Posted by Edwin Jackson on September 12, 2000 at 15:34:21:
I've decided based on the performance (or lack thereof) of my 1996 Savage to sell the little piece of junk as soon as possible. I bought the bike with 5200 miles on it and have put on about 2,000 miles in a year in great conditions - i've never even ridden it in the rain and it sits in a shed.
The problems over that time period have been varied and extremely frustrating. The straw that broke the camel's back was today. Over the last 3 months my Savage has started about 50% of the time. It's not a battery problem, it's not a fuel line problem, it's not the starter, I tried PRIME every time I had trouble, etc. Sometiems the bike just won't turn over.
The really odd thing is that I only started having problems with this bike when I sold another one of our vehicles and decided to wait to buy another to save on car payments for a while. The bike also only fails to start when I actually want to ride it - every time I test it out it starts on the first try. I think this thing is actually my ex-wife in disguise.
Last night I started it and ran it for about 15 minutes - perfect. This morning it was 70 degrees I did all the same things and the bike cranked for 10 minutes without even a try at starting until the battery gave out.
On top of this I have lots of electrical problems, air filter problems (like teh factt hat there is none), that stupid slow oil leak, and the experiences of dealing with an incredibly inept local dealership full of some of the most dishonest people I have ever met.
We have a great Honda dealer close by so I think I'll take a break from bikes for a while and then start to look for soemthing more reliable with them. I note that in the motorcycle mg I read that they never rate Suzuki well on reliability - I guess it is true that you get waht yuo pay for.
You guys have been a great bunch of folks and I appreciate all the help you have given me over the last year. It seems like some of you have had some great experiences although I do note that we have had more complaints about these bikes in the last several months than compliments!
The compliments always seem to come from the same people while the complaints seem to come from different folks and cover a pretty broad spectrum.
Frankly I would not wish this bike on anybody but it is in perfect "physical" shape (other than not ever starting) and I'm going to try and sell it for about $2,400. In this area at least that's a good deal - I'll also throw in a helmet and a nice cover. Send me an e-mail if you are interested. Otherwise keep it safe folks and I hope you experiences are nowhere near as frustrating or expensive as mine and that your bikes run true and well forever!