I'm looking at getting my first bike ever and fell in love with the savage. There's a couple of problems though living in Kansas it's very hard to find a used one and my wifes father is an extremly pushy Harley guy and my dad Is a lifelong triumph buyer. Both have offered either a bonneville or nightster to me for the same price as new s40 and both have given me alot of greif over even looking at a savage. I don't know what to do as a beginner. If I get the savage what are somethings I cam tell them justify picking it over the bonne or Harley . Thanks in advance

If they're offering to pay then I'd go with the Triumph. I've always liked the look of them. But why buy new???

You're best argument for the Suzi is that if you go used, you've only spent like 2500 for a pretty new bike that is way fun to ride. Plus, if they like to wrench their gonna love how easy the savage is to work on (except for the crappy screws).

Look you're a beginner right?
Tell them you want a cheap light bike to get your wheels rolling and if you drop the thing, you'll only cry half a tear.  Then when you got your wheels on straight you might take 'em up on their offer.
Get yourself anything later than a '95 with under 20k miles for $1500 give or take 500 and have fun.
Cut the muffler off and put a straight pipe so you're louder than the HD and he'll be impressed.
Rejet it and make him cry when he can't shake you.
Rub it in, call your bike a moped as in "your dad can't outrun a moped"

What Versy says, is a good point...
Plus,.. what Paladin says...

verslagen1 wrote on 06/22/10 at 14:58:10:


Paladin. wrote on 06/22/10 at 14:48:52:



Tell them it's what you like...
That's why they ride what they ride...

If your looking for a round town bike and back roads the s40 is the best choice,But if you want to ride double and go any distance its not a good choice.If you buy and S40 buy new or other wise you will been spending your time working on it instead of riding.

This one is really old school.
Oil leaks are common but not difficult to fix...
head plug - take head cover off and replace.  visible behind header.
head - retorque head if not too bad, new head gasket if it is.  visible on underside of head.
clutch arm - r&r cover, replace o-ring.
various o-rings on inspection covers.
valve ticking, easy to adjust, just like old vdub
problems to watch out for are knocking on the right side above the oil filter cover, easy fix, just mutter cam chain $600 to fix.
Take some time and isolate any noises you hear by touching various things and see if the noise goes away.

A lot of the stuff your dad and in-law knows will transfer right over.
and what they don't know we do.  just ask, someone here's done it.

... on the other hand,... I always buy used...
Let some other guy take the sticker shock...  a bike loses a thousand dollars of value when it leaves the dealership parking lot...
I usually $1200 to $1800 for a Savage with 3 to 6 thousand miles on it...  96' to 04'...
I've bought and sold 6 of them...
I've got 24k miles on my 97' with no major problems... I paid $1500 for it back in 03' with 3200 miles on it...

I wouldn't have another Evolution Sportster on a dare, given to me brand new, with free gas/oil/tires/pistons thrown in. For the length of my life. Top heavy, cramped, lousy power to weight ratio (stoplight to stoplight a Savage will eat a 1200 piglet), parts fall off (lights), leaky external oil tank and lines, undergeared, 2X6 seat "padding", rear cylinder overheats frequently...

I haven't played with any modernized Bonnevilles, biggest difference I see against my 1964s (gave away because they were such heaps) is better electrical system and no more external oil tank/lines. The brakes are supposedly pretty good though.

How many Savages do you see traded in for a Big Twin Harley versus how many Sporties come back within a year for something better, more comfortable, larger...

A new Savage is a $4500 throw away. A new Sporty is an $8-12K throw away. No matter how much you like riding, you buy a new ride, you've thrown that money away. You'll never get back your initial investment if you move on to something else.