All,
I've been posting a while, but I realized I never introduced myself. By the way, great job, John, on the forum upgrade. I thought the old one looked a bit "1998". I'm 40, and I started out with a 1978 Kawasaki KM100 in the 6th grade. A neighbor gave me a 1974 Honda CB360 when I was about 19. It was fun, but I was never able to keep the carburetors working properly on it. I bought a 1982 Suzuki GS1100GL for a song in 1988 or so, which was a ridiculously fast bike. Around 1992, it stranded me on the way back from Mt. Rushmore to MI due to a burned out stator (charging system). It seems like the starter had given me serious trouble before that. In 1993 or so, I purchased a new Suzuki GSX1100G, which was another 99 HP screamer. I kept that for a few years but had to sell it when my first child came along almost 12 years ago. Last Spring, the odd thoughts of ditching one high car payment in favor of a motorcycle (low cash purchase) began to occur to me. I found a 2003 Savage with around 1700 miles on it, and here I am now. So far, it's been FUN. I took the beginner's MSF course (even though I took the advanced one years ago) so I wouldn't have to go through the huge hassle of taking a road test to get my endorsement. I've only had one issue with the petc0rk vacuum hose (SHOCK!). Everything else has been great, in spite of my not doing any mods yet (I'm a stock kind of guy). I miss the 1100s sometimes, but that was so many years ago, and the Savage fits me very well. I don't miss the gas consumption of those bikes. I like the one-cylinder design, the sound, and the ease of maintenance. Of course, this forum makes it too easy. Thanks to all - J. Mac
P.S. - I can't wait until my rating moves past "newbie". I'm a programmer and could create forum software like this, and being a newbie bothers me (yeah, yeah, Savage newbie

)! Of course, I'd have no reason to create software like this when it's been done so well by so many others.