Last night I found a SMOKING good deal on this 5'x10' utility trailer. I had to drive 1 and a half hours for it, but for what I got it for, I don't think I could have bought an equal size axle and springs. I have been playing cat and mouse with the fellow from the local most city's Craigslist on this pair of Savages. I'm up hooking up to the trailer when I get this text message... it reads "hey those two motorcycles are still available, you still interested?" So I writes back and I give him a LOW BALL offer, he was asking $800 for both. I thought he may have been insulted!!!😄 but he writes back IMMEDIATELY with a counter offer that was less than expected!!!
Here I am towing a trailer, coin in my pocket, snd 4 ratchet strap tie downs, what's a guy supposed to do? Drive home with an empty trailer???? NOT THIS KID

Before you start cranking on them
How long since they ran?
Details now could save hurt later.

Leave the wet filters. You don't really need to change oil until you get it to start.

Use fogging oil in the cylinders.

Tanks are likely rusty.
Seventeen thousand, time to check out the cam chain. That's destroyed a few engines.
Not a time to get in a hurry.
Just the carb off the low miles one,get that one running.

Well done. In the last two years I have never seen a Savage that cheap locally, in any condition.

The importance of going slow and doing some triage before attempting to start the bike has already been mentioned.....the long term storage has provided ample time for lubricating oil to drip or evaporate off the internal parts - and any fuel in the tank or carb is likely bad.

I rescued a bike that had been in storage a long time, and I was surprised to see the fuel tank was clean inside, and the fuel for some reason hadn't deteriorated.  Still I didn't try to start the bike and began to look it over.  It was obvious it had an oil leak at the head, and I begin the work fixing that - and when I took the head cover off I discovered a worn cam and exhaust rocker.  This allowed me to apply lube to the good cam and rocker I installed.  I added Sta-Bil fogging oil to the cylinder, cleaned the carb, checked the oil level, and fired it up.  Once it was warmed up I dumped the oil oil and changed the filter.....I don't ever change the oil and filter on an old bike - as that will result in a long period of no oil flow while the new filter and filter housing oil are filled with oil - you could drain the crankcase and add fresh oil....but don't remove the old filter until after you have the bike running again.  It is also not a bad idea to leave the spark plug out and let the starter turn the engine over for a little bit to help get oil flow before the engine is started the first time.  If you don't have to remove the head cover - then at least remove the front valve inspection cover and spray some oil in to the cam and rockers - the bikes have been leaned over and the oil in the little reservoir under the cam has drained out and there will not be any lube on the cam as it first turns over.

Here is a link to the rescue I did.  The bike turned out to be a very nice bike, and a local women bought it from me and loves it!
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1440293732

If you have rusted tanks, PM me when you get around to it and I'll share what I did for a recent tank on a friend's 4 wheeler I was rehabbing for him. My first time sealing a tank and much easier than I anticipated.

Cool!  I used RedKote. Acetone based. Has good reviews and can be found for $20 a can if you shop fleabay appropriately. Probably comparable to the "kreme" stuff I see in the motorcycle shops but unsure why they chose that over the RedKote. I guess time will tell on how well the 4 wheeler holds up.

What a SCORE !!!!!