Anybody have any experience with the S-40?

[Arkygs250]

Burkbuilds,

I have to put my vote in for the vulcan 500. I moved up to this bike from my GZ and can not believe the difference. I found my 98 model Vulcan on Graigslist for $1,200 with 23K miles on it. I was a little skeptical buying it because of the mileage but it ran like a scalded dog and $1,200 is hard to beat. The Vulcan has around 47 hp the GZ has around 20. The Vulcan will run 80 plus MPH on the interstate all day long with power to spare. Top speed is said to be over 100MPH. It is a fast bike for a cruzier. It is said the 500 will beat most of the 750cc class bikes and even a sportster 883. I even did a 1 hour 2up riding trip with my girlfriend on a local highway and the vulcan had no problem keeping up with the 1500cc suzuki we were riding with. The seat pretty comfortable for a stock seat. I get about 52 mpg on 87 octane fuel. The bike is water cooled which is a bonus. It is a chain drive but so what. I had to replace the chain when I bought the bike. Cost about $100. Now it is ready for another 23K miles. I don't think you would like the 4 speed transmission on smaller bikes. Not enough power between the gears. The Vulcan' s 6 speed transmission and power of the parallel twin engine is the perfect combination for this bike. Read the reviews on this bike. It is hard to find and negative comments. Good luck!

[dannylightning]

Originally Posted by burkbuilds

Thanks Easy, I will press for a test ride before I buy a used bike especially, although I'll admit that I bought my GZ off the internet without ever even sitting on it.
I also noticed the local Kawasaki dealer has an 2008 Vulcan 500 sitting in the window and marked down with a hand written sign indicating they are willing to negotiate the price a little. They had it listed for $5300, but it is a 2008 even if it's never been ridden so I think they'll go lower, and they might even take my GZ as a trade in for part of the down payment. Any thoughts on that?
By the way, thanks for everybody's input, you guys have really helped me sort through a lot of issues and avoid some choices that I think I would have been kicking myself over if you hadn't spoken up!

well here is the deal about a trade, not sure about motorcycle shops but car dealers try to rip you off on trade in's but it cant hurt to try. i read some reviews on yahoo about one of the local motorcycle dealers here and one review said this one dealer will even buy bikes out right and pay a pretty good penny for them. so it cant hurt to take the bike down there and ask. you can always negotiate about the trade in price too. once i traded in a truck and they wanted to give me 500 for it, i told them 1500 was the least i would take and wouldn't buy the new 10k dolor truck unless they gave me at least 1500 and they did. it was old and ready to fall apart and had a big dent in the door. so i was happy with the 1500 trade in.

i would stick the bike up on craigs list ans see how that goes and if you still have it when your ready for the new bike see what the dealer offers. remember first get the trade in price locked in and than negotiate on the new bike price...

[burkbuilds]

Arkygs250, thanks for your input about your experience with this bike! I think I'm pretty settled on trying to find one now, I've put in some quote requests to a couple of dealers, (nobody's open around here on Mondays)and I'm hoping to hear from them tomorrow. One dealer near Birmingham still has an 07 that's never been sold! I checked Blue book values on my 05 GZ and it's right around $1500 for trade in value. If they'll give me that, I'll probably take it just to save the hassel of selling it myself. I only paid $2100 when I bought mine, and I've put 10K miles on it, so $1500 would be okay for a trade in value. I also checked with my insurance agent on the cost difference to insure an 07, 08 and 09. The 07 with full coverage would run me $270 a year, the 08 $300 but the 09 would run $413!! Yikes!!
I cleaned up my bike this afternoon when I got home, waxed it and polished the chrome so it is ready to go if somebody wants to make a deal with me on a new Vulcan 500! I'll let you know what happens!

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by burkbuilds

They had it listed for $5300, but it is a 2008 even if it's never been ridden so I think they'll go lower, and they might even take my GZ as a trade in for part of the down payment. Any thoughts on that?

I'm pretty sure my dealer has a special on '09 Vulcan 500's for $4995 so you should be able to get it for that at least.
So......$5000 minus a 1500 trade in is $3500. I think if you could negotiate $3500 OUT THE DOOR, it would be a good deal.

Good luck. If you can't find a Honda Shadow, I guess a Vulcan would be a good second choice!!
:shocked: :roll: :biggrin:

[burkbuilds]

So I ended up buying an 09 Kawasaki Vulcan 500 LTD last night. Traded the GZ in on it and drove it home around 7 pm. Posted pictures and info under "Sold my GZ, bought a Kawasaki Vulcan 500 LTD" if you'd like to see the pics.

Thanks again for everybody's advice, it was very helpful!