I'm new to the savage..just got a '87 but it was missing the left hand side panel.
Does anyone know where i could get a used/new one for a decent price?
I love this forum and thanks everyone for sharing so much information! It helps me get familiar with the machine from the inside out  

There have been several bikes parted out on e-bay lately, and a number of side panels have sold in the past couple weeks.  There is one up for auction right now, but I think it's the wrong side (for you, anyway):

Here's a link to the auction.