stick to you guns. buy the savage.  walk in ask for the owner tell him what you want. if he won't help go else where.  

don't be pushed into buying something you dont want/need . it's your cash..  remind them of that.

they don't like the savage because they don't sell any accessories, and most people work on them their selfs do to the simplicity.

If memory serves, some people on this site converted to chain drive and then changed sprocket ratios to provide a higher top end.  You might want to post that question and see what responses you get.

It's not a highway bike, if that's what you're looking for.  But it'll do highway if you want it too.  If that's just a occasional thing,... buy the bike.
A savage is three times a Rebel.  More equal to a Sportster, or 650 V-Star... they aren't great highway bikes either, but they'll do it.  In the 60's the Savage would have been considered a big bike.  Only thing that's changed is the size of our ego's...

1st He can't sell what he don't have.
2nd I ride daily, averaging 70 for a half hour.
3rd I've riden an hour at 70, then up a hill for another 1/2 hour.
The only trouble I had was monkey but and where to fill up.
The stock bars have weights welded in them to damp out the buzz.
I don't have stock bars.

And if he thinks a 250 has the same kick in the but accelleration...
well, he can't sell what doesn't have.  

So is he serving you? or himself?

Just tell 'em, 'no thanks, got a line on a sportster to check out'.
That ought to piss'em off.

BTW, good bargaining technique, 'what do you mean you don't got yeller? Had my heart set on that color'.  Of course make sure he don't have that color.

I've cruised with an M109R 1800 cc, a Vstar 650, and several other big twins. My Savage always keeps up with them and even impresses the others with it's power and agility (even with my mods). This bike WILL do what you are wanting with no trouble at all.

I just tried to add another reply, with part of an ad for a 650 Triumph. I got warned it was spam & 2 more & I am banned! Crappola..

Anyway, back in the 60's there were 650's out there that would run 100MPH+. The HP/CC was higher. I believe the reason the 650-800 CC class fails to deliver the HP now is so the Big Bikes will sell. If they build a small bike that satisfies the needs of the majority, sales on the Monsters will fall off & their profit margin will suffer.
My opinion, may be off by miles.
Ill try this one more time, just a link instead of a copy & paste of text.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1965-triumph-t120-bonneville.htm

Kevininsc wrote on 01/16/09 at 11:45:07:


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.