The bikes been sitting too long.  Most bikes don't wear out, they die of neglect.
The jets and passages in the carb will be gummed up.  Needs cleaning.
You can try Seafoam additive if you like, but I'd pull the carb and clean it out.
Seems like I have to do it with every bike I buy.
People buy them and don't ride them, gas turns bad...

I'm not the best one to answer these questions, but i'll take a swing at them:

1) most likely ok to jump a bike from a car. it was suggested i do that last winter when i wore my battery down trying to start my bike in 20 degree weather. i ended up push starting it down a nice big hill later... i'd imagine any motorcycle dealership can charge your battery, or you can pick up a trickle charger (better idea than the dealership) and charge it yourself. it would be good to get a charger if you plan on storing your bike for the winter.

2) I don't think any savage has an "off". "ON" works on a vacuum created from the engine, so "ON" shouldn't leak out more fuel then what is already in the line (couple of drops). "RES" works on vacuum too, but only use that when you've run out of gas in the "ON" position. think of the switch between RES and ON like a low fuel light. when you run out of gas in ON and switch to RES, you need to make your next stop a gas station (within 10-20 miles).

PRI works on gravity, and to make removing the tank easier you'll use this setting, combined with a gas can. leave the petcock in the ON position, disconnect the fuel hose and place it in a gas can, turn the petcock to PRI, and wait while the tank drains... this makes it much easier to remove the tank.

3) no idea about the socket... sorry

4) again, no idea about them being the same, but a can of carb cleaner is $2.5, so in my opinion it is worth it, just so i know i got the right stuff...

5) just guessing? 20-30 minutes. that isn't really how you are supposed to use sea-foam (there is a topic specifically about that here on the forum somewhere) but it might work. don't quote me on either of those things...

6) not in my opinion. I had a generous member (BurnPgh) of this forum come help me with the first time i took apart the carb, and i was really glad i had someone to help. things have a way of getting all messed up real fast... but i have a cloud of bad luck, so it might just be me. no special tools but infinite patience... maybe vice grips to tackle some of the screws up on top of the carb that are notorious for being softer than butter on a hot day.

7) check for oil, gas, and exhaust leaks. if the gas in the tank is old, replace it. run some sea-foam through it... find out when the last oil change was, you might want to put new oil in it. I'd say leave taking the carb apart for a last-resort kind of thing, but that is my opinion, and i'm sure 90% of this forum will say you can do it given a weekend afternoon... i'm just kinda weary of it.

keep the questions coming, i hope we can help.

as a side note, seeing as how you seem to be a newer rider, i'd look into taking a safety course for motorcycles. lots of good stuff in those classes.

2300 miles aint anything great, in the last 8 months I bought an 87 with 2522 and a 00 with 3312. The 87 had carbs that were black as tar ...
This is the pic ...
http://picasaweb.google.com/srinath.the.man/GummedUpCarbs#

The 00 luckily had no carbs ... right ... none ... I bought from sakara and threw it in and had it running in minutes.

The Sea foam trick will work only if its lightly gummed. Like mine, it wont make a scratch on it. I went through mine with gas carb spray cleaner and a brush ... hours together ... over many many days.
Like first scrape and take off as much of the glazed crap as you can. Then, soak in gas a few days. Then brush it in the gas. You can add seafoam or whatever to that gas ... makes not much diff. Then spray everythign and brush. Then soak back in fresh gas a few days ... repeat ... progressively you'd open up more and more and more of the carb. The gum wil lhave gummed the float pin stuck ... several rounds of this and it will come loose ... then the floats will need more cleaning and that will come off etc etc etc.

Anyway, clean the carbs drop a new battery in and most of the trouble will go away.

On and Res are both vacuum operated, pri is not. So it should close on those 2. However bad carb could also mean bad petcock. So one or more may may not work as intended.

On a hot day without air flow, I'd not run it more than 20 mins without moving.

Cool.
Srinath.

When a bike sits up, sometimes the gas tank develops rust inside and this can clog up the screen filter (attached to the petcock inside the tank).  You can clean the filter, but a rusty tank needs to be cleaned, etched, and re-silvered.  Even then, it might rust through later.  So, there's you somethin else to worry bout!

I would replace all fuel & vacuum lines.  Replace brake hose.  Lube & adjust everything.  Adjust valves.  Back to carb:  There will be frozen screws.  Gunsmith's punches and lots of patience will help.  Get the correct Japanese standard drivers and vow to never let a driver slip, use antiseize in reassembly on carb bits.

If things are a mess in the carb, I'd probably just buy a new one.

Go through everything, though.  Might even scuff up the disk and clean the brake pads.  Everything is suspect!

I'm back, with more questions as usual.  Bolded them again for those who want to skip my rambling.

First of all, I got it running!  I took the gas tank off, drained all the old fuel out, checked the petc0ck screen while I was there, changed the spark plug.  I went to Lowe's and Wal-Mart to look for a socket with no luck, so I just went to Sears and got one.  I don't really care about brands, but I have broken a few tools and their lifetime warranty's nice (although I'm pretty sure I lose more tools than I break).  The one from Sears fit fine.  The spark plug looked okay, a little dark, but not bad.

Speaking of, which spark plug should I use?  I accidentally bought an NGK DPR7EA-9 instead of the 8EA-9.  The manual says to use it "If the standard plug's insulator is dark."  Should I just keep the 7EA-9 or get an 8EA-9?  What's the difference?

I started to put the fuel tank back on, and found a little round thing on the ground where I had it.  It looked like it was metal with maybe some rubber on it.  It fit perfectly in the speedo cable on the end that hooks into the crankcase, so I put it there.  Was that where it was supposed to go?  I put the flat side down (the other side was kinda hollow/grooved).

Anyway, I put everything back together, and noticed a rubber tube coming out of the back side of the carburetor and coming up under the fuel tank that wasn't attached to anything.  I didn't see anywhere for it to go, so I just left it.  Is that normal?  What's it for?

With the fuel tank still empty, I poured a couple ounces of sea foam in the tank, put the fuel to RES, and jump started it (battery's still dead).  It started up right away, but then died after running, i dunno, maybe 30 secs.  So I went ahead and added another couple ounces of sea foam, put a couple gallons of gas in the tank, and put the fuel back to ON.  This time it wouldn't start at all.  At first I thought it maybe didn't have enough gas, but now my guess is either I somehow flooded it or the sea foam kept it from starting (i know cleaner-type stuff can make an engine run a little rough while it's doing its thing).

I experimented with different positions of the choke, tried starting it a few times, then let it rest a minute or two.  It seemed to like the middle choke position the best.  Finally I got to the point where it would putter for a few seconds, so I kept at it, and finally got it started.  It ran really low for a really long time; any time I would give it gas it would just die, so I just let it run.  Finally I gave it some gas and it revved, so I let it idle a bit, and it seems to run just fine now.

I rode it first thing to the nearest gas station and filled up the tires, cause they were low.  I had a bear of a time getting the air hose to fit on the back valve stem, but finally managed to squeeze it on.  I killed the engine when I got there cause I put the kickstand down when it was still in gear.  I'll have to get used to that.  I didn't feel like trying to push start it, so I jumped it again.

It's pretty zippy, especially since the only other kinda bike I've ridden is a Kawasaki 250 during the safety course.

So now it's running great.  The only issues I have now are the battery doesn't seem to want to stay charged and I think I need a new back tire cause it's dry rotted.  I've got the battery at Autozone now charging.  I'm not made out of money, and I really don't want to have to buy a new battery if I don't have to.  The sticker on this one's from May, so it should be okay.  Can/should I add distilled water or acid to the battery?  This one doesn't have a window to check the acid level, and it may be "maintenance free," but it looks like there's a plastic thing on top I could pop off to add acid if I need.

What can I expect to pay for a set of new tires (including mounting and balancing), and what kind of place should I go to?  I'm not sure if I should go to a dealer, a local motorcycle shop, or some kind of chain.  Only the back tire seems dry rotted, but I figure it would probably be a good idea to change the front one while I'm at it.  I may be cheap, but tires are one thing I don't mess around with.

Lastly (for now ), I'm not sure about oil.  I drained the existing oil first thing and put some Autozone brand 10W-40 in it, just to be safe.  I read on here that oils with "Energy star" additive will make the clutch slip.  It didn't say anything about that on the bottle, but it was just a temporary thing anyway.  I bought some Castrol synthetic 10W-40, but then saw on here that people recommend the Rotella T 15W-40 or 5W-40 synthetic, so I bought a gallon of the synthetic.  I want something that'll stand up better to this Texas heat.  I know I might not need to change the oil filter right now, but that's something else I don't mess around with.  Where's the best place to buy an oil filter?  How much do they cost?

Rubber tube sounds to me like a vent hose, if it's coming out the top rear of the carb.  There should be two, one on each side, and they should just lay under the seat along the frame rail.  Little round thing, sounds like you did the right thing.

I priced a battery at Battery King where I live.  It was about $45.  You add only distilled water to the battery for routine maintenance.  They put the acid in when you buy it.

I don't think you can buy tires locally except at a motorcycle shop.  If you have to have them mounted, shop for best price.  Front tire by itself = $75 - $100.  Rear tire by itself = $100 - $125.  Mounting $25+ each.  Consider doing it yourself.  It takes some muscle and sweat and cussing and pounding, but to me it's worth it.  You can order them online usually for less.  A compromise would be to take the tires/wheels off and take them to the shop; they should charge less than having to remove them from the bike and put them back on.

Oil should be only motorcycle oil.  I wouldn't use AutoZone brand or any other car oil.  Rotella (diesel engine) is the only brand I recall that works for us.  Oil filter is $5 or so at a dealer, $3 plus shipping from JCWhitney.