I wish I could remember the post, but someone here recalled the tale of a gal who went cross country on hers. Paladin went from California to Oklahoma and back, I think Jack_650 has made more than one long distance trip, there are more, and I'm sure the rest of the group will fill in the blanks. Myself, I've made three fairly long trips on the bike. Two at 700 miles, and one at just under 500 miles. Now that I've finally got the seat the way I want it, I'm itching to put some more distance miles on it (stupid job!).
If you read up on the MC travel websites like ADVrider and Horizons Unlimited, you'll find stories by and of people who've traveled long distances on everything from 50cc scooters, all the way up to the big gun touring RTW bikes. Any bike, with the right comfort and mechanical mods, can be a long distance tourer. While I wouldn't consider the Savage for a RTW, I wouldn't hesitate to go cross country in a heartbeat; and hope I get the chance in the not too distant future.
For long distance riding you want IMHO three things; reliability (Savage has that hands down), comfort (OK, you'll need to do some mods, but it's doable), and economy (easy on gas, easy on maintenence; so that's covered). The engine will cruise all day at 70 (my sweet spot is about 65), and will do more when you need it too. I have done the interstate for my trips, and the bike handled it just fine. Trucks? No problem. Sustained 25-30mph headwinds? Not fun, but the bike and I managed. The only short coming was the small tank, and there's a thread here on alternate fuel tank ideas that has that pretty well sorted for less than $30.
Hit the road and have fun!!

beatduck?

I doubt noisier pipes, larger carbs and reground cams improve touring that much. More noise can be too much after several 12 hour days and more radical engine mods lessen tank range which isn't excessive to begin with. Our bike had sorted jetting and relatively quiet pipe which was quite right for longer trips. I never thought wringing more power out of it would improve 90 to 110 kph cruising.

  how many bike lengths would it pull a stock one from 40mph -70mph in high gear?

I followed a thread on a Honda Ruckus message board(49cc scooter) about a guy doing a cross country trip on one of those things. People used to tour on 250's. So hell yeah it can be done.

20 or 30 years ago if you had a 650cc it was the bee's knees. So power wise I wouldnt be very concerned at all. I would just concentrate on modifications that make the bike as comfortable as possible(seat, forward controls, appropriate handle bars, etc). And probably a larger tank - especially if you were touring with a buddy or two.

Rocco

What it really needs to run long distances is more comfort, less tiring for the rider, and very high reliability.  More power is not the first requirement.

So...
--very reliable tires, maybe better handling than the stock IRC, in stock size (I have Pirelli MT66 Route tires going on later this week).
--Windshield or fairing that comes up just below your eyes (I have a National Cycle Plexifairing GT that needs to be cut down 2").
--Full protective leather outfit including boots & gloves, or armored fabric gear.
--Better seat.
--Minor position adjustments to fit you better.
--Minimize the noise level to minimize rider fatigue.
--Read ALL of David L. Hough's books and practice what he says to practice so the maneuvers you'll need for an emergency are your everyday actions, just done more quickly.
--A K&N air filter likely makes no difference except maybe when just cleaned and at wide open throttle.  I think K&N is more hype than performance.
--For a bit more power get a SuperTrapp #728-50650 muffler with the minimum number of discs installed for more low-end power and least noise.  Video & sound.  $300 at Dennis Kirk.
--Re-jet the carburetor as needed for the equipment you have.
--Lancer's cam upgrade sounds like a good thing, but not before the seat, windshield, and position adjustments.
--If you'll run more than 100 miles between stops, more gas (and you won't run that far on the stock seat... )

Keep in mind that tired people make mistakes.  Tired motorcycle riders make mistakes that hurt.  

There is a difference between top end power and usable power.  Low end and mid range power is what you'll use all the time.  Top end power is used very seldom, just at max rpms and wide open throttle.  Yes, fun, but not that useful.  Even a racer benefits from the mid range power to get away first from the start line or to pull ahead exiting the corner.  You'll need the mid range power when passing a car.

Rocco wrote on 05/25/09 at 10:07:13:


Which is why I wrote this article. http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1228800465/0#0