Thanks Verslagen, looking into those two projects now.

And JC, after reading about the TCAT, it sounds like an excellent idea, thank you!

Welcome! You picked a great bike. Light and maneuverable but with enough oomph that it is not a beginner bike. And that's great that you lady has one too. I got my savage as my first bike in 07, an 03 with 2075 miles, and was a complete n00b. It has almost 24k on it now and I have helped build several custom bikes since. My advice is read lots of the articles in the tech section. Learn about your bike and do as much as your own work as possible. You will always have a better understanding of your machine than some mechanic who is seeing it for the first time. And if he 2can do it, you can learn it too. You just might need to buy a few tools.

With 13k, your bike won't need anything more than an oil change and maybe a splash of carb cleaner couldn't hurt (there is much debate over the legitimacy of certain brands, but let's not get into that). The cam chain tensioner should be ok until 18 or 20k. Look at it then unless it seems noisy. IMO, leave the front fender on for now, it keeps it stable, keeps the mud out of your eye, and is free.

Good luck!