So i have found a 97 Savage LS650 for $800 and since this will be the first bike that i am ever buying and planning to learn on i am wondering if this is a decent price for the bike and also what I should look for with these bikes as far as areas of concern. I am goin to look at the bike in a few days and would be very gratefull for any assistance.

the guy told me it only had 3500.

Jerry wrote on 01/11/13 at 19:07:01:


Welcome Jerry!

3500 miles is very low for a 1997. It should look and run like new with those miles! $800 is a good price if the scooter is in the condition that equals the miles. I gave $1500 for my '96 last June with 8400 miles but it looked and ran showroom.

Thank you Zar. I am still kind of worried that with the bike being a 97  that it might have some problems with that few of miles but then again this is my first bike so i am not sure what most bike of that age should averages as far as miles. But then again how the previous owner stored it should say a lot as well.

Hey Jerry....
I'm a newbie too, tho I'll be 60 next week. I have been riding a year and a half, but have clocked almost 8000 miles in that time frame. I started with a Rebel, she was a very forgiving bike, but quickly saw too less of CC's can be a safety issue, as you don't have the ability to run out of dangers way.
What has worked for me is to ride well within my means, don't push your ability...it will come. The course is wonderful, I felt way better to handle the road after completion....remember, ain't no fender-benders on a motorcycle, you must always pay attention on a bike, even when your not moving, as a lot of accidents are people hitting a bike from behind as they waited at a light...

I love my 650, bet you will too!

i just bought might 2 weeks ago 99 savage with 16k and an oil leak for 500.00 im fixing my oil leak today but can warn you that it is common on this bike. the head cap leaks but its not a hard job to fix and it really is a great bike with unlimited ways to make it your own. there really is so much you can do to this bike.

It's a good bike to learn on,.. and to keep for a good while (possibly forever)...
...as long as you avoid that initial,.. panic, and lock the throttle WFO...
(that's the stuff Youtube was made for)... ...
If you can avoid that,... or take a rider course on a 250 for a bit,... I'd say it's the ultimate...

Seems like you just need 10 minutes on any bike to know...
Some people seem to have an instinctive... freeze... upon panic...
... and if you freeze, at full throttle,.. that will be bad... ... (even a moped, just not as bad)...

Just remember.... if you panic... let the throttle go...
Practice,.. releasing the throttle, a dozen times before you start your first ride...
You get past that,.. and a Savage is a great stater bike...
It's just capable of shooting you a good bit faster than a 250,.. on those first couple of launches...
That's why a safety course is such a good idea for a noob rider...

Don't be sacred,.. I don't mean to make any new rider scared... just be calm,.. and wise...
(Funny,.. I never thought about it before... but, in a car, it seems much more natural to release the gas pedal in a panic... so many people on bikes, lock the throttle-hand wide open)...

So many more videos of bikes shooting through fences and sheds than cars on Youtube...
...

Normal savage wrongens:
- only happy running on the half choke setting - ignore it, this is a simple $1 fix and is detailed in the tech section, "white spacer mod".
- oil leak from cylinder head.
everything else tally up on a bit of paper and haggle your arse off.
even tally up the two I said are normal and act like they are the end of the world - depends how good you are at this game