Well everybody, I learned something totally new today. Finally got the results of the echo cardiogram today and everything is fine (big sigh of relief) so to celibrate I took off for a few hours on the bike. Wouldn't you know it my beastie didn't like dropping into first gear. Didn't let that ruin the day, I just started in second a few times and kept on riding. Got home, took a long look and found that the shaft that the shifter rotates on must of picked up some dirt which jambed up the linkage. A little emery paper and some grease took care of the problem but seems that a grease fitting is the way to go to keep this from happening again. This was the classic stomp on the shifter as hard as you can but it still won't get into first gear. Any thoughts about installing a grease fitting, beats dumping oil on it and the grease will keep the dirt out. I'm just mentioning this cause there have been a fair amount of posts about how hard it is sometimes to downshift a Savage into first gear.

i have trouble with 1st sometimes... let the clutch out , rock the bike ,reengage the clutch,shift..sometimes i have to be in second for this to work

Hey Ed glad to hear(read) your back on road - wouldn't be a big deal to drill, tap, and screw in a zert but seems to me it would be pretty big, a much small hole that would fit a small allen head stainless bolt might give you direct access to the shaft and you can get a 3 inch needle with a zert on the end that fits in the grease gun and would let you pump grease.

Think the problem is that I live on a dirt/sand road and the grit from the road worked down the shaft causing the linkage to bind. Just got back from a quick 30 mile ride around the block and had no problems with down shifting into first. Just another spot to check and oil on a regular basis.