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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> What to do for a 15 y/o bike?
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Message started by colinnoe on 03/23/11 at 09:51:03

Title: What to do for a 15 y/o bike?
Post by colinnoe on 03/23/11 at 09:51:03

So, I got my savage a couple of months ago. It is my daily ride to college classes. I've put around 300 miles on it. So far I've been really happy. Mine is a 1997.

So far I've had and fixed the usual problems. I had the oil plug leak which I fixed last weekend. I also cleaned it up to look immaculate and replaced the spark plug which was fouled from one day I forgot to put the choke in. I also had a battery issue which I fixed by replacing with a gel battery. I have cleaned all connections and I changed the oil to moto-synthetic. I also drilled into the back of the muffler with a 7/32" bit to improve the sound.

I was wondering what were some other general maintenance items I may have overlooked. Also, what are some (cheaper) mods that would be worth doing?

Title: Re: What to do for a 15 y/o bike?
Post by colinnoe on 03/23/11 at 09:53:56

Also, it has 9000 miles on it now.

When should one replace the drive belt (or convert it)

Title: Re: What to do for a 15 y/o bike?
Post by Serowbot on 03/23/11 at 09:58:49

Drive belt will last forever.
Consider a Raptor 660 petcock... $25.00
Verslavey cam chain adjuster mod.. $60.00
See tech section.

Title: Re: What to do for a 15 y/o bike?
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 03/23/11 at 11:13:47

With only 9,000 on it, I wouldnt stress over the cam chain just yet. The petcock would be a good idea, just remember to turn it off,

ride that thing,, get it tuned up as you go,,tinker some every now & then & work to get it like you want it.
More noise & a bump in power for low buck,, Dyna Muffler,,Jet the carb to get the backfiring under control, IF its doing that. Mess with the idle air screw,, etc,, ding everything at once means that something might have not worked out, but you cant tell which one,, so, go slow, play with it.

Title: Re: What to do for a 15 y/o bike?
Post by verslagen1 on 03/23/11 at 11:33:22

Replace the rubber on your bike. particularly the vac and gas hose.

do this...
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?board=tech;action=display;num=1191167029

It's very important to know how far out your cam plunger is. And it will tell you the current state of the engine, worn out or good to go.

Title: Re: What to do for a 15 y/o bike?
Post by spacepirates on 03/23/11 at 11:35:11

valve adjustment - maintenance
seat - comfort
utility mods - comfort (it is a lot more comfortable to ride with books in a saddle bag or strapped to the back of the bike than in a backpack)

cone air filter - performance
after market muffler - sound/performance
both of these require messing with the carb, which isn't hard, per se, but time consuming

you can ditch some of the extraneous parts off the bike (chrome head covers, belt/pulley guard) based on your tastes if you like. i'm not the biggest fan of chrome (read: i hate it, but that is just me) or extra weight. of course, you can argue they are on their for safety reasons...

other than that, the only thing to do with a 15 year old bike is ride it! or, uh, i mean clean out the carbon build up by riding at WOT for a while ;D

Title: Re: What to do for a 15 y/o bike?
Post by engineer on 03/23/11 at 11:41:18

Collinoe, how much difference did that 7/32 inch hole in the back of the muffler make? Did you drill it inside or outside of the circle defined by the rivets? Just curious.

Title: Re: What to do for a 15 y/o bike?
Post by Routy on 03/23/11 at 12:48:06

This is common w/ the stock exhaust. Not sure, but I may have got it started a couple yrs ago, as several have done it.
It may have worsened the lean spot I had at 1/8 to 1/4 light load throttle, but the white spacer mod corrected that perfectly.
http://p1.bikepics.com/pics/2010/03/14/bikepics-1926789-full.jpg

Title: Re: What to do for a 15 y/o bike?
Post by engineer on 03/23/11 at 17:56:04

This forum has a wealth of information and people willing to share it. The best I have ever seen.

Title: Re: What to do for a 15 y/o bike?
Post by Boofer on 03/23/11 at 20:53:36

140710110E0305070C53620 wrote:

I am assuming Verslagen included new tires if needed when he said, "Replace the rubber.." Cracked, dry rotted, worn tires are my pet peeve. 352 lbs + you and your gear on two small contact patches. IHTH :)

Title: Re: What to do for a 15 y/o bike?
Post by colinnoe on 03/25/11 at 08:51:46

@engineer: the 7/32" hole made a huge difference

OK, I also already have comfort/utility mods in place but my pland for the next couple weeks is this:

1) adjust seat position by raising front a little bit--I found this on a diff site.--very simple

2) Check cam chain tensioner plunger--the engine sounds as smooth as my bmw car though so I hope all is well here. I would probably just replace the chain rather than do the tensioner mod. Has replacing the chain been known not to help?

2.1) Probably at the same time as 2 I will do the petcock, Is there any danger of leaving it on on if you ride all the time (read 3 times a day or more) . I know if you don't ride a lot and leave it on water can build up and corrode the carb.

3)I will need to tune the carb as I have backfiring while decelerating with some regullarity

Other notes... tired are good so thats okay, someone recommended valve mods/tuning? what do you mean there?

Title: Re: What to do for a 15 y/o bike?
Post by colinnoe on 03/25/11 at 08:55:31

on the muffler, the loudness is about doubled, and the sound is much better though you can hear the leaking air if you know what to listen for.
I did not notice an increase in leanness though theoretically it might be there.

I do have that lame spot in my throttle when lightly loading at ~1/4 throttle, at wider throttle this is fine or while acceleratng this is fine. I do not think this is related to muffler mod though b/c I had this before and after. If made worse, it is very marginally different