A month or so I met this fella in Portland Or that had recently purchased a LS650 and it has a total of 4,000 miles on it when today he told me he traded it in on a brand new 900cc Triumph Bonneville because he has had nothing but trouble with the Suzuki. Still on warranty and been in the shop several times. Last straw was the other day when he found out it has a blown head gasket.  Yet my bike which is a 02,  bought new in late 2003 off the show room floor. I am now just 200 miles from reaching 55,000 miles and my bike has yet to see a repair shop and in fact it has never broken down on me once since I have had it. It still runs as good as new and it actually looks better than it did when it was brand new.  Altho it did not need it, I changed the cam chain at 33,000 miles just because it was a long winter and I was bored. It has no oil leaks and you could wipe a white glove over any part of the engine and frame and it would come off clean. I have ridden it across at least 15 states and longest ride was a little over 7,000 miles in one month. Portland Or to Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, South Dakota, Montana and Washington on the return. Well today a guy offered me $2,500 for my bike. He thought it was brand new. With this many miles, should I do it?  Like I said, other than basic maintenance and tires, it still runs like a clock. I would like to do one more cross country trip at least in my life and just do not know if this single cylinder will hold up another 25,000 or so. I would consider doing the Versy mod if I decide to keep it because all this talk of cam chains breaking scares me. I detect no ticking from the clutch cover so I presume it is still fine but maybe I am pushing my luck. If I decide to sell it I have chose either the Bolt or The kawasaki 650 that I saw in here the other day as a replacement.  I keep going back to the  Kaw pic. Love that bike! So is it time to sell the Savage because of the high miles? $2,500 is alot of money for a used high mileage Savage. It would be like selling one of my family members. What would you do? In fact, if you would consider buying one of my family members, the choice would be easy. I could have the Kaw and afford to keep my Savage also!

Black 02, 54,800 miles, Lancers high performance cam, rejetted, Supertrapp muffler. Looks like new. Polished engine covers. I am going to finally post a pic of me and my bike this week About time. been a member in here since 03.

Agreed, if you can afford to keep both and have the space do it!  If you feel the Kawasaki is what you NEED but have to sell the LS650 do do it, well that's a much more difficult decision  

If I were you I would keep the savage and explore the other options.  More than likely it won't cost to much to maintain it moving forward.  I probably wouldn't take a multi-state journey on a 10+ year old single; although, that's just me.

If you want to sell it to that fella, just be honest with him.  Bad karma may be around the corner.

JMHO

Phhhhht, blown head gasket..
Who says?

If it's running like it did before the oil leak showed up,the head gasket is fine..it's a rubber plug in the head.. every time,for the 8 years I've been here. If he's having a bad time with it,I'll bet it is the fault of the mechanic,not the bike. I've never seen anyone get a lemon. Unless it's been abused,low RPM idle speed,run low on oil,.needs a Raptor petcock or has a leaky exhaust,wrong jets,,, valves not right,, but,I'd need to see the list of complaints,, and know more about the owner.Till they,I'm believing the bike is simple to get running right and made dependable.