I'm the proud new owner of a 1996 Suzuki Savage – I love this bike!! – and I wanted to say how much I appreciate all the information on this site. It's very impressive and, although I'm not up on all the technical side of things, I'm sure it will prove very useful down the road.

I'm also new to riding, having taken a course in the spring and just purchasing my bike four weeks ago. I have never driven a standard car before or EVER ridden a dirt bike or motorcycle of any kind (other than as a passenger), so this has been a huge learning process for me. It was HUGE struggle in the beginning, and I was actually pulled out of the course and took several private lessons.

Then, my husband found my bike on a website, but it took a few months for all the paperwork to come through. (The owner lives in Canada but purchased the bike in the States, when he lived there, and had never  registered it in Canada.) It was such an awesome deal that it was worth the wait. It had only 5,800 miles on it, was in EXCELLENT condition and the owner was asking only $2,300 (Can. funds). We just couldn't pass it up.

It was nerve-racking to finally get out on the road for the first time (after a three parking-lot practices), but I'm proud to report that I have now logged 800 miles and am loving every minute of it! The bike is just so nice to handle. Even my husband, who is somewhat of a Harley snob (he rides a 2003 softtail), thinks it's a great bike and that it handles amazingly well.

As a 41-year-old mother of four, this is something that I never imagined  doing. But now that I'm motoring around, I can't imagine NOT doing it. I look forward to sharing my riding experiences and reading all about yours.

Cheers.

Vikki

Welcome to the Savage Ladies of SuzukiSavage.com
There are getting to be quite a lot of us on here.
A couple of tips, ride your own ride, don't let more experienced riders push you into doing anything that you are not comfortable with, follow someone who knows what he's doing and observe how they handle different situations, remember head & eyes.
Learn before you need to how to pick up your own bike. The Savage is an easy one to get up but not if you don't know how.
Never buy more on a shopping trip than will fit in your saddlebag

Vikki wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:09:
http://www.bikerhiway.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4

Congrats Vikki! You live in a beautiful part of our country ... I on the other hand am stuck out here in the cold North Atlantic  

Ride Safe and Enjoy!

Welcome Vikki, and good on ya for getting the 96.

After 40 years without a bike, I got my 96 last Oct after taking the MSF class. Had 6500 mi on it, got it for 1800usd. This week I turned over 12,000 miles! I love this bike, can't stay off it, ride every day to work and weekends too year around. (unless it rains, no snow in S.Calif) I still look down occasionally and discover my turnsignal flashing.

There's lots of great info and great folks on this site. Glad you found us
Have FUN.

Wow! You folks are very welcoming. I think I like it here.

Thanks for the link on the signal situation, Paladin. However, I think I'm FINALLY getting it under control. For my first several rides, my husband was constantly having to give me the hand signal (opening and closing his hand in the air) that my signal was still flashing. It's a hard thing to remember, since you don't usually have to manually turn off your signal when you're driving and my focus was more on my clutch, throttle and gear shifts.

On our last ride, I made a conscious point of trying to remember my signal and now it's getting to be almost second-nature to turn it off. My husband only had to signal me a couple of times, so I imagine that, after a couple of more rides, I'll have it down pat.

Brrrr. The North Atlantic is an area of Canada that I would love to visit, Perry, but I wouldn't want to live there. I'm a baby when it comes to the cold/snow and even what we get in my part of the world is enough for me.

I'll also be sure to check out the link to the women's motorcycle forum. I have come across another one – the forum at totalmotorcycle.com has a "ladies' lounge" – but the more, the merrier, right? It's great to share my new passion with whoever I can. Only other riders understand the obsession and, although my friends and co-workers think it's cool that I have my own bike, they don't necessarily want to hear me nattering on about it.

Vikki

welcome, from sw aridzona, debby has the '96 suzuki in our house, she is 41 and started riding this year too, she took the msf course in spring as well. i'm 44 and have been riding my whole life, so i've been her coach too. it sounds like your hubby has you on the right track. i'm sure she'll post in a few days, shes just getting over the flue. this is a great bunch of folks.

Welcome Vikki,

Welcome to the site!
I bought my '97 Savage in Seattle in July and went through the same paperwork delays. The bike sat for over a month waiting for the federal government to send me the inspection forms required to transfer the title.
I live in Sooke but my daughter lives in your area.  We are fortunate to have  good riding weather in B.C. so I've been trying to make up for lost time and try to ride every chance I get. 8)