Posted by Witch Doctor on September 13, 2000 at 00:55:01:
I know Carl in Germany is just slamming on the bike to be spiteful, but when forum regulars start ditching their rides as well, it is time for some updating.
Here is my take on the reliabilty and longevity issues concerning the Savage. The bike is a very small displacement (by American standards) single cylinder 4 stroke. It is an entry level machine, and was never intended for the uses or usage that most of us put them to. Lifting/quoting directly from the 1998 Savage owner's manual, here is the life expectancy of this model: 5 years or 18641 miles, whichever occurs first. This is on page 73, left center of the page. Most of us are expecting far too much from a machine never intended to be used as a real motorcycle. As the words of an old 'surfer tune' said: "It's not a big motorcycle just a groovy little motor bike". This bike was designed to be a machine for the beginner or small statured riders. On a much more positive note, I find it to be an admirable little all around type of bike, as long as it is ridden solo and without luggage.
Specific sizes of bike are made for certain purposes. If you want to cruise at a leisurely pace, by all means buy a Savage, it's great at it. Commuters are better off with a twin or four cylinder, touring use is best left to the 4 or 6 cylinder camps, excluding HD, which markets twins in all the categories. The Savage has one use in my eye, personal enjoyment, and if what you want to do is better done by a different model, cut your losses and buy a different bike. Not everyone has the time to deal with the problems inherent to a single cylinder bike, not everyone has the patience to work through the bugs common to all lower priced bikes regardless of manufacturer. And as someone pointed out, with bikes, you do tend to get what you pay for.
The view from where I sit is this; if you want a bike that will eat up the miles, hold it's value, and not require constant attention to lubricants, fasteners, etc, buy a low rpm V-twin (HD, Yamaha Road Star, Kawasaki 1500 Vulcan in any flavor). If you want the miles to truly fly by, get a Buell twin or any 4 cylinder machine. If you don't want a "belly button (everyone has one)" twin or multi, go for the "exotics" like the Savage, any transverse twin (Ducati, Guzzi), Boxer twin (BMW), etc. In a nutshell, don't ask your bike to perform tasks it was not meant for, there are plenty of other bikes out there.
Final point, from reviewing 10 years of longevity figures I have in old bike mags, here is how the major players stack up, in order from best to worst: 1- Harley Davidson, 2- BMW, 3- Yamaha, 4- Honda, 5- Kawasaki, 6- Suzuki (which has held this place since their USA introduction).
Love it or hate it, the Savage is definitely a bike worth trying out at least once. I figure I'll add the third plug, realign the belt yet again, and see if I can get another 11000 miles or so out of mine. To those leaving our little group, best of luck with whatever your new ride ends up being. For those who are staying, you're stuck with me for another couple years at least. My bike may be somewhat of a clunker, but by God it has EARNED that status.
-WD