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SuzukiSavage.com
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> New owner - Older bike /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1167690402 Message started by Jimsey67 on 01/01/07 at 14:26:42 |
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Title: New owner - Older bike Post by Jimsey67 on 01/01/07 at 14:26:42 Hi People! I am the new owner of a 1998 orange Savage. It has 9200 miles on it and is in good looking shape. I have questions. There have been several mods done to it and I wonder if they are complete mods among other things. It has newer handlebars (which I like), Jardene slip on muffler, harley pegs and harley 2 piece seat and new tires. First, the Jardene pipe. It backfires when I roll off the throttle. I can see that there are several posts about this. I have had one backfire that was loud like a gunshot and it worries me. I have no idea about jets or if they were changed when the pipe was done. I ride mostly at 500 feat elevation but go into the 3000 range on occasion. What are your thoughts? The Harley seat. It looks fine overall but the is a very small tear (3/8") at the edge where the seat meets the tank. What is a good replacement? Where do I get it? The mirrors don't match and one has a larger mounting thread to the levers than the other. Replacements? The front break squeaks a little when applied. New pads? Overall, it runs good and gets me about 40 to the gallon (initial tests anyway). However, assuming incorrect maintenance was done (not sure this is the case but want to play it safe) what things do I need to do to this ride to ensure good running condition? Thanks in advance for all your help! Jimsey67 |
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Title: Re: New owner - Older bike Post by justin_o_guy on 01/01/07 at 15:19:06 I am seriously unhappy if mine delivers just 40 mpg. The nice thing about it is, in your case, you can at least suspect you are jetted rich enough to not hurt anything. Do you have a shop manual? Clymers or Suzuki? If you need pictures there are guys here who post complete diagrams for the sake of others. Still, I suggest you get a manual. Checking the plug would be nice, just to see what color it is. OIl change, natch. When you are done with the mods & have it running right, riding sanely should get better than 50 mog. I think there are some here getting better than 55 mpg. I would change the oil, look at the plug, possibly change it to a hotter plug, Iridium, $$$ but sposed to really be the bees knees. Then ride it & have fun as I worked toward getting rid of the hard backfires & get the best performance/MPG you can. Set it up to do what YOU want. You may want all the grunt it has & accept crummy MPG or want all the MPG it can give & accept anemic performance to have it,or any place in between. It's (FINALLY) all about YOU! Squeaky brakes happen. Maybe after you ride a while it will go away, or maybe, who you bought it from was still running OEM brakes with the Factory installed Suckaciousness still in them. That's such low mileage. Good going! |
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Title: Re: New owner - Older bike Post by Reelthing on 01/01/07 at 17:30:16 One good clue on the jet is if the brass plug is still covering the idle mixture - if so it's unlikely it's been rejetted - need to understand what's been done before you do too much - and a leak at the head pipe or the slipon clamp and sure cause a 12ga bang as well as mistuned. on the brake - you might take a little 400-600 grit sandpaper and rub the rotor some - might fix the squeeel |
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Title: Re: New owner - Older bike Post by georgekathe on 01/01/07 at 17:39:09 welcome to site. brakes are not too expensive - they are poor on Savage. could beef them up with EBC brakes (got mine locally - think a lot less than oem). when you install them put a smear of anti squeal grease on back of them (my local "Autozone" had it in little tube like toothpaste). make sure none go on pad surface that touches rotor. many people swear the iridium are better - I know I (& I think thumperclone - Lon) could not tell any difference. certainly would buy a manual (I got my Clymers ex Amazon) & certainly change oil & filter (buy several online - again not oem ones - others are a lot less). might want to check state of air filter & consider swap for K &N slip in - last lot longer & are either cheaper than oem or if more it is more than offset by their longevity. as far as seat - I had tears in both my originals rider seat & pillion pad on mine - local reupholster who does bike & car & furntiure recovered them both for about $50 (obviously varies from place to place). my bike had newish back tire but original front - replaced straight away as it was worn & showed signs of cracking/weathering to sidewalls with a Dunlop 404 (others recommend metzlers which I'll admit are better - have them on my other faster, larger bike) but cost a good deal more. sure others will come up with other help - I'm @ 4,500 feet so cannot help with rejetting (also have different muffler. reckon 40 mpg is a bit low like other respondent. good luck - as a friend said when I got the Savage, "I'd bought a hobby." |
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Title: Re: New owner - Older bike Post by TVR on 01/02/07 at 17:07:51 Quote:
An understatement if ever there was one! Welcome and enjoy! |
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Title: Re: New owner - Older bike Post by verslagen1 on 01/02/07 at 21:57:27 Ebay is a good source of parts. I purchased my harley seat for $40 including shipping. The stock mirrors aren't symetric, but are identical in fittings and thread. Good tip on the brakes, clean them regularly. I'm beginning to like the squeak. Nothing gets your attension better that the unmistakable sound of someones brakes squealing. Loud pipe, everyone knows another freaking harley is near by. But if you hear a squeal, everyone wants to know where it's coming from. |
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Title: Re: New owner - Older bike Post by Jimsey67 on 01/02/07 at 23:44:43 Thanks for the info so far people. Perhaps one of the levers on the bars has been replaced as well as it definately looks like the part of the mirror that screws to the lever on the left side is bigger than the right. As I said, it looks like there have been many changes to this bike. I noticed that the tank can still be ordered in original color and that brings another thought to mind. The fenders (both front and rear) have some sun fading which makes them look more of a sunburst finish (really good look) but the tank is straight orange. Perhaps that has been replaced as well. Hmmmm.... New bars, mismatched mirrors, perhaps different levers, new foot pegs and new seat. Maybe this one has been laid down a time or two before I got it. Oh well. I do like it... Jimsey |
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Title: Re: New owner - Older bike Post by RadarORiley on 01/05/07 at 09:27:20 Hey, Jimsey, if it's already been "laid down" it has it out of it's system now. Just enjoy the ride. The Savage is a good bike, when I was young, 650 was a BIG bike. So I'm reliving my youth with this one ;) |
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Title: Re: New owner - Older bike Post by Jimsey67 on 01/07/07 at 02:26:21 Agreed. Knocking the new off of something is the best way to make it usable imho. Jimsey |
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Title: Re: New owner - Older bike Post by justin_o_guy on 01/07/07 at 23:23:45 Lucky ME! I've been able to "USE" my nose ever since I was 3, when the big boy on the block said HI! |
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Title: Re: New owner - Older bike Post by mavrik on 01/08/07 at 13:58:20 I guess I got things backwards Old owner new bike just like my saddlebags LOL :P |
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Title: Re: New owner - Older bike Post by Jimsey67 on 01/09/07 at 22:07:50 Hi People, Ok, so I've looked over the carb from the outside with Reelthing's advice and the cover over the mixture screw is off. That leads to the assumption that the jets have also been done. It does have a lot of power and I am more than satisfied with that. Perhaps the blueing happened prior to the mods to the carb by one of the previous owner. so only two things left that bother me a tad. I believe it is running too rich as there is soot at the tailpipe and some on the brake lever on the rear wheel and yet it still backfires. I would assume from this that I have two things wrong. I have an air leak and the mix is too rich. With that said, running the screw in leans it our right? That would improve my mileage, right (currently 40mpg)? Next, what is the best way to close an air leak? Thanks all! Jimsey |
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Title: Re: New owner - Older bike Post by Dynobob on 01/10/07 at 00:02:08 Jimsey67 wrote:
Correct. In (clockwise) is lean, out (counterclockwise) is rich. It won't affect your mileage. It's basically idle to 1/8 throttle. It will have an affect on backfiring. Replace the header pipe to cylinder head gasket and check the carb mounting rubber pieces. You'll have to tighten the exhaust several times until it takes a set. |
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Title: Re: New owner - Older bike Post by Jimsey67 on 01/10/07 at 00:41:57 Thanks Dynobob, What about mileage? Anything I can do to improve it? Jimsey |
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Title: Re: New owner - Older bike Post by Dynobob on 01/10/07 at 10:49:26 Jimsey67 wrote:
Check inside the top of the carb to make sure the white spacer hasn't been removed completely. This will kill your mileage and make your bike run too rich on the bottom end. Too large of a mainjet will affect mileage a little bit but it's only mainly affected from 3/4 to full throttle. Make sure the CV diaphram is correctly mated to the top of the carb and that the slide is squeaky clean. Check for air leaks, make sure your jetting is correct, and use a fresh plug. That's about it. Oh, and don't twist the throttle so much ;D Actually, I run my Suzuki pretty hard and still get 50 to 60 mpg. |
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