Hello Everyone. This is the story of Sad Savage, a 1996 LS650P. My daughter bought her back around 2005 thinking she'd like something with a bigger engine than her '86 Rebel 450. She rode it a few times trying to get used to the different feel of it. She decided the Rebel "fit" her better, finalized after she severely burnt her leg on the Savage (boots kept her from realizing her leg was against the pipe while fueling, until the leather was so hot she couldn't get her boot off fast enough!). She got taken out, maybe once or twice a year after that, but mostly sat in the barn.
In 2011, thinking my daughter wanted to sell her, I pulled her out, put in a new battery, made sure she ran reliably, and my daughter took her to Louisiana for her boyfriend to ride. At 6'1" he felt cramped on her and bought an '84 Shadow 700, moving to an H-D Dyna in 2013. Savage sadly sat in the garage a few more years.
January 2016 We prepped her for sale, again. New battery, new petcock (frozen in place), spit shined and polished. We rode her up and down our road, but not too far as she wasn't tagged or insured. She was loaded on a trailer and driven to a few events, where she got nibbles, but no cash. Our friend and neighbour, Angel, had seen her as she was leaving for Colorado and was thrilled to find the Savage still available when she got back! Small and light with enough power to get where she's going, perfect for a new rider! My daughter trailered her to a shop to get new shoes while Angel waited to take her MSF-BRC. She had somebody new to love her!
June 2016 Newly licensed, Angel finally got on her, full of excitement and ready to ride ... and couldn't get her to go into gear unless the engine was off. I had moved to Central Texas in May and suggested adjusting the clutch, but wasn't there to help her.
August 2016 Now she wouldn't start either (dead battery?) and Angel accepted "help" from a backyard mechanic she really didn't know, who picked up the Savage. He told her there was rust in the tank, it needed to be cleaned and sealed, and that he would clean the carb. When I found out, I told her not to mess with the tank, just to rinse any loose rust out with gasoline, but it was too late! The tank was ruined! The sealant was oozing out of holes and when Angel put gas in, it literally poured out!
Autumn 2016 A biker acquaintance felt bad when he heard about the situation, cleaned the carb (which hadn't been touched by the guy who trashed the tank), adjusted the clutch (which hadn't been done either), hooked up a temporary fuel source to test run it, and wrapped the tank in fiberglass to try and make it usable (failed).
Winter 2017 We found a tank and set of tins and extra on Craigslist from a 2005 S40. The tank was perfect, the tins fit, the only difference was the seat mount, but the S40 seat came with the extra parts. A neighbour up the road swapped out the tins, charged the battery, changed the oil. Angel finally took her first ride on the Savage!
April 2017 I rode over for the LA State Hog Rally and stopped by Angel's thinking we'd go for a ride together. Battery was dead. I had an extra whip and helped her install it so she could just plug in a tender. Showed her the reason they couldn't get the battery cover to stay on was because they hadn't reinstalled the bracket it mounts to. This is also when we realized the S40 fender didn't have the bracket to mount the two piece seat of the Savage. Also, the seat mount that bolts onto the back of the tank hadn't been put back on. We spent the afternoon locating an installing all the missing brackets and putting it back together. I explained the different positions on the petcock and explained why not to leave it in the prime position.
June 2017 This is where it should have gotten happy, but she couldn't get it started. Frustrated, she let someone else take it. He brought it back the day before she left to go to her dying mother in Colorado and said "I'm sick of messing with it!" She didn't even look at it before she left.
:'( September 2017 Having decided to sell her house and stay in Colorado, last weekend I drove the 800 miles round trip with my trailer to pick up the Savage for her. I was shocked and appalled at what I had found! No battery, side cover MIA, wiring harness socket dangling, crease in the side of the tank, and happy that I could at least find all the parts to put the battery box back together in the crates. Her repair manual is also MIA.
This is what brings me here. I still have hope for this poor little bike. She's been through hell in her less than 8000 miles. I am not a mechanic. I don't do engine work, but I can do basic maintenance, and I care. I care because I believe this bike still has a lot of life in her, and I care because Angel is my friend. I know enough to know I don't know and I hope I can find the answers I need here.
Ride On & Smile!
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