How much does they do on the byke at the first service, do they only change the oil or is there more to it ?

They also retorque the head nuts...or at least they are supposed to.  

To me, this is also when the Savage "plug leak" gets started...because some mechanic doesn't make sure it's re-installed correctly.  My spouse's began leaking after this service, and I found the plug only partially seated in the hole.

In my expirience the first service is mainly valve adjustment , oil change, and tire pressure check.  I've never seen a mechanic doing a "head retorque". The simple reason is a lack of time. By the "flat rate manual" the first service is payng 1.5-2hrs time. If the mechanic spends more time-too bad for him. If he does it in shorter time-he is paid the flat rate time. It is not easy to do the rest of the stuff and after that remove the head cover, retorque the head , seal everything properly and put it back together in such a time frame.

Hey ,
You don't have to have Your services done in a dealership to keep the factory waranty / at least in AZ/.
On top of this Suzuki will waranty everything, even if it is obvious that abuse has caused the problem. I have personaly changed a F***ed up GSXR crankshaft  due to extended wheelies. Suzuki encourages the dealers to do more waranty work - part of the advertisement.

1. Cyl. head nuts and exhaust bolts &mufflet connections
/this is part of every service/
2. Auto decompr. cable check/adj.
3. Valve clearance check/adj
4. Fuel line check/repl
5. Eng. oil & filter repl.
6. Idle RPM check/adj
7. Clutch check/adj.
8. Brake hoses check
9. Brake fl. check
10.Brakes check/repl.
11. Tires check
12. Steering check and whatever
13. Fr. fork
14. RR suspention
15. Chassis bolts & nuts
 So if "Retorque the head nuts is part of every service" and You have to pull half of the top end apart  to do it /every 3500 miles/ , guess when the shop is going to do it when You bring Your bike for a 1.5 - 2 hr service ?!

That's what am I talking ! Don't forget , the Savage is Your bike and You know everything by heart , the mechanic has to open the manual couple of times.First thing- how many Savage owners are ready to pay more than $150 + the materials every couple of months for a service of a $ 2500-3000 bike ? Second don't forget this is only the maintenance. Third - check the $/hr rate of the dealers. Fourth- don't forget, that the mechanic is paied very minor chunk of this money, so he has to flag at least 9 flat rate hrs today if he wants to be able to pay his bills. Now guess what will You get done in a regular service- oil and may be filter, tire pressure, brake fluid check and valve adj.

About the wife's Savage- there are 3 options
1. this dealedship had a good sevice writer and he worked out some deal with Suzuki , where they paied something like waranty work
2.the dealership couldn't make ace mechanic do the work for under 2 hrs, so they put a rookie/who was paied hourly/ to do the job and it took him 1 day, but he was paied for being there
3.the plug was this way from the begining.
 The most important part is- the bike isn't leaking oil any more and You guys had all the fun and now the bragging rights, that You fixed something better than the autorized Suzuki dealer !!!!