Hey savages,

I'm starting to REALLY feel Torque's pain, unfortunately my savage has suffered much the same fate as his. At least I hadn't installed most of the aftermarket parts I've received in the last 2 months including my seeger controls and new Dunlop tires

My 2001 Savage, 11,656.8 miles threw the rod right through the crankcase on Monday. I was riding up a back-route near Highway 9 in the Santa Cruz mountains, doing about 45 in 4th gear when it blew. Fortunately for me, when it went, the bike went one way I went another into some bushes. Sadly, not much of the bike survived as it plummeted 60 feet into a rivine and landed on rocks below. I'm sad to say that I probably won't be buying another, at least not for myself in the near future.

Needless to say I'm sad to lose it, hopefully I'll be able to talk my wife into getting one (although it's going to be a tough arguement now, lol).


Bright side though!
My insuance company paid out $2750 for the bike and equipment, luckily for me I only paid $1650 for the bike! I've already purchased a 2002 Ducati Monster 620ie at auction with some very minor damage, hopefully this flat black beauty won't suffer the same fate as my Savage.

-tanker out...

Man Sorry to hear about your '01 Savage and glad you are OK!!
Wow, that's 2 catastrophic LS engine failures on this Forum in as many weeks ... I've been comin' here for almost 3 years and I'd never head of that kinda total failure before!! This has given me the heebie jeebies ... seems as if a connecting rod giving out is also potentially dangerous (fatal??) to the Rider as well as the Bike??
What gives? Bad Manufacture, Rider neglect and/or abuse ... or an inherently flawed design ... got me thinkin' that keeping my LS past 10,000kms mightn't be such a good idea?
Comments?

Yikes!  But your OK and even got a good deal out of it.  You must feel pretty lucky.  

It doesn't really bother me to think my bike may break down at some point, but the manner in which these failures are occuring is rather disturbing.  I recall torque saying it basically locked up his rear.  Is that what yours did?

Have you broke into your engine at all?  You recently bought your bike.  How many miles did it have on it then?

That is way freaky to have that happen to two in such a short period of time.  I wonder if the causes are related or not.  Anyway, I'm glad you're both okay.

no gas in the crankcase here and no over reving either.

mine was '98 with 18,000 miles

Well, when Torque said the con rod was made of cheap pot metal, that started a turning point in my thinking.  I've wanted 1 of these bikes since they 1st came out in '86.  I have to pay cash (bad credit history); and, this summer looks good for finally making the purchase.  But now, I'm having serious doubts.  Maybe a V* instead; but, some of those have had driveshaft failures (as have Volusias).  Haven't heard of any problems at all with the Aero 750.  And, there's always the Sporty; but here, you pay an extra $2500 in dealer fees.  Heck, I could get a used Savage for that.  People put down the old Limeys as undependable; but, I never had 1 problem with my BSA, Triumph, or Norton (except the Lucas electrics in the Bonnie).  I can get a cherry 750 Norton for $2200; maybe I'll do that.  This whole scenario is very disappointing, with the "supposed" Japanese dependability.

I've heard of 1 drive shaft failure on a V* ... and that guy was doing wheelies.  I've got 26 k miles on my V* 1100 with 0 problems