I called a place at two different times and asked them about paint. ( I have a modified sportster tank). First time I called I asked them how much to paint said Harley tank.... 550.. WHAT?? So I called later and asked how much to paint a Savage tank 250. Same color about exactly the same size tank. Crazy, I just don't get it.

Great, thanks again for all the input. I guess my only concern was that I plan to ride it a good bit on the interstate(if only for an hour or so at a time though) and I was concerned about the 'small bike' feel of it. But hearing your guys' stories puts me at ease a bit.

Thanks again for everything. I'm going to go sit on a savage before the end of the week for sure.

There aren't a lot of used savages in my area, the only black one I've found has several thousand miles on it and is only listed for 400 bucks less than new, firm

I would love to get something lightly used at a discount so I'll keep hunting.

Jeremy, I have owned a lot of bikes and loved them all, but the first one was the most fun because I could make it my own and learn while doing so. This Savage is very easy to work on and doesn't require a truck load of factory tools. The cost of many of the mods discussed here are in the tens of dollars not the hundreds. I have found that many of these guys really know bikes, and love nothing more than to share. Good buys are out there. Mine was a 2004 with 4600 miles for 1900.00 (like new). My local HD dealer was hawking a used Sportster for 16K. For 1900.00 I can make all the changes I want, drive the wheels off and still get my money back...and have a hell of a lot of fun doing it!
No, it doesn't handle the freeway as well as my Goldwing did, but it handles it plenty well enough.