The Suzuki Savage (LS650) was first made in 1986, and has hardly changed since then, except for the addition of a fifth gear in 1995 when the bike was reintroduced to the market after a several year hiatus. It is a single cylinder, air-cooled bike with belt final drive. This adds up to a very user-friendly low maintenance machine (no chain to lube, no rad fluid to change, etc.). The bike is reported to be exceptionally reliable. We have a 1986 machine we bought 2 years ago with only 3,000 km (1800 miles) on the odometer. We've had a few problems (some our own fault - like overfilling the oil), but you'd expect that for a 12 year old bike that is suddenly seeing more mileage in a year than it got in the previous 10 years. Up until now this has been my wife's bike, though I also ride the Savage occaisionally. But now that we have a baby on the way this summer, I will probably be selling my new '97 Marauder VZ800. I think it's a testament to the Savage's economical nature and timeless styling that I would feel ok selling the Marauder and keeping the Savage (rather than the other way around).

The Suzuki Savage, the Intruder 750 and 1400 and the Honda Shadow 600VLX are about the only used bikes that convincingly embody that timeless cruiser styling (the Viragos and other pre-1993 Shadows etc, in my opinion, are ugly ducklings by comparison). These can all be had relatively inexpensively used, and since their styling has not changed much since their inception, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to buy them new unless you really love break-in periods. If you do expect to do alot of highway travel, I would opt for a more recent (1995-97) model in order to get the fifth speed (to reduce revs/vibration at highway speeds). My wife has done 300 mile days on our 4-speed, but she's not necessarily in a good mood by the end of the day (tired, sore). And you will probably want a decent windshield for racking up the highway miles.

The Savage does not feel as refined as some of the v-twins available out there, but to me that's part of it's appeal. There is a pronounced flywheel effect that gives the bike an unmistakable charm (as a friend on the 'net recently put it, "you can actually *feel* the pull of each power stroke when taking a slow turn in third gear, and then just gradually roll on the power"). And there is a level of omnipresent vibration at all revs (not annoying, except perhaps on high-mileage excursions) that reminds you you're sitting on a motorcycle. The bike used to come with 2 styles of handlebars. To my mind the drag-style straight handlebars looked nicer, but made the bike harder to control, and were less comfortable in the long hauls. The buckhorn bars on current models are more comfortable, but not as stylish as the broader handlebars currently available on many new cruisers (like Honda's Shadow ACE 750, for example) (for about $200 you can have wider lower more classic-looking bars put on). One of the limitations of the Savage is its suspension - rough road conditions are directed straight at your tailbone, and there's not much you can do about it in terms of suspension adjustment.

Although the bike is torquey, and we've ridden 2-up on a number of occaisions, it will not have the power of a comparable displacement V-twin; and this may be a consideration if you expect to be mostly riding 2-up. Also, the rear pillion accommodations are spartan and a bit cramped. But then that's true of most of the smaller cruisers. At least on the Savage a small backrest is standard equipment. Among the 400-700cc cruisers, I think only the new Yamaha V-Star (650cc) is designed with passenger comfort in mind. If you have the money, the V-Star is, in my opinion, head and shoulders above the other bikes in terms of value, styling, quality, etc. Lists for $7999, and worth every penny. But it's new this year, so there are no used V-Stars on the market yet.

If you are taller than 5'9 you may find the Savage a bit cramped. But low seat height makes it ideal for smaller riders. Highway pegs are an available accessory if you need to stretch out a bit more on longer rides. Despite how many years the Savage has been on the market, and how many of them are sold, there are surprisingly few aftermarket accessories available for it. I think this is because many of the people who might have been inclined to customize move up to bigger bikes instead, and those who don't might feel fine with the bike as it is, or not want to put more money into it (the low purchase price having been a major attraction in the first place). No-one makes an aftermarket gel seat for the Savage, for example, despite how uncomfortable the stock seat is. A few companies make aftermarket exhaust for the Savage - some say this is a must to transform the "sewing machine" sound of the stock pipe into something more throaty and substantial. I don't find the stock sound objectionable, but would still be interested in an aftermarket pipe.

Availability of these bikes is pretty good on the used market, and Savages tend to keep their value. Expect to pay at least $2500 for a decent quality Savage, no matter what year, and closer to $4,000 for a post-1995 model with 5-speed transmission (incidentally they cost less than $2500 new in 1986).

If you can find a library (or friend) with back issues of various motorcycle magazines, look for the following reviews of the Savage:

* Cycle World, October 1986 (pages 31-34) (compares Savage to the Honda 450 Rebel)

* Cycle magazine, August 1986 (pages 24-30) - contains excellent photos

* Motorcyclist, September 1986 (pages 54-60) - an indepth and positive review

* Motorcycle Cruiser, Summer 1996 (pages 64-73) - compares Savage, Shadow VLX, Virago 535, and Vulcan 500LTD (well worth reading)

But in the end, only actually riding them will help you really decide what to get, since tastes when it comes to bike styling, features, sound and feel are so subjective. I find myself often disagreeing with magazine bike reviewers, so you have to take what they say with a grain of salt, especially when it comes to budget wheels/smaller bikes, since they're so used to testing $30,000 Gold Wings, BMWs and crotch rocket sport bikes. Some large m/c ralleys like Americade (Lake George NY, 1st week of June) offer excellent opportunities to test-ride bikes from several manufacturers (though, curiously, Suzuki is never there). This year they will have Kawasaki, Honda, Yamaha, BMW, Harley-Davidson, Triumph, Ural (the Russian sidecar folks).

If high mileage highway riding is your main objective, and you just have to have some of that cruiser styling, in a smaller reliable and manageble package, the Kawasaki Vulcan 500 LTD might be a better bet for you. It has roomier rider accomodations, better seat and suspension, a 6-speed transmission, a parallel twin liquid-cooled engine, and nice tank-mounted speedo styling. Downside is it relies on chain final drive (messy), and you won't get that classic v-twin sound (parallel twin is half a Ninja sportbike engine, quite quiet but with rather uninspiring sound). The restyled LTD version first came out in 1996, so price of used ones will still be fairly high (you can get an older Vulcan 500, but the styling was dated and garish, in my opinion). If you want a reliable, low-maintenance, low-budget cruiser for mostly boulevard trolling and the occaisional unhurried all-weekend ride on scenic 2-lane highways, then maybe the Savage is for you.