the guy at the suzuki shop in town discouraged me from doing any tinkering on my savage.  he said the reason there are barely any aftermarket parts for the bike is it wasn't made to be tinkered with.  said if you let her breathe to well, she'll burn up.  are these valid concerns?

Many of us have done the carb mods with the aftermarket pipe and K&N filter.  If you do them all at the same time you will have no problem and your plug will read a nice light gray/brown color. Have faith and your bike will run like a charm!

What are your riding requirements?? Do you have any mechanical abilities?? How many independent shops in you area?? The stealership is playing you.

keep in mind, the salesman knows nothing about working on or maintaining a bike, probably doesn't even own or ride. the service manager doesn't like anything other than absolutely stock, because the mfr takes the liability on the service repair, not him. parts department only sells stuff for the popular models, and doesn't understand anything that isn't in the book. our bike isn't fancy like the big metric cruisers, or all the rage, like one of the sport/race type bikes, so there isn't a huge aftermarket following for it. the basic laws of supply and demand dictate, if there isn't a great(profitable) demand, there isn't a need for supply. we are a faithful few, who believe whole heartedly in this dinosaur by design, so we do it like it was done in the old days. we invision a change/need, and figure out how to get there. nessessity is the mother of invention, or something to that effect.

HERE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

My attitude is quite simple -

Rule # 1 -  if there is a warranty, you have to follow the rules for the length of the warranty - if you want anything out of it. Once the warranty is up, it's your machine, whether it's a bike, a car, or a toaster.

Rule # 2 - when listening to anyone (me included), consider whether they might have your best interests in mind, or their own.

Play away.

Curious how many have used their 1 year warranty coverage?  I rejetted, new muffler, and white spacer'd before 600 miles.  I now have 11 months, 3000 miles and the bike runs like a dream.  Well...a popping on decel dream

[quote author=Dynobob link=board=RubberSideDown;num=1154800463;start=0#5 date=08/05/06 at 23:18:26]
Nonsense. The bike won't be long lasting (will burn up ???) with the factory jetting which is way too lean to meet EPA standards.

Wait, lemme get this straight -- are you saying that it runs much leaner than necessary for EPA standards?  I didn't know that.