Hello,

my Real name ist Sven and I'm from Germany. I'll try to introduce myselfe.

So, I'm 33 years old, maried and having two daugthers.

I ride a '96 yellow Savage in nearly original german outfit, witch means that here in gemany you are not alowed to ride loud pipes, must have special tyres, the fenders have to be in the right size and so on.

In germany I'm active in the german Savage forum.

@sunny: We know us form "Freudenberg 2007"  

@all: please don't hesitate to keep my faulty engish for your selfe  

kind regards

Sven "divlji pas" Kleine

p.s.: divlji pas is kroatian and means wild dog according to wild hog

Well, here in the middlewest of germany in February we should have minus degrees, but now we have +10° or 12°C (50° - 54°F). So if it isn't raining we'll ride our Bikes...

Gut, danke  

I'm fine, but ich have to work this weekend I'm on late shift so i went to work at 1pm and back at 11pm so this is a very nice weekend

How are you?

I've been posting and lurking for a while, so I suppose I should introduce myself:

Hello, my name is Jim,  
I've owned "the machine" for about 3 years.  Prior to this bike, I haven't ridden since the early 80's. In 1978 I had a Honda CB550, followed by a Kawasaki Z1 900, then a "race ready" KZ1000 with a wheelie bar (illegal in my state). I never wore a helmet.  The KZ1000 was impounded by local law enforcement, and  they did me a big favour.

Why a Savage?

Well, I was looking for an economical way to get around. Primarily to commute to the bike trail where I can unfold my folding bicycle and peddle to work. The Ford F150 I had at the time was too expensive to operate as a commuter, so what about a small commuter vehicle?  I first looked at the 150-250cc scooters. Very cool looking, but expensive and not very  gutsy. The scooters have only one cylinder, and I liked the idea of fewer places for things to go wrong, so I started looking at MCs with 1 cyclinder.

All single cyclinder MC paths lead to these choices: Buell Blast, KLR 650, DR650, Royal Enfield 500 and the LS 650.  

I like all of these thumpers, but I know that if I am going to be able to afford a MC, then I'm going to have to wrench it myself.

I started researching repair, maintenance and parts availabiliy of these bikes. Royal Enfield was quickly eliminated, the KLR shorly after that. The DR650 is expensive. Good bye DR650. That left the Blast and the Savage.

A tough choice, but I went with the Savage for the (drum roll) .....TORQUE!  Sorry Erik, I promiss I'll buy one of your XB12s when I find a sack of money somewhere.

I found out that there are a bunch of Savages sitting in garages and barns with less than 5,000 miles on them. Yay. It was quite easy for me to pick up a barely used (ignored) Savage for less than what I pay for my annual auto expenses (@4,000 miles/year $0.52 per mile). The one I bought only had a few dings, and needed nothing (yet)

Since I haven't ridden in 20+  years, I spent the 1st 6 months or so practicing cone swerves and constrained U turns. Occasionally I would take it out on the road. I did 3 wheel stands just to get that out of my system, and now the front  wheel stays earthbound. I swear The Savage can only do clutch wheelies, and I don't want to replace those discs, nor do I want to replace the discs in my spine.

Now, thanks to the Photo CD and SuzukiSavage.com, I can spend  about 60 hours  a year wrenching the LS 650. I've read stories of the Savage beating 30k miles (comfortably), and that is my goal. Routine maintenance, finest lubes and parts, and, erm, no clutch wheelies. I swear.

Data:
Home: Chicago, Illinois - South Side.
Marries: Yes
Age: 48
Special Skills: Reads at the 8th grade level, sez please & thank you, wipess own nose.
Occupation: Computer Geek.
Hobbies: Camping, Bicycling, Wrenching, Inventing,
Insured: Oh, you bet!
Helmet: Always.
Favorite Savage Destination: Sothern Cook County (IL) Forest Preserves.
Favorite Savage Part: Rear Fender - How much can I load on that sheet metal??
Most Hated Savage Part: Speedo. If it were an option, I would have said "no".
Beer: Fat Tire, any home brew.
Fast Food Joint  Most Frequented While Cruising On The Savage: DQ
If I could make one traffic law to help all motorcyclist: No Cellphone Usage While Driving. None. No hands free, no Blue Tooth, None! Eyes and brain on the road!

Hello From North Carolina.  I'm John aka The Toymaker.  Yep, that's right I make toys...when I am not teaching 6th grade math and science.  I had a bike eons ago and just recently sold my truck and bouth a 1995 LS650.  I love the Lil' Thumper.  It had 7K miles but in the past month or so I have managed to put another 1300 on.  I ride (when it isn't too cold) to and from school.  Sometime I have to watch for the icy spots but at 6 in the morning, they show up ok.

Right now I am waiting for a new needle valve and seat since the one in the bike leaks like crazy but I have been a motorheard for most of my life and I don't mind.

I worked for NASA for 5 years back in the 80's and have been around all things of transport all my life.  I am glad I found this site and hope to post regularly.

Cheers
John

Thanks

I worked in the education department, but I wonder if anyone has thought of "instand acceleration rocket motors" for the Thumpers.  Be great for getting on the freeway...problem is...your can't really control your bike when going zero to a bazillion mph.

cheers
John

Toymaker wrote on 03/12/08 at 02:27:38:

You worked in education?
(memo to self, pull kids out of school)
Are you looking for the feet flying up in the air kind of acceleration?
It may lag a bit, but I got all the accel I want and I don't have to light no fuse.  Just yesterday I was cruising about 50 when I noticed the Geo Metro in front of me was not making the grade.  I gave the throttle a full twist, my arms got longer, my head snapped back and I thought to my self, 'self, you weren't ready for that.  But whoyeah!'