.. part 2 ..
Since selling the Savage I started to do some bike maintenance side work with small things, valve adjustments, brake and carb overhauls, and finally became friends with a national A class racer and have helped him since 1996 or so, in 600 Supersport A, 600 Std and 600 Stocksport classes, mostly national but also a few Scandinavian races. No amount of street bike riding or maintenance has taught me about serious bike maintenance as much as hundreds of race weekends camping in paddocks. This is why I think I know something about performance modifications. I won't say anyone shouldn't put on a, say, HD exhaust if he/she likes it, but as a serious performance modification.. no, never. Next one who mails me to tell original HD exhausts are the best power upgrade to any bike should first explain me why even Harley guys want to get rid of the pipes in the first place.
I honestly think Savage culture and heritage could use a kick forward, maybe slightly away from HD exhausts and vinyl fringes, 'plug reading' and some of the wrong kind of biker mentality. Singles don't need to be developmental backwater. For a nice thumper example take a look at
this local supermoto thumper. Suzuki DR762, Schnitzer S 39 turbo, intercooler, oil cooler, Megasquirt v3 EFI, lots of carbon fiber parts which owner made himself plus suspension and brakes from several donor bikes. There are few reasons why a Savage could not have basically same engine modifications. I would really like to see Savage, not necessarily just like this, just a bit like this, improving handling and performance in a noticeable way.
In regards to missing spell checker there actually is one in my Finnish MS Word, but I never know should I use the US english or British english spelling because there are readers from all over the globe. That's why I don't use it. I know Americans have a funny way of saying 'tires' and 'grey' and 'awesome' but I've never learnt the finer points of the dialect. Maybe someone would point out the most glaring mistakes so I may correct them at the next version edit. Also, those who say they know far better than me, I honestly need every bit of performance minded technical info you could give me, there's another racing season appearing and we need to run against riders 20 years younger and 80 pounds lighter, some of which have had wildcard rides in WSS and WSB. Any help is appreciated, thank you.
And, finally, no I don't sneer at the bike you ride. Do not forget I used to ride one myself. I may sneer, for example, to people who do more forum posting than actual riding. I think bike fraternities, including Savage 'community' do not need posing, lots of ordinary riding should do just fine, stock or modified bike.
If anyone wants to comment my view of things, my e-mail is rdr647 (at) netti.fi . Mention 'Savage' or LS650' so your mail won't be spam filtered.
Best regards,
Tumi Laamanen
Finland