First off, a big "Thanks" to all you posters who've unknowingly been so helpful. This forum has been an excellent resource- I've just come back to motorcycling after a 10-year hiatus, and thanks to the info on this site, I've done things that I never thought I could do (me, rebuild a carburetor? Amazing!). I've been lurking and reading your posts for weeks.
Looking for suggestions for my first bike, I stumbled across this old article (
http://www.chuckhawks.com/good_first_motorcycles.htm) which clued me into the Suzuki Savage. I wanted a motorcycle that would get me back into the sport, that I wouldn't outgrow within a season. The Savage is that bike. The simplicity of the design lured me in, and I love the clean look. I've never been a fan of enormous, complicated machines- I embrace the K.I.S.S. principle whole-heartedly.
After looking around, I found my 2000 Savage on ebay 2 months ago. The 1st owner had an accident on the way home from the dealership (!) and bent the lower forks and dented the tank. The bike was totalled out and spent the last 5yrs garaged. The seller took the time to swap out the forks and I picked it up with a salvage title for $1900 with 42 miles on the clock. After a couple weeks of tinkering, it runs great.
Since then I've put 600 miles on it, riding every time there's a break in the dreary Chicago spring weather. I've learned how to rebuild & modify carbs, perform oil changes, check belt tension w/o the Suzuki tool and a million other little things, thanks to all of you. Suzuki couldn't buy better PR!