Posted by WD on September 07, 2000 at 03:58:54:
In Reply to: Is the Savage a Lemon? posted by bwlaw on September 03, 2000 at 16:16:22:
Some yes, some no.
There are multiple causes that would make a bike a lemon, but the primary one is improper assembly at the dealership before it hits the sales floor. I bought a used 92 Wide Glide HD in 94, from an authorized dealership. In the six months before it got totalled out, my then wife and i went through 4 motors and 6 transmissions. All of which were replaced free of charge due to improper installation at the dealership. The bike itself was fine, the dealer wrench gorillas just didn't know d**k about putting a bike together, all they were good for was changing the oil and stripping out drain plugs.
In the case of the Savage, the lemon potential is unfortunately rather high, as a single cylinder machine is inherently rough. Parts and fasteners will in fact require rather frequent checking (time varies upon highway type, riding style, rider weight, etc). The rider of a single cylinder bike, thumper or two stroke, needs to pay closer attention to the recommended service intervals than the rider of a multi cylinder machine. On the plus side, a single has fewer moving pieces, fewer pieces overall, and generally higher grade materials in the lower end of the motor, where all the real pounding takes place.
Using mine (again) as an example, I have broken the headlight off, shattered a mirror, burned out two mufflers, nearly burned through the pipe, and am getting close to a spectacular belt delamination. Only the plastic headlight shell and bad muffler welds can be attributed to poor engineering/build quality. The rest is my riding style, which is called Wide F*****g Open and show no mercy. For my purposes, it is somewhat of a lemon, but only because it is smaller than need. For your beginning or average rider, I can't think of a much better choice, anything else sub-650cc's is too small for the highway.
Besides, even if you did get a lemon, and it happens in all brands and model lines occasionally, just add some TLC and make "motorized lemonade". Any bike can be junked out, any bike can be improved, and whichever you two decide to do, just make sure it's the right decision for you. Our opinions about that shouldn't make any difference.
-WD