I
got the opportunity to drive a friend's brand new Suzuki Savage
a few days ago.
Bottom
line: the bike is quite small, but a barrel of low-cost fun.
The
nickname "Savage" may appear to be a misnomer at first,
considering the machine's small displacement and weight, (652cc
and 352 lbs.) but when you get on it, you feel it's black, little
heart. Badger, or Terrier would be good names. Like most Suzi's,
it's cold-natured to start and probably shouldn't be pushed
for at least the first 3-5 miles. At low engine speeds the thing
shakes like an epileptic and if you go around a corner slowly,
you can actually feel the engine's individual power pulses pulling
you. I felt like a total jerk riding the thing and I loved it.
Oh yeah, the carburetor is jetted super-lean and it backfires
a LOT. Personally, I liked that feature. (I like blued pipes
too, so what?)
Mechanically,
the bike is rock solid. One cylinder, one carb and belt drive
mean there is very little maintenance that needs to be done.
It's
not great on a full-on freeway because I pushed that thing as
hard as it would go and it topped out at 88 mph. It feels a
little stressed at pretty much any speed above 65 mph. However,
that's not what this little nutjob is for. On normal roads,
the prodigious torque provided by the soup can-sized cylinder
can pull-away from pretty much anything with more than three
wheels.
The
bike comes with a passenger backrest, but I would really only
recommend going two-up on the bike if your passenger/girlfriend
is a skinny waif. Aunt Brunhilde probably won't like the narrow
seat, and the Savage won't like dragging her ample self around
either.
The
handling is really responsive and the bike is really easy to
whip around corners most cruisers would not go near. It's no
egg-bike (nicer term than 'crotch rocket'), but it doesn't need
to be.
The
styling of the bike is what makes it retain its cultish following,
particularly in Europe. It has nothing extraneous about it.
No chrome doo-dads, no super-deep fenders. You can see through
it. It is an embodiment of the original chopper mind-set. Many
people mistake it for a Sportster...seriously.
A
note about the size. I am 5'8" and 150 lbs. and the bike
fits me very well. The owner of the bike is 5'10" and 170
lbs. and is probably at the limit of what doesn't look goofy.
All
this for a package that cost $4,000 even. Quite the bargain
for a vicious little machine. (In a few weeks the bike's owner
is going to install a Supertrapp slip-on, which will deepen
the sound and give it a little more power. Even with the $300
cost, the total bike is still a bargain.)
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Rider
Review: 2002 Suzuki LS650 Savage