Paladin ... you've hit on some very interesting and valid points ... especially regarding the Savage's basic simplicity and it's inherent appeal to some types of people ... and how simplicity doesn't always translate into aftermarket sales. I sometimes see it as the "failed promise of technology" ... around 1970 or so, there was a television program aired here in Canada called; Here Comes the 70's ... it was a show about future trends going into the then distant year of 2000. Anyhoo, one particular episode which stands out in my memory (eventhough I was only 9 at the time ) was how in the coming decades technology would make our lives simplier, freeing up valuable leisure time ... well, in many ways the exact opposite has happened ... our lives seem more hectic and complicated now than ever before, despite have a high tech gadget for our almost every need ... so, I know where you are coming from Paladin ... sadly, it is likely that the simple LS650 may move aside in the coming years to make room for a more (uneccessarily) complex replacement that some "bean counter" with Suzuki's marketing department deems more "profitable" ...
I sometimes think that had technology stopped evolving at 1950's levels then our Western Society might be somewhat more content today ... then again though we wouldn't be having this very interesting discussion through the internet!

PerrydaSavage wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:02:

I'm almost with you on that.  The profit motive seems to have driven the technology we're offered off on some rather unfavorable (in my view) tangents.  I fear Paladin may have a valid point.