So I made it back in one piece, as did the bike. New Mexico was amazing, and for those of you who live there, I envy you. The bike did really well on the road, maintaining 70 - 75 the whole time without a hitch. Before I left I replaced the handlebars with some wider ones off of a Road King, put some Kuryakyn grips on (an unexpected early birthday present), and I ended up forking over 100 bucks for those tiny Suzuki crash bars (I'll be lookign around for wider ones soon) and another 30 for some Bike Master highway pegs. Though the pegs basically sucked and I'll be replacing them as soon as possible, I probably would have been miserable without them.

Complaints? Oh, I've got some. First of all, for the life of me I could not manage to get the throttle grip on all the way, which didn't affect performance, but aesthetically drove me nuts (there's probably about 1/4" or that white plastic sleeve still showing). If anyone has any tips on how to shove that baby the rest of the way on, they would be appreciated (it didn't need to be glued b/c of the tight fit, so I can still adjust).

Also, that seat was driving me nuts! I'm defintely going to have to replace that cruddy seat, b/c it felt like I was sitting on the seat pan. I don't know yet if I'm going to opt for a custom seat or just buy an aftermarket, but either way that thing's gotta go. And I am going to HAVE to get a bigger gas tank on that thing (suggestions on tanks that I won't have to modify are welcome). In the mountains, I was only about to get about 80-90 miles/tank before reserve, and it would be nice to go at least another 40 or 50 miles before having to stop.

So overall, the bike did great. Would I have been better off on a bigger bike? Probably. But will I keep taking the Savage on road trips until I can afford a bigger ride? Heck yes! At 6 feet tall I was able to take that bike a hard 1500 miles in 4 days, and I could have gone twice that (given more time, of course...hehe), so in my mind, this bike now totally rocks. I will never sell it.

Sounds like a great ride. I agree with you on the seat, though. As soon as I can, I'm gonna try raising the front.

Sweet, I have road trip envy. I did another 120 mile ride this weekend and was all proud of myself.

Bigger gas tank yes, I would like ideas on that one too. The issues I think will be the steering tree hitting it and finding one short enough front to back and having a different speedo work right may be an issue.

On the seats I think if the stock seat foam was replaced with a high quality foam cushion it would be ok. I think riding position also plays a big role in seat comfort ability.

If you keep taking long trips you'll be one to tell us how the different mods work out.

Kevin

Ah yes, and the crosswinds. I forgot about those. On our way back from NM, the winds in West Texas not only almost blew me over, but they also killed my gas mileage, which was to be expected. Yet another reason for a bigger bike that can handle that sort of beating a little better.

As far as the trip, we started in Dallas, TX last Thursday, took 180 all the way to Hobbs, NM, then continued on through Carlsbad and stayed in White's City that night. The next day we rode up to the caverns, spend a few hours walking around there, then rode to Cloudcroft, NM to drop our stuff off at the cabin we rented. I can't remember everywhere we went the rest of the day, but we mostly did some local riding around Cloudcroft.

Then Saturday we rode ALL over New Mexico. Ironically, there was a rally going on in Roswell that we hadn't known about, so all the tourist towns were filled with bikes and empty of beer. I do remember eating at some hamburger joined that advertised "Ho-Made" Chili, which got a chuckle or two out of me, but I can't recall where it was.

Sunday we spent 12 hours riding back to Dallas from Cloudcroft. I realize 12 hours is a bit much, but we left early so we could take our time, and take our time we did. The trip was great, and I would definitely love to make it again some time, but I try to never go to the same place in one year, so it'll have to wait till next summer.

Next trip planned is probably to Colorado, within the next couple of months, before the snow obviously.

Yeah, I tried that without a bag on the back seat, and it worked out okay, but for the majority of the trip I was carrying a duffle bag right behind me. I guess I should shed my cheapness and get a rack, huh?