Posted by rayray on January 07, 2001 at 03:50:25:
In Reply to: 2001Savage posted by Dean on January 06, 2001 at 23:25:39:
How deep in South Texas? I bought my 2001 in Victoria, TX on 10-21-2000. I've only 750 miles on since then, but I had anticipated more had it not been for the rain and colder than normal temps. I had first looked at the GZ250, but luckily came to my senses and realized that although it was a nice looking bike, it was really too small. I took one look at the Savage and knew that was what I wanted. The next model up, the Maurader was just a little too fancy and I still don't like liquid cooled bikes. The Kawasaki Vulcan 750LTD was the nearest comparision to the Savage, but lacked the "oomph" that the Savage offers. Yamaha has the 649cc V Star twin, which is air cooled, but is nearly $2K more than the savage, but seems to be missing something looks-wise. The Yamaha Virago 250 is a nice looking scaled down version of the V Star, but 250cc's for $300 less than a $650 Savage... I don't think so. Honda?... Rebel, Nighthawk... no way.
Interestingly, I saw an Idiots Guide to Motorcycles at a bookstore and their advice for the Suzuki Savage was to "spend more and buy a Harley Sportster XLH 883..." An ugly bike, if you ask me for almost $2K more than a Savage. Of course, if you need a book like "Idiots Guide to Motorcycles" you've probably never had a bike before and are part of the Harley dream mentality.
I did my homework before choosing the Savage -and-you and I and all the other Savage owners made a wise choice going with the Savage. There are other user groups out here on the internet, but I haven't found one as in-depth and dedicated as this Savage forum.
I decided to keep my Savage stock. I have the black paint job. All I've done is scraped off the warning stickers and put rubber shims in all the areas where the speedo rattles. After 750 miles the "farting" idiosyncrasy seems to have eased up to almost rarely, besides I don't consider it a problem. I, too tried to remove the EPA-driven spacer from the carb, but after reading the posts decided to leave well-enough alone. Savage owners seem split on what happens after removal... 50% have reported problems.
There's really nothing I don't like about the Savage. I owned a Suzuki GN400 "thumper" back in 1983 and it was really close to the Savage in style, but the Savage is a definite improvement in torque, style, electronics (the 400 was crank start only - 6volt). I ride my Savage to and from work including a 5 mile stretch of 70mph. No problems whatsoever. I think the only thing I'd change on the Savage would be a larger gas tank and a trip odometer... other than that, it's a great ride... especially in South Texas where you get to ride all year around.
Happy trails to you...