What has been the longest trip any of you have made on your Savage?
What weather?
How many stops for rest/breaks?
Average MPH?
What kind of roads (2 lane, expressway?)
At what speed did your Savage seem to cruise easiest?

Q. What has been the longest trip any of you have made on your Savage?

A. Over 150 miles in one day.

Q. What weather?

A. February 23, 2004 weather was:
Low 44 degrees
High 59 degrees
Average riding weather was mid 50s
sun would come out and hide again, when it was out it was glorious, othertimes it was just great

Q. How many stops for rest/breaks?

A. Rode 25 miles to friends house who lives across town, stopped for 20 minutes.  Rode out for 50 miles stopped for about 45 minutes at another friends ranch.  Turned around and rode 50 more miles stopped for about an hour at a Pizzaria.  Stopped for about 20 minutes at a friends house and rode home the last 25 miles.

Q. Average MPH?

A. 60 Mph on the semi highway (100 miles)
40 Mph on city streets (50 miles)

Q. What kind of roads (2 lane, expressway?)
50 miles on city roads (stop lights, stop signs, 1, 2 an 3 lanes)
100 miles on highway (1 lane country back road type, Jackson Highway 16 and Highway 49 in Sacramento, CA)

Q. At what speed did your Savage seem to cruise easiest?

A. The Savage never struggled no matter what speed not even while climbing mild hills at 60 mph in 4th or 5th gear.

I rode with a guy who had a 1999 Yamaha Road Star and I could beat him off the line each time, but he was probobly not trying.  I could keep up no problem, though I am not that good of a rider yet, so he kept it under 65 Mph.  I recomend a longer ride such as this one to everyone who wants to learn more about the machine, after 50 or so miles the seat, handlebars, and pegs talk to you man... they say how's your lower back holding up, how's your shoulders, are your wrists tigh, are your arms ready to fall off, or not?

330 miles round trip.  It was the middle of summer so I'm guessing mid 80's.  All rideing was done on 2 lane streets with the average being 55mph.  Not sure on how many breaks we took but I'm guessing around 5.

8)keep em coming guys!
I'm just trying to gather information on just how durable the Savage is.

I think a good way to tell a bikes reliability and durability is to know how a bike handles longer trips. We could all ride 250s if we only hung out in town, right?

Btw..My 03 Savage now has a little over 2000 miles on it and seems to be running better and better.

My longest trip, 200 miles.
mostly 2 or 4 lane highway
Late October....frosty in the morning and warm in the afternoon on the way home.
Average speed, 50-60
most comfortable crusing speed, 50-60. Savage seems to like that speed. everything seems to be in a good "click" at that speed.
3 breaks. 1 for coffee in the morn. 1 at the destination and 1 for a snack on the way home.
Not one drop of oil less than when I changed it at 600 miles.
I don't winterize, I ride all year as long as the weather is above 40 degrees.

Local mechanic told me the Savage is like an old Volkswagen; Keep the oil changed, a good plug in it, and the valves adjusted and she'll go forever.

I know a salesman at one of the local dealers who owned a Savage and put over 80,000 miles on it.
Ironman
Heading north for another 200 miler real soon.

Hello all.  

I'm a prospective Savage owner.  I'm scheduled to take motorcyle safety course in 4 weeks, and haven't ridden a bike in 20 years, and that on a ranch and over country roads.

I plan on using a bike to commute to work  - 25 miles with mostly 60 mph speed limit with one stretch of 10 miles at 70 mph.

Would the Savage be a good bike to consider for a new rider, and would it be suitable for occasional jaunts to the Texas Hill country, or a longer weekend trip to visit my sister in Dallas?

I don't plan to do high speed riding, but if I need to keep up with 70 mph traffic, will this bike do it comfortably?

In reply to Joe F.  The Savage does great in Texas Hill Country.  I commute to Hillsboro regularly on I35.  On Good Friday, I probably rode 80 miles of I35+backroads, and hardly ever fell below 65-70mph.  One of the great things about the Savage is the affordability, and weight.  I (along with most) can lean the bike almost all the way over, and still handle the weight.  Only 352 lbs.  The seat height is one of the lowest around, too.  I have about 10,000 miles on my 2001, and they have been very low maintenance.  Just some brake pads, and a new back tire.  If your heading to Dallas, email me and I'll let you check her out.  I live in the DFW area.

Don't tell me you did all these long trips on the Suzuki STANDART sadle.

I did 150 Km to-day with about 4 stops and my but still hurts

So I'm in for sadle improvements and/or replacement of another one. Any suggestions are wellcom.

MY BUT WAS SOAR FOR ABOUT THE FIRST 12 MONTHS NOW I CAN RIDE ALL DAY . WITH A CUPA EVERY TANK FULL. I THINK THE PROBLEM IS WE ARE SITTING ON THE TAIL BONE BUT GIVEN TIME THE STOCK SEAT IS QUIT COSY. JUST KEEP RIDING AND END UP A HARD ASS LIKE ME