I'm 71 and this is my sixth and (probably) last bike. Previously... 1967 Triumph TR6R, 1975 Honda 550, 2000 H-D Fatboy, 2003 Honda VFR800, 2008 Yamaha FJR.

Living in Garfield, NM, these two-lane roads suit me just fine. Not sure what the top speed is on the LS, but she runs fine at 75 mph, though normally I'm at 60-65. Great ride on Highway 187 from Garfield into Truth or Consequences, NM... a wonderfully funky town.

Vibration not a problem me cause it's a low frequency whereas some of the four bangers I've ridden seem to have a high frequency vibe at high speeds making my fingers go numb.

2300 miles on the bike (bought it new in 2016 cause the 2015 was all they had so I got some money off). Decided to change oil and filter at 2000 miles instead of waiting for the 4000 mile service and I'm glad I did. (Initial oil/filter service was at 600 miles.) Old oil was quite dirty.

I goofed up when I installed new filter... put the spring in the wrong place... on top of that little o-ring instead of between opposite end of filter and the cover plate. Rode the bike a few miles, seemed fine. No leaks. But a day or two later I was again looking at the instructions and realized I'd installed it wrong. Took off the plate and reinstalled correctly and drove it 20 miles and everything is fine.

This week I pulled the battery and added distilled water. Had to read the directions a few times, pictures in the skimpy manual are not that clear. I also have the Clymer manual and the picture are terrible.

Last week I checked the air filter and it was very clean.

Next week I hope to lube the cables and any other areas that require lubing.

All this work is new to me because I had always let service departments do all the work. Living out here in the sticks has prompted me to invest some time in learning to do some basic maintanenace myself.

Glad to be here with y'all!

Jeffrey,
Welcome aboard!

I kept a boat at Elephant Butte for many years. Sold it when the water went away. Neat little town. Enjoy your new bike.

All can be found in the tech section index.

Hey Jeff, I visit Caballo State park often when crossing the country. Going either north or south off the 152. Truth or Consequences , or Hatch, it depends on how I feel at the time. I always stop at Sparkys when I travel south, I really enjoy NM.  Some day I want to cross country on the Savage..
  ..dan

Hi Jeff... Just up the Rio Grande from you in Belen...  PM me when you can and we can make contact...(I just sent you a PM. Hopefully you can open it.)
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1455307251

Thanks everyone for the welcome and advice. Sorry I took so long to get back here.

No problems with my botched oil/filter change. Everything works fine. I drive north on Highway 187 from Garfield to Truth or Consequences second Sunday of the month for a poetry reading at the Black Cat bookstore. I average 65-70 mph while loving the fantastic scenery. Top speed is about 90. I rarely go over 70 but I wanted to see what she'd do.

Just a wee bit over 3,000 miles now. I drive into Hatch 10 miles south about once a week to top off the gas. Yes, Sparky's! I did a little feature on them at the ninth year birthday party. It's on Medium. Free to join, I don't think you can see it otherwise. https://medium.com/geezer-speaks/look-at-the-crowd-here-we-dont-need-to-make-...

I'll be looking around here for a solution to my weeping gas cap. I do keep the gas just below the filler line.

Also I'll be looking here for opinions whether I should start running synthetic at my 4,000 mile service.

Oh, as to valve adjustment... not me! I'm not mechanically minded. I think oil changes and battery maintenance and lube points and cable lubes are about all I can safely handle.

Welcome Jeffrey!

Regarding the gas cap weeping, here is what I determine in my bike. I as well would fill just to the lower end of the filler neck and would still get fuel spill out no matter how careful I was.  I determined that my issue was the rubber ring (washer) under the cap not sealing well with the filler hole lip.

What I did was take the gas cap off (flip it upside down) and remove the two phillips screws. After sliding the black plastic housing off I then carefully removed the rubber ring (washer). Be careful when you remove the housing as there are small springs that fit in a little channel that hold the two catches outward. These parts will fall out if you bang it around, but nothing you can't put back together if you are mechanically inclined. Just don't lose the parts or drop them in the tank!

With the rubber ring off, I got a small piece of medium density foam tape that was about 1/8" tall, and cut a piece about 1/8" wide and ran it around in a circle along the footprint of where the rubber ring sits. You will notice before taking it off that the rubber ring does not sit flush to the cal, it sorta rides freely in the air. Put it all back together and check to make sure that the tumbler engages the pins and they recess when you turn the key. If not, you may have missed having everything lined up when reinstalling so it may take a couple of tries. Tighten the screws firm but don't strip them of tighten so hard you break the plastic housing!

You may be good enough to wedge the foam in under the seal if you are careful enough and don't want to take the cap apart? Maybe try that first?

What this foam does is provide a more firm backing to the seal so when you put it on the tank the foam is pressing the rubber seal against the lip o the tank whereas before it was sorta hanging there.

NOTE OF CAUTION: After this modification, you will likely need to push down firm on the gas cap before turning the key to release the pins holding the cap on. With the foam in there (at least on mine) it was just enough additional pressure to where the pins were maybe 2mm too high to slide into their slots in the tank, and that's what the little nudge overcomes. This is good because that tells you it is getting a good, tight seal.

I had a picture somewhere but am having trouble locating it. If I find it I will come back here and post it up for you.