Hey guys,
I am currently looking at buying a older bike and I really like the savage. I have tried to look up information on what I should be looking at when  i am looking at them but I cant not find much. I am currently looking at two separate 86 savages. They both have around 17000 km and they are both in decent shape as far as looks. They both want $1900 for them. What should i be looking for and listening for when i test drive them? How is that for price? I have not come across a lot of them so its hard for me to price them out. I appreciate any information I can get!

Thanks

That model year, it should have a 4 speed gearbox, so that's nice. I like the 4 speed.

Price is higher than I would like, but, since you're talking kilometers, maybe where you are, that's a reasonable price.
It's thirty years old, and the mileage says that it was parked a lot more than not. Look in the tank for rust. If it's running, good.  Not running, not buying for that money.
Nice thing about the older ones was they came from the factory with reasonable jetting. You can ditch the muffler and put a Dyna on and get away with adjusting the idle air,
The downside is the starter gear setup. It's easy for it to be busted, but can be retrofitted with the modern parts,
All the plastic is thirty years old, so look closely at everything.
Just walking around it , envisioning riding and how wonderful it will be is probably not the best approach.

yes looks good and seem like all the parts are in please )))
so check the reference and bay if you like it but I will steel bargain  

This is the other savage,  this one looks original. Do you think that grey bike was damaged?  Or some one just painted it.  I like this orange one but the motor looks a little rough like it sat outside a while

Ankleecr wrote on 05/05/16 at 07:58:18:



You can ask her if she had it painted. If so, why.

Look at how the tank reflects light, lean back and forth, look for distortions. You can run a hand over it and feel for distortions

I like the gray one a lot better. The other one might rub out and look good.. but the seat is still thirty.

I'd hafta listen to them run to decide. I would wanna ride them.
And talk to the owners.
If they tell you how they pamper it by always letting it warm up good before they ride it, that's not good news. That slowly wrecks the cam.

I'd take a piece of tubing to use to listen to the engine.
If it's idling low, loping , sounding like a Harley, that's not good either, same reason, cam..