. Both machines are light and fun to ride. If I feel like a standard ride, I take the Royal Enfield. If I want to cruise, I take the S40. The SR400 is great bike, too! The Royal Enfield has both electric start and a kick starter, so you can play with both. Great video and advice!
I really like the look of the Royal Enfield's, the only problem is parts availability, that is going to go hands down to Yamaha or Suzuki (or any other major manufacturer for that matter). Having said that, I really like the Royal Enfield Himalayan.
I've ridden hundreds of thousands of miles on bikes with carb and never had any trouble with any of them. I ride an Intruder 1500 over 87,000 miles. I checked the carbs at 87,000 miles and they were as clean inside as a new bike. So I don't think carbs are any trouble, however a kick start only with chain drive could be for a new rider. My vote goes to the S40 because of the electric start and belt drive..
with carburator it is no problem of you drive regulary, it keeps clean. my Kawa Z750 LTD Twin Y1 '81 had over 80.000 km never a problem. i checked it because everybody back in the days told me that i have to clean the carbs what i never did. i drove all seasons over several years and they were clean. Nowadays i prefer fuel injection, no choke.
Over the last 50 years I've had 17 motorcycles, from 125 cc to 1800 cc. Currently I have a beautiful T100. To me the biggest difference between the SR400 and the S40 is standard versus cruiser. I prefer a standard and those are really hard to find these days.
I have a 2005 Yamaha Roadstar Warrior.I was taking a trip on it when it started to act like it was running out of gas. Plenty of gas in tank. Eventually got it running and awhile later did it again, then again. Needles California, June, 118 degrees is not a place to be with problems. Eventually made it to Albuquerque New Mexico with help from nice people with pickup truck and trailer. Yamaha shop wouldn't look at it for a couple weeks even when I was from out of town on a trip. Service sucks big time. Small private shop across the street took me in right away but I really don't think they knew what they were doing. Ended up not needing a new fuel pump [ 600 bucks] and 350 bucks labor. I ended up with it anyway. Counting 4 days at motels and food, Plus that 950 wasted dollars at the shop , I was out about 1400 bucks and still had a problem. Turned out before I headed home and canceled my trip we discovered the under the seat fuel pump tank wasn't getting gas. If I took off side cover and removed fuel hose from tank to the injectors ,30 seconds later fuel would pour out and I could reattach the hose and put cover back on and it would run for various miles. Maybe 20, 35, 60 ,70 you get the idea. Then it would stop an I'd do the hose thing again. After doing it about a dozen times I made it home. Still don't know what the problem is. It has 2 fuel lines so at least one should work. I didn't find any blockage from main tank to pump tank and I don't know about what happens after that. Never had a problem with carbs. I like the bike but maybe next time I'll go back to carbs even if injection is better. Carbs I can understand and because of bad shops and mechanics I can do most work myself. I did take it to a shop when I got home and off the top of their heads didn't know what it could be. Time to go simple again. Gravity feed fuel. Also no v twins. Hot rear cylinder by my knees and harder to work on.
SR 400 was my first bike. I’m selling it now but I’m a little sad to see it go. I still love it, maybe more than my fz09. All around great fun on the sr, just underpowered to those who want more.
Suzuki Savage/S40 was produced circa 1987 t0 2022 for the USA. It is robust, handles well and there is a tremendous following for use and mods. At 6 foot 4 inches and a seat pad you can run all day.
Due to being a disabled senior now, long story, I've finally excepted my fate, therefore am getting rid of my heavy bike's, and am going to get me the big lite compact 650 thumper. When they came out I had the hots for one anyway. We've gone nutts with excessiveness anyway. I'll ride a cool single bobber, have fun, be proud and thankful. After all, basic and simple is where it all started.
My humble opinion: I rode the SR 500 ( yes I’m that old). I believe that both bikes are targeting new riders and for around town riding. Low cost and easy to ride. While the Yamaha was a blast due to the gobs of torque and light weight . It became a bit of a pain to have to kick start it every time you stopped somewhere. Believe me I grew up kickstarting bikes so I know how to do it, but they use electric start on almost everything nowadays including off road race bikes for a reason. Also kickstarting is going to be another challenge for the new rider. So even though I like everything else about the Yamaha, I think I would lean towards the Suzuki for the beginner. Thanks for the review.
Sr400 has always been kick only. It’s based on the XT500 dirt bike of the 1970s. Back then, Yamaha decided to take that excellent platform and build a high-tech (for the time) street bike out of it. That meant cast wheels, rear disk brake, and electronic ignition (magneto-powered). The newer ones (and always the overseas ones) have wire wheels and a rear drum brake. Otherwise, it’s a 1978 bike with fuel injection added. They even still use the 1978 tank. The fuel pump is in a separate can. Overall, very cool.
I bought a LS650 (S40) in 2005. It is a fun and strong motorcycle (50 Nm. Who cares about horse power?) I thought it would be my beginners bike to be replaced eventually.. Nope 😎
Dude, listen..."great starter bike", "good for short rider's"...that's all RU-vid word salad bullsht, ride what you want, ride what you like, you'll be fine, I promise....except for the big baggers, might want to step away from those, unless you got a routine leg day workouts going on, and get a year or so behind you on "normal bikes, the difference in is the hundreds of pounds oO yes, hundreds ^^
More points of failure in the SR400 though. More ways for it to leave you stranded. S40 doesn't have an electric fuel pump in the gas tank, computer controlled fuel injector, fuel injector wiring, or computerized fuel injection logic to fail on you. The S40 is a standard gravity-feed from gas tank to carburetor, really simple. Both are cool bikes, but the SR400 carries all the modern computer-controlled stuff to fail on you.
I'm just surprised no one asked which one is faster. When I was starting out that was one of the big selling points for me---(other than price of course).
The s40 was my mates first sort of biggish bike and he thought he could beat my z1000 in a race and I told him to take it for a ride first and he came back gutted on how fast he thought his bike was😢
Sweet thanks Alex. I got a chance to sit on an SR400 in February. I had to tiptoe to get both feet on the ground, that being said I was just wearing regular shoes not boots. So I don't think it's that big of a deal. I'll end up going with the SR400 I think kickstart is really cool. I do like the tubed tires. I'm planning on maintaining it myself.
If you search RU-vid you'll find a neat electric start conversion I have a 78 SR500 with a 10 to 1 Wiseco piston, if you understand the way to start one it's no problem at all and it will usually start first or seconds kick every time and the newer 400 with fuel injection and different ignition is supposed to be much easier to start than the originals
I think anything in that category that is an older bike, and has been modified such as bobbing it or cafe-styling, is super cool. I have had MANY classics, bobbers, and cafe bikes and have loved EVERY single one of them, that being said just make sure you understand you also need to be cool with and enjoy working on it, because it will just be a fact of life if you ride it haha. The Virago 1100 was a perfectly good larger bike for the time period, can't say anything bad about it, and a bobbed one sounds cool. So if you're getting it for a reasonable price and youre cool with doing work on it here and there, go for it! Maybe I'll do a video on this soon too haha...
@@AlexSimmons11c yeah man ! Bobbers are sick ! Ive only owned bigger cruzers and baggers. Hey if you end up doing a video about the virago or bobbers feel free to give me a shout out. It would be an honor.
I’m looking forward to buy the SR400, I wonder will it have problem with my daily work? I do delivery for around 10 hours daily. Since it doesn’t have a liquid cool engine. Any input will be great. Thanks.
Generally even an air-cooled engine will be fine if it is designed and engineered properly, which Yamaha is VERY good at. You may notice it getting warm if you sit still a lot with it running, but you should not have overheating problems.
Make sure to change the oil regularly, as air cooled engines often have higher oil temperatures than water cooled machines. It will be even more important under the kind of use you’re planning. Synthetic oils generally handle higher temperatures, but make sure it’s motorcycle specific oil. You may end up ruining your clutch friction plates using car oil.
@@AlexSimmons11c Considering the intensive use Ivan mentioned, would you advice to install some analog oil sensor where the oil cap in the SR ? BTW, I'm also about to buy that cool little Yam ;)
Having owned one, and commuting to school on it, I’d say it’s not a great bike for a 10 hour ride. Depending on how hard you ride it, the bike won’t do too well over 75mph. I’ve had to replace the stator, rectifier, and battery. No issues with motor or transmission, however. I think it’s because of all the vibration at the higher speeds, and heat, and idk what else messed with those parts.
I own an 81 sr500, bad ass bike. Fun, and pretty to look at. Harleys are the dominant brand in my area, guys hate on anything not harley. But they all like and some even wanted to buy my sr500 lol. Problem with the bike, top end tends to die early on these bikes from the dry sump oil system starving the top end a little. Theres mods to remedy it, but rest assure comparing its reliability to the suzuki isnt fair. S40 is lower maintenance of the two, sr500 CAN and WILL make more power than the s40 with both engines being breathed on heavily. S40 - i just wanna ride and do simple maintenance SR- 80s standard frame stuffed with a big ol dirt bike engine hell yeah brother (more fun, but more work) My opinion.
The Yamaha SR400 to me is ugly, but is a good first bike, the enfield guys will stop and talk to you. The Suzuki S40 has that primitive vibe and is good looking enough the Harley riders will talk to you, especially if you have it bobbed.
I believe you have to stick with tube type tires on the stock spoke rims, I could be wrong but as far as I know those stock spoke rims require tube bias tires.
yes, but with a tube. some tyres are both, TT/TL. if the spokes are on the outer side of modern spoke rim they are tubeless. you can seal the spokes but i wouldn‘t do it, there are a lot of diy videos how to do it.
I totally agree with you Alex and if I was in the market for a single cylinder bike I will definitely choose the Yamaha SR400 I love the retro style of it, I wish they added an electric start as well then they would sell a lot more because many people especially females riders might struggle with the kick start
I mean it's definitely an individual taste deal haha, most of the people that I know that own SR400s and love them just love the simplicity of the bike and most love the kick start. It's kind of like how so many people now have gone back to Vinyl records...they may be less convenient and a step back, but to enthusiasts they have a different "feel," same thing.
Wow, I mean, as someone that's had plenty of bikes with kick starters, I'd never say they're cool, unless it's an option if your battery dies. BTW...if you ever push start an S40, hold the starter button in, even if the battery is almost dead, compression release valve's are important, and work with very little power... that or you'll just wear yourself out skidding the tire.
All motorcycles should have kick starters with electric starters. Getting a jump start isn't always possible with a motorcycle. Especially if you're away from a city.
@@shremich4583 They released the SR400 in 1978 The SR400 was originally built for the Japanese market and manufactured alongside the SR500 The SR500 was produced from 1978 until around 2000 The SR400 was produced from 1978 and is still available new in 2024 but only in Thailand and maybe, although I'm not certain, the Philippines or India The SR400 has been in production for 46 years There was also an XT400 built for the Japanese market that in most respects except stroke and sickers was identical to the XT500 I have a 1978 SR500 2J2 it has cast wheels with front and rear disc brakes the 2J2 was only sold in USA/Canada and Australia/New Zealand Where you say ".. a modern SR 650" do you mean a lager capacity single or a rerelease of the XS650 twin ?
