Suzuki Boulevard S40: Thump, Thump, Thump The “thump, thump, thump” exhaust note churned out by the Suzuki Boulevard S40 is as unmistakable as it is delightful to hear. It’s kind of the two-wheel equivalent of the combination of the sound of a Huey Helicopter hovering over a nearby mountain top and the noise created by your next door neighbor beating the dust out of her floor rugs each morning. While Harley-Davidson riders enjoy the “pot-a-pot-pot” classic sound of a Milwaukee-made, V-Twin motorcycle engine, and racers thrive on the Formula 1-like whine of a high-revving sportbike, Suzuki riders live on uniqueness. You feel the distant echoes of the “thump, thump, thump” sound of a single-cylinder Boulevard S40 when its rider is traveling the next block over. You hear the Boulevard S40’s unmistakable exhaust note long after its rider has passed you.
Suzuki Boulevard S40: Simplicity
Back in the early days of motorcycling, riders performed all of their own repairs on the machines they rode. All motorcycles were single cylinders, making it easy for anyone to do repairs. The term, “my mechanic” simply didn’t exist. Suzuki designers remembered this when they penned the Boulevard S40. Ask anyone to describe his experience of adjusting the valves on a 16-valve, four-cylinder sportbike and his eyes will roll back into his head no doubt. But one a single cylinder motorcycle such as the Suzuki Boulevard S40, adjusting the vales is almost child’s play. You line up the timing marks, measure the valve gap and adjust if necessary. Then you spin the engine and measure again. You’re done adjusting the valves before you know it. There’s only one cylinder on the Suzuki Boulevard S40, so you only have to worry about one spark plug, one coil unit and one fuel injector. It doesn’t get any easier than that.
In an age when motorcycles seem to be covered with too much chrome or too much plastic, the Suzuki Boulevard S40 harkens back to the days when motorcycles were more pleasing to the eye. There’s not too much flash, nor too little. Chrome controls, mirrors and valve covers accent the Boulevard S40’s classic motorcycle stance. Chrome spoke wheels hint at nostalgia and a day long before aluminum wheels took over the motorcycle world. Two-tone paint accents the Boulevard S40’s 2.8-gallon classic teardrop gas tank.
Suzuki Boulevard S40: Engine
A timeless, classic single-cylinder air-cooled, 652 CC engine powers the Boulevard S40. Though Suzuki doesn’t officially announce horsepower figures, internet searches will find results that hint at about 30 horsepower. While that won’t win the Isle of Man Time Trials, I’ve found its more than enough to get up to cruising speed and cruise down the highway all day long. The Boulevard S40 weighs only 380 pounds so you don’t need a lot of horsepower for this confident daily cruiser. Suzuki claims the Boulevard S40 will get about 63 mpg. You’ll go about 150 miles before you have to flip the fuel switch to the reserve pickup and start a search for a gas station.
Suzuki Boulevard S40: Price
In a world when the price of entry level and daily cruising motorcycles continues to increase despite a worldwide slowdown in sales, the Boulevard S40 delivers. Suzuki lists the Boulevard S40’s MSRP at $5,399 which places it about $2,000 less than the Harley-Davidson Sportster. It’s also about $1,300 more than the Suzuki TU250. For a grand, I’ll grab the extra 400 CCs of engine displacement, horsepower and longevity. You’ll get the standard 12,000-mile, 12-month warranty with the Boulevard S40.
