To pull the plug, I know I am going to have to remove the chrome head covers. Does anyone know offhand If I am going to have to pull the tank to do that?

Hey thanks for the snappy reply   Yeah, I meant to say spark plug! Do you know if there are any adverse affects to driving around without those cosmetic chrome covers on the head? There is no reason why you should have to remove a gas tank to get to your spark plug. I think they will be going bye bye.

Jon D. of Rochester N.Y. attests on his LS650 website, to the viability of the "plug access" created by using only one bolt in order to "hinge" the left chrome top cover ... he even provides direstions on how to go about it. Haven't tried it myself though. Those covers are purely cosmetic, as I've seen plenty of pics on the web of Savage's with those covers removed ... so go ahead if you're so inclined!
I have checked my plug twice in since buying my Savage ... and never have I been able to remove my gas tank without first draining all of the fuel and then removing the petkock altogether ... the petkock will not clear the frame no matter how I twist and turn the tank ... but with the fuel tap removed, it comes off easily.
The inaccessible location of the Savage's single plug is may main pet peeve with this motorcycle ... one would thing that the engineers would've designed a head with a more accessible spark plug location ...

With the tank in position and without the chrome head covers, there is still minimal clearance to get at the plug. It would be more of a chore to try and get a wrench in there than to remove the darn tank. So I put it all back together the way it is suppose to go. F*** it! I guess I'll become an expert at pulling the tank. And just to mention that pulling the tank scratches the hell out of the frame with the petcock.

Yeah, put some electrical tape on that part of the frame.

i use the "plug access door" method..works for me.
but as stated the tank as to be removed at least once,
and reading all the past posts on this and other forums i must be one of the lucky ones cus i have no problems removing it.

The tank will come off of any Savage, w/o removing the petc0ck.  The rubber bushings are just snug and make it hard.  One trick to remove the tank easily requires removing the tank once, and upon reassembly just put a little bit of Vaseline on the rubber bushings.  From then on it will be much easier.  And, yes it is tight and will scratch the frame, but you just have to push the tank up and slightly to the left to get it off.

As for the plug...it is a PITA to reach, but why do you need to have such easy access?  I'm running a 3 year old plug in mine and have never had to remove it for anything other than an inspection...I mean, I've never had any troubles that related to the plug.  It is pretty low maintenance.

The Suzuki engineers were a little short sighted on the chrome covers though.  The left cover has that upside-down bolt that requires the cover to be raised up to remove.  Just another little quirk about the Savage.  However, if you ever remove the head cover, then you can actually turn the bolt upside down with the nut on the bottom....I wonder if the cover could be slotted to remove the cover from the side off the bolt.  Hmmmm.

Here is a question about the spark plug removal procedure maybe, someone knows about. I'm trying to remove the spark plug on my 2001 Savage and the manual calls for a 17MM wrench. I have a 17MM deep socket but it doesn't fit. Have they changed this? I also tried several non metric plug sockets and none of those fit either. I have the seat and tank off as well as the chrome piece. I'm trying to check the plug condition for my other problem I posted earlier, about carb. issues. Several good recomendations were made that I'm trying to follow up on. One of those was to check the plug condition.

Thanks