For some reason, my wonderful savage has a few interesting problems.

First off: it will sometimes die on me while riding on the freeway at 70mph or more or right after getting on the freeway and having to merge.

Second: Every time after I ride, it looks like fuel has been leaking from the front of the motor somewhere because the side of the motor is always extremely dirty.

Third: In the past four years of owning the bike I've gone through four batteries.  I bought a new one this past summer and I just had to replace it yesterday.

Fourth: I get really bad mileage.  I couldn't even make it 65 miles on a single tank.  Had the dealer look at it but all they did was replace the air filter and spark plug.

That's it for now and I really appreciate any feedback whatsoever on any of the above problems.

Are you buying sealed batteries?  In warm climates, the original vented battery can dry out which can ruin the battery.

Are you sure the dirt on engine side is from fuel.  Could it be from oil?

The first and fourth items are most likely related.  Look for a vacuum leak in the hose that controls the vacuum shutoff to the tank petcock.

Check for fuel in the vacuum line too.

The dying problem is most likely a dryed out cracked vac line, replace and use the clamps with it any leak will cause your problem.

If that don't cure it, pull out the petcock and make sure the screen is clear.  sometimes get loaded with stuff.

And if you're still having issues, clean the carb.  make to pull the float valve seat and clean the screen.

Bad mileage, is this sudden?  cleaning the carb might clear this up.  make sure to clean the slide, should be silver not dark.

Battery problem, haven't heard that one but Tmack is right.  A maintenance free battery would be your best bet.  However, check your voltage while running, too high a voltage will burn out a battery.

Thanks a lot for the help so far, I'll definitely try all those things.

Far as the battery goes, the one that just died on me from the summer was a sealed battery.  The dealer said that the bike may not be charging it as it's being used.

And thanks Paladin for the offer but I go to school in San Jose right now and won't be home to sunny so-cal until mid-june.