SuzukiSavage.com - Print Page

SuzukiSavage.com
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl
General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Help a newbie!!
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1187351604

Message started by JFinol on 08/16/07 at 18:39:24

Title: Help a newbie!!
Post by JFinol on 08/16/07 at 18:39:24

First of all, I would like to introduce myself, since I'm a new member and savage rider as well(my first bike ever).
I bought a 2000 Suzuki Savage(green/white color) w/ 6000 miles on it. I wanted it so I can commute to school, well that was my excuse to get a bike (please don't mention this to my wife). It is a nice bike except the color, I would rather to have it in black or burgundy, but well !!.
Anyways, I've been looking all the topics posted in this website, and I am glad that some one toke the effort to put this savage community together.
Many of my question and concern have been answered already, but there still some stuff that I do not understand yet. For example, what does it mean jetting the carb? What it is back fire? How do I know my bike isn't back firing?
I want to replace my bike's pipe for an EA, and I seen in some of your forum all these terms, name and stuff that I do not understand. Another, concern I have is about the performance of my bike after installing such pipe. Is the after market pipe going to damage the engine in the long run, or shorten its life time?
Please, help me out on this so I can make a smatter decision whether change the pipe or not. I will also appreciate any advise in how to install the pipe and what other changes need to be done when installing the pipe.
Let me thank you in advance for your advise and for at least reading this.
Best regard!!!
JFinol

8)

Title: Re: Help a newbie!!
Post by forrest on 08/17/07 at 05:11:52

Welcome! Can't help you with any of that technical stuff..I high five my family when I successfully change the oil without putting anyone's eye out.

But someone here will deffinitely get ya through it.

Title: Re: Help a newbie!!
Post by nervekiler on 08/17/07 at 09:34:55

back fire sounds like a huge bang. you will know when it backfires cuase you will be scared and a little embarassed at everyone looking at you.

just read as much as you can.. eventually things will start making sense for you.
i read everything i can even if i dont have the problem.. so you know for the future.

Title: Re: Help a newbie!!
Post by T-Mack1 on 08/17/07 at 09:47:57

Will try to answer some question:

Back-firing: it's that little pop pop pop when decelerating or the pop when you let off the throttle and pull in the clutch lever. Sometime a pop when you turn off the bike. Basically it's root cause is a fuel to air mixture condition that manifests itself in the exhaust pipe. Mini expolsions......

Jetting: The carb's on many motorcycles have multiple fuel passageways (circuits) that meter the fuel going into the engine. Each passageway is used for different spots on how "open" the throttle is. (1/4, 1/2, 3/4 ) The air screw (sometimes called the idle mixture) is first circuit. Needle postion is next and mainjet last. In the old days, bikes were setup for best overall realiability and performance. Then came the EPA......now many bikes are "Lean'd" out which means fuel to air mixture is on the low side. When a modification is done to the bike that is in the air-fuel path (i.e. Performance air cleaner, bigger piston, performance exhaust) this fuel to air "balance" is affected (more air!!!). Thus, changes have to be made, and one of those changes is putting in a larger main jet to get the balance back.

Hope this helps a little.

Title: Re: Help a newbie!!
Post by FreeSpirit on 08/17/07 at 09:54:59

New also....don't know much.I try to learn here and the Tech forum is really good,but....

The backfire....I thought I had been shot :-) With no warning at all.

But with mine it dosent happen that often.And I get over it pretty quickly :-)

Title: Re: Help a newbie!!
Post by JFinol on 08/17/07 at 15:04:09

Thanks so much for your explanations :)
Now, I would like to install a EA slash cut pipe, do I have to rejet the carb in my savage? If I do, how do I do this, what is the set up?
I know I am asking too much but that how I lear.
:-/

Title: Re: Help a newbie!!
Post by grandpa on 08/18/07 at 00:42:22

Check the byline at the bottom of my post and you will see the jetting and spacer mod that I used after I put a Harley Dyna muffler on with a K&N replacement style air filter. The pilot and main jets you can get from Harley or Suzuki dealers. The pilot jet takes care of the idle mixture and the main jet takes care of full throttle mixture. The spacer mod (I am at 1/2 of the spacer original thickness) takes care of the mid-range mixture. I am in Memphis TN at about 250 ft altitude. If you live say in Denver CO at 5000 ft you will have to go smaller to adjust to the thinner air. There is a tech section post that walks you thru the spacer modification. Tells you everything except how to get the spacer thinner. I used a fine file or you could use fine sandpaper. Some people use a #4 size (I think I remember this correctly) washers procured from a hardware store to replace the spacer. This allows them to keep the spacer in case you need to go back to stock. You will feel an amazing difference in performance!! I still get better than 50 mpg. Don't be intimadated by the process, just go slow and follow the post. Keep everything, especially the vacuum slide spotlessly clean and you will have no trouble at all. Good luck and welcome aboard!!!

Title: Re: Help a newbie!!
Post by YonuhAdisi on 08/18/07 at 08:58:54

The jets are easily accessed from the bottom of the carb, all you have to do is remove the carburator bowl after draining from the little screw at the bottom. Just remove the four screws holding the bowl on. (most folks after removing screws replace them with stainless steel allen head screws which is a good idea because the original screws are very soft and easily chewed up) There are two jets, the main is the fat one and the pilot is the small one. When looking at them they look like like standard screws with holes in the center of the screw heads.

Simply unscrew these and replace them with desired size. The sizes of the jets are stamped onto the screw heads.

As stated above, the size of jets you will need depend greatly on the altitude where you live. Basically the higher your altitude, the bigger jet you will need. Because the higher you get the thinner the air which means the more raw fuel you'll need to get into the cylinder. However, when putting on a freer flowing muffler, you will need to adjust the jet size accordingly.

There is very good references and how-to threads in the tech/referance section of this site. This is where I get most of my how-to stuff.

Title: Re: Help a newbie!!
Post by vtail on 08/18/07 at 11:30:53

YonuhAdisi; Correction. The higher you are the smaller the jet needs to be. The ideal fuel mixture is about 14 air:1 fuel, so at higer altitude you have less air so you'll need less fuel.(iaw you need to lean out the mixture) You also will lose about 3.5% horsepower per 1000 ft elevatin. The trottle on this carb does NOT raise the needle. (iaw it is not connected to the slide) It just opens a throttle plate in the throat.The stock carburator does Altitude compension due to the fact that the slide gets pulled up by the amount of vacuum you can pull wich is controlled by the throttle plate angle in the carb throat). For every 1000 ft you lose 1 inch of vacuum . Example; Sea level is 30 inches , at 5000 ft it is 25 inches (of mannifold pressure) Since at altitude the slide (at the same trottle setting) will not raise as high, the needle will not be pulled as far out of the main jet and since this needle is tapered it regulates the amount of fuel you get. So it is self leaning. This system does not need different jets for different altitudes. Hope this helps (I am a Commercial Flight Instructor, Multi,Instrument etc. and this is a common misconseption.) If you have a carb where the slide gets manually pulled up (like a Dellorto) you will need to rejet (smaller jets) the higher you go or they'll run way too rich :)

Title: Re: Help a newbie!!
Post by Max_Morley on 08/18/07 at 11:37:27

Hi Vtail, does that mean you fly a Beechcraft? The Community college I first taught had a fleet of those in their flight program. I tried explaining carb icing and so the next time it comes up how about you giving it a go. I do know small aircraft add carb heat prior to take off and landing to minimize the possibilty of power loss during those critical moments. Thanks Max

Title: Re: Help a newbie!!
Post by vtail on 08/18/07 at 12:22:04

Yep Max, you are correct, a V35 Bonanza. Carb ice is another often misunderstood subject, but you can find plenty of good explanations on all kinds of aviation web-sides.

Title: Re: Help a newbie!!
Post by YonuhAdisi on 08/19/07 at 07:27:50

vtail wrote:

Thank you for the correction Vtail, I thought that didn't quite sound right when I typed it but was in a rush to get to work so I couldn't go back over it closely and correct it.

I was a student pilot for a little while (didn't get to finish because of monetary concerns) I should have remembered that about the carb. I flew a Cessna 152 II.