I've been visiting this site for a month, right after I bought my first Savage.  I've really enjoyed this site and have learned a great deal about the bike from here.  I knew nothing about the Savage but came across a 1986 on CL for $100 and couldn't pass it up.  It was  in pretty rough shape, all chrome is badly pitted, all aluminium clear coat is gone, needs brakes, needs tires, needs repainting, seats are torn, needs new battery, and is overall rusty/dirty...its perfect!
So far I've:
blasted and painted the frame
cleaned and painted the engine
cleaned and painted the hubs and spokes
polished various aluminum parts (not to the level of Motobuddha)
replaced brakes
replaced tires
new battery (it's new home is in place of the charcoal canister)

Welcome to all the new folks!  You have joined a great bunch of people here.  We hope you'll stick around and share with us!

Hey Everyone!  
     I'm new to the motorcycle world, and I was lucky enough to buy my first bike mid fall of 2010. I ended up with a beautiful 1987 LS 650 Savage with only 14k on it. The only flaw on her was the previous owner went chop shop on the muffler, and thought it'd be cool to weld the exhaust as one piece and rip out the interior of the muffler. Sounded sweet, but ran horribly. I've been looking for some forum I could use to see how to go about my leaking cylinder head gasket.   I found it funny the cylinder head seems to have caused an issue for a lot of people. Due to the leak I don't ride too much, and I'm still learning. After a fixed leak and a MSF class I'll be grindin up street!

Bought 06 ls650 in 07 have put 21000 miles on it to date. loved every mile so far. even if i buy another ride i will keep my Savage. Am 36 yrs old and live on the Mississipi coast. Have been ploding aroun on this site as guest for a few weeks now and find it very informative.      

Hello from 6,000 feet elevation in Cheyenne, WY.  I just bought a Savage '03 with 3,500 miles, after having a GZ250 melt down with some sort of over-heating problem to the point it is now parts.  This is my 20th motorcycle since 1970.
I am a 65 year old retired ex-motocrosser/enduro and trail rider/game biologist with a twice-repaired football/basketball knee, weird motocross rib Xrays, and a titanium shoulder from too much football, baseball, and softball who still needs the speed rush.  I never bought a motorcycle that didn't need "fixing", so based on SuzukiSavage.com I ordered parts yesterday after buying the bike the day before.  
Glad to see a bunch of you have already done the work to get more out of the Savage.  Having the GZ sign out at about 55 mph was getting old, but all things considered I'd rather have sold it than melted it.

welcome all

Hi All: First a big thanks to all who have posted such useful stuff on this site. I have not been riding for some years and was looking around for the right bike and when I heard there was this big single still being made that about did it - then a bit of reading here and a ride cinched it. Just picked up an 06 in great condition and having the fun you all know about.

I am actually a thumper lover from way back - pic below is my old '52 AJS 250 single - bought in 1970 and had it for almost 30 years... it was running probably half that time and finally couldn't face another rebuild and parts hunt so sold it with the idea to find a simple and soulful bike (with left side shift). Nice to know you all.