Doing some reading, I learned today about a few older models of bikes.  Some of you oldtimers may already be familiar with them.  The Honda FT500 was a small single cylinder bike available in the early 80's, but only lasted a few years.  Yamaha had the SRX600, another small single cylinder that lasted from '85 until '97.  Aesthetically, these were both a little different from our savage.  They both have more of a sport or motard look than the savage, but technically they have many similarities.  All are air cooled SOHC singles with compression ratios around 8.5:1, 5 speed gearboxes, and the engines laid out in very similar manners internally considering placement of items like filter, clutch, etc.  All weigh around 380 pounds and are very nimble.  However, both Honda and Yamaha were chain drive, had dual disc brakes, had bigger tanks (Y:4.8g, H:3.4g), were kickstart only, had slightly more forward ergonomics and had funky dual header into one muffler systems.  The Yamaha put out considerably more power, while the Honda - being a 500 - put out less than our savage.  However, the Honda could still muster a 93mph top speed!

Everything had it's own unique characteristics, but at the end of the day they all feel like the same basic principal to me.  My questions is:  how did our little Savage come out on top?  Why did these die off so early, and ours has been going on for almost 30 years?  Don't just tell me it was the electric start...

If I'd known about the Yamaha SRX600 before I got my Savage - and I could FIND one - I'm not so sure I'd be here right now.

So many bikes I've admired over the years have been short lived...

SR500,... GN400,... GB500,... GT650,... W650,... VX800,... Goose 350...

I think part of what made the Savage succeed,.. was that it was a cheap, throw away, Sportster to learn on...
... but, when those folks moved on to a Sportster... ... we kept on buying up the used ones... instead of letting them die...

And we just won't shut up talking about how much fun we're having...
...

"automatic compression release" I mean.

I have had both the SR500 and SRX600.
The SR500 was easy to ride, no issues with starting, power very similar to the Savage, good price, good mileage, a good all around bike.  I wish I still had it; there are lots of stuff available for it.

The SRX I had was a pain.  The dual carb system it had did not work well at all.  When I bought it, it included an extra set of carbs.  I tried both and rebuilt both sets, but to no avail.  I got tired of messing with it and sold it.