Hello,
I just want to thank all the good people on this forum who informed me on the merits of the Suzuki 650 Savage.
Especially the one guy that said he'd ridden 2300 miles on his Savage with no major problems.
See..........
My favorite(and only) daughter came in to some money a little while back. She lives up in South Carolina. Well, she came home on Fathers day of this year to see me, and she said she thought I was just moldering away. Retired, and not doing much. Heading towards 60 real fast, and not seeming to care one way or another.
Well, she goes back up there and starts sending me motorcycle and scooter brochures. See, that was my hobby years ago. I had several motorcycles over a span of about thirty years.
So she starts sending me these brochures.
I was looking at the Burgmans too. Somehow, I find the idea of doing the ton on giant Lambretta intriguing.
Anyway, to make a long story short. I decided a bike wouldn't be a bad idea. Now my wife just didn't see it that way, but after forty-two years of having her point of view changed, the poor girl doesn't seem to have any really concrete convictions, so she didn't thwart me and the daughters' plan.
I settled on the Savage as my fav. Partly due to the fact that a big single has got to be a riot to ride. I remember my old Beezer 441 thumper back in the day. Fun, in a word. I knew this one had to be better. I mean, 4 valves, overhead cam? Sure ought to be a head banger.
Then I got to reading this site, and saw where this bike has a following, and a decent bunch of folks if ever there was one. Not like all them switchblade knife forums that drove me off the web a couple of years ago.
Anyway. This forum helped me decide to say yes to my daughters' offer. She told me she would have the new 2004 LS 650 waiting for me at her place in South Carolina, if I would ride the bus up there and ride the bike back here to Texas. About 1200 miles.
Now, keep in mind that I am 59 years old, and ain't rode a motorcycle in about 15 years.
But I figured I'd go for it, and a lot of that decision was made sitting right here reading this informative and friendly forum.
And I went. And I rode around up there in the country for nine glorious days in some of the prettiest two lane black top forest you have ever seen, breaking the bike in, and getting reacquainted with my old friend motorcycling.. I got the 500 mile oilchange/check-up done at the Suzuki dealer and them I took off fo Texas.
What a ride! What a ride!
Never a malfunction of any kind. I cruised as fast or as slow as I wanted to. I never really got fatigued at the bike either. It managed to keep me interested and entertained at riding it. I could pass any truck that I saw. A lovely bike to ride.
I stopped overnight in Jackson, Mississippi. Ate, took a swim, and crashed for a few hours.
I was up again at sun up, and decided to swing up through Memphis and stop by Graceland and get my wife a shirt. That 55 North up through Mississippi in to Memphis is one of the prettiest stretches of road there is, to my estimation.
Oh well, I got to go.
Thanks again, for all the info.
I'll be around.
dog2

Dog2, Welcome to the forum!  As you said there is a great group here and the Savage is an amazing bike.  

Thanks for sharing your story.  Your daughter seems like a wonderful person and your ride home sounds like it was a great adventure.  

Enjoy the ride.  Enjoy life  -- its too short not to be having fun!  

Glad that you are happy on your Savage.  At 54 and having ridden larger bikes in the past, I still enjoy my Savage.

Gargolye: It is under-rated, and I read something in Motorcyclist magazine yesterday that has almost prompted a reply from me, too.  In a magazine that is always rating the "latest, greatest, fastest, and biggest" bikes they also had a very long listing of ALL 2004 bikes.  In their description of the Savage, they said, "Savage at heart, a pussycat for beginners that like thumpers"....I just haven't figured how to take that...

8)Welcome John ... and congrats on the Savage ... and great save with the deer man!
I too am a happy Savage owner alll the waaay up here in Newfoundland ... much to my surprise, my 'lil Thumper gets more attention at the local m/c hangout/doughnut shop than does a pal's VS800 Intruder (which is a sweet Bike!) or another pal's '76 GL1000 ... go figure! The Harley guys in particular seem utterly fascinated by the LS650!!

dog2 wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:08:


Hey John, It is easy to reply to a specific message.  

• When you see a message you want to respond to click on "quote".  It is in the upper righthand corner of each message.  
• You will then see the message you are quoting with brackets containing info before the message and after the message.  
• You can then edit which part of the message you want to quote.  Just leave the stuff in brackets and edit the rest.  
• The part you quote will end up in the box at the top of the message -- see this one for an example.
• You can also see how it will look by using the preview button.

Hope this helps and accept my apologies if my response is too basic.  I just wanted to be as clear as possible.  

Happy posting!

PerrydaSavage wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:08:


that is my experience too, once they get over the fact that there is a female beneath the helmet...
the harley guy in the office just stared and stared at my bike the first time we did lunch. then he said "that's a SINGLE CYLINDER???"
it's got clean lines, no superficial gadgetry, and it's got what it takes for the highways up here in dallas.

Welcome Dog2!  It's a easy bike to to like.

Susan wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:08:


I've been (maybe all of us have) been on boards that got out of hand.  While the filter is amusing, if not overly restrictive, it doesn't bother me as much as people getting into a pissing match, or name calling. And it's kind of fun getting around it.  Petcaulk.