Kevininsc wrote on 01/16/09 at 11:45:07: .... I am in my mid 50s and want something that is dependable; not too big/heavy; and easy to work on; and more power than a 250.
The salesman then started to try to talk me out of the Savage, saying that if you are going to do any interstate riding (above 65mph) for any length of time (other than a couple of exits) then the Savage is definately not the bike!!! ...
I mentioned to them both (after sitting on various larger cruisers), that I really didn't want a 525lb bike, but did in fact want to occassionally go on the interstate (around 1 to 2 hours) @ 70/75 mph. They again started in with "it will buzz like crazy!"; it will get blown around!; it will be scary!; it will be dangerous!; your hands will get numb; and, it just won't be any fun!!!!
I was late '50's when I got back into biking. I am
NOT about to try to muscle 500+ pounds of motorcycle around. 400 pounds absolute tops for a street bike. I was on rec.motorcycles and no one could come up with anything to match the Savage.
Like you, my local dealer didn't have any and bad-mouthed it... vibrates, leaks oil. (ummmm it's a THUMPER! It is supposed to vibrate. Leaking oil would be a pitiful service department.) I got a used Savage. That was four+ years 20,000+ miles ago. When I started riding it I was rather disappointed in the LACK of vibration. Suzuki has really engineered the counterbalancer. As I remember, my '8? GS450E Twin was far buzzier.
High speed for more than a couple of exits? Hello? Can we say Los Angeles Freeways? I ran the Harbor Freeway from the 91 south to the end, mostly 75-80, got up to about 85 but that was where my eyeballs started vibrating, but more from the pavement than the motor.
I wondered about my endurance, so one Friday I get off work, go home and take a nap, leave Gardena about 9 pm, run out to Yucca Valley, gas up, take a lazy putt across Joshua Tree National Park (they don't charge admission after midnight!) under a full moon. Have breakfast in a Denny's, head home pushing HEAVY headwinds, hit some pea soup fog and pulled off for a while and ran on the road beside the freeway, mostly, only got a little bit lost. Eventually made it back home, 'bout 7 am. 350 miles. And I wasn't tired! To me it is rather fascinating that where I would get bone tired driving, I was was remaining alert on the bike.
Did it again, with a National Cycle Street Shield, which defeated those headwinds on the I-10. Me and the Bike did fine.
So I rode the bike to the GEEIA Reunion. L.A. to Holbrook AZ the first day (570 miles) then to Amarillo the second day (510 miles). I did not get blown around, that I noticed. It was not at all scary. A WHOLE BUNCH safer than the streets of Los Angeles. My hands did not get numb -- without gloves for much of the time. It was so much fun I'll be riding to San Antonio for this year's reunion, or maybe out to Arkansas to see #1 daughter, or both, no firm plans yet.
I will admit that my butt and feet got sore enough that I cut back to 300 mile days on the return to L.A.. But I have a springer saddle now, and will be looking at installing floorboards before August.
I'm looking for range extenders. I have a 1 gallon gas can that fits in a saddlebag, so I can carry a 60 mile emergency range extender if I so wish. I'm working on tallering a stock tank, to make it 4 to 4.5 gallons. But that would be more a convience matter. With the Internet I can plot out gas stations ahead of time and plan accordingly. If you are on the Interstate system you can fuel up at 24 hour truck stops, and get a good meal to boot. Or use the AAA TripTiK on-line trip planner which will plot out nearly every gas station in America.