I do this Savage vs .....   generally every time I buy a new motorcycle to complement my Savage.   I have tried this complement trick 3 times now and every time I post what a Savage is good for vs whatever it was I just bought.

My original Savage was bone stock, was down on the RPM range and down on HP and torque levels compared to my current engine, so please understand I actually have used different length yardsticks over the years -- so I will only talk about what applies to my current Savage.  One more powerful bike, a V twin 535 Virago got lapped by my mods power-wise and was sold off the following spring, so my next V twin foray was a 800cc bike so it wouldn't wind up getting lapped so easily.

The current other now is a Barcalounger, a heavily modified VS800 Suzuki V twin Intruder camping trip & touring motorcycle.   This one was built strictly for long distance body comfort as I am also an aging stage 1-2 diabetic & warfarin rat (post mechanical heart valve patient) and I am also relatively poor dollar-wise as I am heading off into retirement soon, so well maintained used bikes and bike camping is my steady modus operandi now.

The LS650 Savage isn't a really a comfortable bike, it is purely aggressive and nimble and loud and snarly, complete with backfires and rumbles.   The Savage is FUN to ride around town and up in the mountains.   Nothing romps better than a modded Savage when down on the low budget side of things.  

The Savage simply isn't an interstate bike as it flat beats you to death over a long trip on the fast tilted slabs of the interstates.   It has low tank capacity and gets relatively poor gas mileage (post mod anyway).

The Barcalounger is exactly what is says it is, COMFORTABLE and it handles just about like that.   Not bad, it feels very much like a slightly bigger heavier Savage and it handles  almost identical except for the sensations of extra size and weight.   My feet can rest flat on the pavement and I can move the bike around on them slow parking lot turns very easily.   Gas mileage is a relatively bike normal 50-60 mpg and it has enough grunt to easily get out of the way of stupid things out on the interstate.

However, tilt it over far enough in a tight corner on either side and you find a scary "hard touch down" on a solid across the bottom frame section which is always the very first thing to touch down on the pavement.   And the foot pegs are relatively immobile on this bike because the FRAME cross piece hits the ground first ......

Having literally ground off the stock muffler mount on the Savage, having the frame hit first isn't totally unknown to me up in the mountains, but I modded my way away from that condition accordingly.   I have also ground through on one set of Suzuki pegs on one side by grinding the outer portion off until the inner rods were free to go their merry way.   FAST hard mountain turns require more bike tilt than Suzuki provides with either bike.

So, Barcalounger for longer trips (with camping carry capacity) and a trailered Savage for mountain Romping is my current bike mix.


        .....   Oh, did I mention the Barcalounger carries 8.5 gallons of gas for far fewer open road gas stops?

Age and $ limit me to one bike. Modifications have made the S40 near perfect for my requirements. Longer shocks and 4" FC greatly improve riding comfort. Engine now has the oomph for high altitude and the gearing to cruse comfortably all day at 60-65 MPH , AND get 50-55 MPG.    

Upon review by my better half I need to amend my previous posting. She felt I needed to add that her bike is very intimidating to hear. Much like she is (shhhhh  )
She's got Vance & Hines pipes that make her bike about twice as loud as the big HD across the alleyway. To me it sounds at idle much like a trawler - but you didn't hear that from me.
So mild mannered but very, extremely intimidating Vstar.
Thumpy runs circles around it  

Tha Savage is a fine machine. It takes many forms for many different purposes. It is a blank canvas , it is a ball of clay make what you will with it. It has it's faults , most of them have been corrected by our outstanding members. The most important thing that everyone seems to forget about, a old timer passed this on to me,the true pleasures of riding a big single can be measured by the grin on ones face as you step off it after a good ride ! It's just freakin fun to ride ! In any form !

Oh, and it's a great bike to learn maintenance and mods on.

MMRanch, did you need to modify the cables or any of the wiring when you changed to the Sportster handlebars?

I've been looking at options for handlebars and really like the Sportster bars.

Kenny G wrote on 03/21/17 at 21:07:49:


That's ideal! And not terribly priced. I will get her this for her birthday along with those highway bars she wants.
Thanks!

Thanks fur the reply ☺

I'll look into it some more

MMRanch wrote on 03/22/17 at 07:33:45: