Dave wrote on 10/11/13 at 06:19:30:

I had one of those!!!
Only mine was a GM.

I used to have an 83 Chevy van with a 305 V8. Doing a tune-up was fun, just remove the doghouse and sit in the seat while you pulled the plugs and replaced them.

28.  I've been riding for 10 years now, and I've only owned Suzuki's.  I've ridden crotch rockets and dirt bikes mostly, and the LS650 is my first bike that doesn't wreck my body after a 5 hour ride.

I turned 50 this past Christmas Eve. My mind still thinks I'm in my early 20's.  Sometimes my body feels like I am in my 80's.  For the last few years, I've been getting aches and pains. I get tired much easier.  Don't eat as much as I used to and am still growing a belly. People at stores and restaurants have started calling me sir. I have been getting things from AARP -addressed to me!

I'm actually in pretty good health for someone who does not go to the gym, has smoked all his adult life, and eats good ol southern food. I have no medical conditions that I know of, am not on any medication.

I've been riding since I was 10 or 11 and would still much rather ride than be in a car.  But bad weather affects me much more now than in the past. I can't stand cold. I remember riding to work on the Goldwing when the temps were in the low 20's many, many times just 'cause I felt like taking the bike.

I have a full set of late 70's / early 80's "heavy iron" audio equipment that works perfectly. I have a functional 8-track player/recorder deck (can't buy tape for it), a cassette deck, equalizer, top of the line turntable made just as vinyl was going out, big speakers, 110w and 80w and 85w and 45w receivers and amps, lots of vinyl to play. Vinyl is making a BIG come-back.  People are discovering that digital lack of quality is nowhere near as good as all the nice, natural harmonics and feeling you get from good analog recordings. It lets you make exact copies with never losing quality and doesn't wear out but the quality just isn't there from the beginning.

I remember many of the cars we had only had AM radio in them. You could crawl in with the engine and work on it with just a few hand tools and a torque wrench. Only the 1 wire to the ignition required to make the engine run. (try that these days). Pretty much every bike had a kick starter...some even had one of those new electric starters that worked sometimes. I remember when gas hit $.25 per gal. my dad fussed about being ripped off and sold his big american car and bought a VW so "those thieves" would get as little out of him as possible.

Looks like the Savage should be marketed to older guys getting back into riding or tired of the tiny crotch rocket inspired offerings these days. I was sure happy to see something of recent production that wasn't all plastic and computer controlled. I just wish they had better seats and maybe a little more room.

Thanks for letting me ramble, guys.  It's really been nice reading all the stuff in this thread and remembering some things I haven't thought of or heard in years.