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SuzukiSavage.com
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> The Cafe >> My 1997 LS400 /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1339892087 Message started by T-Dawg on 06/16/12 at 17:14:46 |
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Title: My 1997 LS400 Post by T-Dawg on 06/16/12 at 17:14:46 Hey everybody. I made an intro in that section, but figured I would start a thread with pictures over here to help track my progress as I work on the bike to make it look better. I bought a 1997 Suzuki Savage LS400 for $1000 (including Icon reflective vest, 3/4 helmet and gloves). I'm stationed in Japan with the US Navy, so the biggest bike I could get to start with is up to 400cc. Bike needs new tires as the ones on there are dry rot and cracked real bad. I just ordered a new front right footpeg/ brake lever off of flea-bay, because the on on mine is bent to crap. Also looking for a new left front footpeg because mine is broken off.. still enough there to keep my foot on.. but I want a whole peg there. Other than that, it's got some rust/corrosion issues from being left outside uncovered by it's last owner, so I'm gonna try to find some chrome polish... and maybe try that aluminum foil trick I read about. Anyways.. on to some pics... let me know what you think, give me ideas, etc. It seems MOST things are the same as the 650, so for basic body/mechanical parts I should be ok. The day I bought it: http://i883.photobucket.com/albums/ac37/RLong31/1997%20Suzuki%20Savage/IMG_0202.jpg http://i883.photobucket.com/albums/ac37/RLong31/1997%20Suzuki%20Savage/IMG_0203.jpg http://i883.photobucket.com/albums/ac37/RLong31/1997%20Suzuki%20Savage/IMG_0204.jpg http://i883.photobucket.com/albums/ac37/RLong31/1997%20Suzuki%20Savage/IMG_0205.jpg You can see behind the bike.. that's where it was parked. Outside, sort of under cover. Also you can see the rust on the front rim spokes and how bad the tires are cracked... the back looks pretty much the same. http://i883.photobucket.com/albums/ac37/RLong31/1997%20Suzuki%20Savage/IMG_0206.jpg All strapped down and ready to go home... that bike did NOT move, haha. http://i883.photobucket.com/albums/ac37/RLong31/1997%20Suzuki%20Savage/IMG_0207.jpg http://i883.photobucket.com/albums/ac37/RLong31/1997%20Suzuki%20Savage/IMG_0208.jpg Like that truck? Thing felt like it had a weed-eater engine in it. Oh yea, I got to keep those heavy duty straps too. 4 sets.. sweet. |
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Title: Re: My 1997 LS400 Post by Serowbot on 06/16/12 at 17:41:06 Welcome... Looks pretty good... ...is that a chain drive?... |
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Title: Re: My 1997 LS400 Post by ZAR on 06/16/12 at 18:05:34 Welcome to the group! Looks like it's pretty solid Dawg. Should be a nice scoot when you get it the way you want it! |
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Title: Re: My 1997 LS400 Post by T-Dawg on 06/16/12 at 18:08:50 2630273A22373A21550 wrote:
Yes sir it is... I believe a lot of the 650's are belt driven? |
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Title: Re: My 1997 LS400 Post by ZAR on 06/16/12 at 18:19:50 06183B3A336765540 wrote:
Yes sir it is... I believe a lot of the 650's are belt driven?[/quote] You got it Dawg. As far as I know all the 650s came from the factory equipped with belt-drive. Many owners have done the conversion for various reasons though. |
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Title: Re: My 1997 LS400 Post by MMRanch on 06/17/12 at 00:06:36 Dawg I'll suppect you could put a belt drive on that 400 and have it geared to run 100 mph. ! Sometimes I think 650 is allmost too big for one cylinder. The 400 may be smother at low rpm. With the 650 not enough power is not an issue :) |
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Title: Re: My 1997 LS400 Post by wambr on 06/17/12 at 10:25:42 Nice bike. I have the same. LS 400 enough dynamic motorcycle. It seemed to me that a more dynamic than LS650 . up to 100 mph maybe it will not run, but at startline would overtake LS 650. I imagine the contrary put belt drive instead of chain (from LS 650 all parts fully resemble). I like. |
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Title: Re: My 1997 LS400 Post by Serowbot on 06/17/12 at 10:45:56 5F49454A5A280 wrote:
Not... Not that the 650 is a rocket,... but, not... ls400 = 24hp.. ls650 = 31hp.. 352lbs for both... |
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Title: Re: My 1997 LS400 Post by wambr on 06/18/12 at 07:19:06 I seem to disagree. still horse power here not in the first place. and even with almost equal weight to both. ls400 seemed to me more dinamic ... or maybe just a thought? |
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Title: Re: My 1997 LS400 Post by Stimpy - FSO on 06/19/12 at 04:35:57 Great purchase!!! Don't polish it, ride it! Are you maybe planning on touring the country or something on that thing? I would. Look here: Suzuki Savage 12K miles Road Trip 2007 by Beatduck http://beatduck.blogspot.de/ Beatduck, Where RU????!!!! |
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Title: Re: My 1997 LS400 Post by Dave on 06/19/12 at 11:18:58 584E424D5D2F0 wrote:
Back in the day (1973) I worked at a Kawasaki dealer....and got to road test the 250, 350, 500 and 750 bikes. They were all 3 cylinder bikes and a ton of fun to ride. The weird thing was that the small bikes felt much faster to ride - and it was a result of the tuning/porting I believe. The 750 and 500 had a ton of power and it was very smooth. The 350 and 250 did not make a lot of power at first - but then you would hit an rpm where they came alive and they would lift the front wheel for a short burst. They felt so much faster because the power curve was not as smooth as the larger bikes.....and it was a lot of fun! It could be that the LS400 has a bit wilder state of tune than the LS650, and feels faster. |
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Title: Re: My 1997 LS400 Post by wambr on 06/19/12 at 11:32:52 most likely it's not in the settings of the engine. the ls400 and 650 camshaft the same. probably the difference stroke effect. to STIMPY-FSO: If the question asked to me, please do not use slang, it is difficult for me to understand and translate it |
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Title: Re: My 1997 LS400 Post by T-Dawg on 06/22/12 at 20:55:46 Appreciate all the replies to this thread... hadn't checked it in a few days. As far as power... the thing has plenty. Stops are short between most stoplights.. and speed limits are slow here. Highway speed limit is 80km/hr which is only about 50mph. I am mainly using it as a commuter to/from work. My wife drives the car and I get sick of walking. We have a 2 car limit, 1 per licensed driver.. and the motorcycle counts as a car. I will occasionally use it for short trips, rides, meet-ups with local riding clubs. Mainly I bought it because I've always wanted a Harley (I know, I know)... I plan on buying one when I get back to the states, so I took my MSF course here and bought this bike to learn on. And it kind of looks like a small Harley.. so that doesn't hurt either. |
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Title: Re: My 1997 LS400 Post by T-Dawg on 06/22/12 at 20:59:43 Oh yea... went down to the home improvement store here... bought the stuff and did the seat lift mod... made a big difference. Raised it about an inch... might go for another half inch or so. Also, just bought some Pirelli MT66 Routes online @ AmericanMotoTire.com .... they have awesome customer service. 2-3 day priority shipping to an FPO address for $35 aint' bad. Got new tires, tubes and rim strips for under $233 shipped to Japan. Hopefully I ordered the right stuff. |
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Title: Re: My 1997 LS400 Post by Drifter on 06/24/12 at 06:19:50 Are the pullies and belt the same size on this bike compared to the 650? |
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Title: Re: My 1997 LS400 Post by wambr on 06/24/12 at 09:57:43 yes. absolutly. |
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Title: Re: My 1997 LS400 Post by T-Dawg on 06/24/12 at 16:14:52 0A3C27283A2B3C4E0 wrote:
The pulley size could be the same size... but I have a chain... not a belt. So my guess is probably not. |
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Title: Re: My 1997 LS400 Post by T-Dawg on 07/03/12 at 05:49:24 Little update.. ordered some tires from AmericanMotoTire.com (AMT)... talked to a guy named Vaughn. Awesome customer service and shipping is cheap. If you are in the states.. it's free. -Anyway... ordered some Pirelli MT66's... I'll post some pics once I get em put on in the next couple days. -Adjusted the seat mod up a bit more to almost 2 inches -Went to the hardware store and bought some brackets and made myself a left front footpeg since mine was gone and ebay doesn't have any. -Also, went to NewEnough.com or MotorcycleGear.com now and got a new TourMaster Flex Series 2.0 jacket for $76 (normally $225). Also got a pair of cheap Frogg Togg rain pants. It rains a LOT here.. so it's essential here. That's all for now.. will post up pics soon. Might be digging in the to motor soon and doing the Verslavy mod.. and maybe getting some forward controls. |
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Title: Re: My 1997 LS400 Post by High_Plains_Thumpr on 07/03/12 at 14:07:23 5E4063626B3F3D0C0 wrote:
T-Dawg, congrats on your new find that will follow you home. :) FYI, I took my 1987 Savage to Okinawa, Japan back in Dec. 2005. I was working as a civilian on Kadena Air Base and the government allowed me to ship the motorcycle to Japan with my household goods. I got it registered with Japanese plates and a base sticker. It was an overkill, I could go anywhere fast in 3rd gear. (Except on the tollway at 50 MPH, surface streets are nominally 35 MPH.) The Pirelli Route 66 tires are fantastic for the Savage, I've got the 100/90H19 on the front and 130/90S15 on the rear. It's got reasonable traction at a good price. The Savage was a hoot to ride on Okinawa. You don't see many out there. (It goes to show, because of the stricter licensing and higher insurance costs for motorcycles above 400 cc's, why the 400 cc size is very popular. Also I got to understand why the Japanese love plastic. My mint looking Savage looked her age filled with corrosion and faded paint when I returned back to New Mexico on Dec. 2007.) BTW, it amazed me how many Japanese Nationals rode Harleys on Okinawa. I've attached a picture from one of my rides up north in the village of Futami, near a hot/cold drink vending machine all by itself off the highway near a sugar cane field. (You'd never see that in US, would be vandalized.) |
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Title: Re: My 1997 LS400 Post by T-Dawg on 07/03/12 at 16:22:24 That's awesome man. I see those vending machines EVERYWHERE, haha. I don't drink coffee, but the green tea stuff is ok... except they tend to make it real earthy... like you are drinking green dirt. Unfortunately I did not buy this bike in the states and have it shipped over. It has a Japanese title. From what I understand it would be a huge pain or maybe even impossible to have it switched to a US title. Otherwise I'd sink all my time and money into it and bring it back with me. The licensing process here is nuts. They've made everything so difficult that it's almost not worth the trouble... almost. It's doable... just gotta know the order and the process. And you're right about the corrosion. I have a cover now, but it rains ALL the time it seems, and there are no garages to park it in. The chrome on this bike looks bad... I'm gonna get some chrome polish, some aluminum polish, and some brushes and aluminum foil and work on making it look better. That will be the hardest thing I do on this bike. Oh yea, and living where I'm at there is almost no need to ever get above 3rd gear, haha. |
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Title: Re: My 1997 LS400 Post by High_Plains_Thumpr on 07/03/12 at 20:28:32 302E0D0C055153620 wrote:
The neat thing about those vending machines is they dispensed cold as well as hot drinks. I could get of all things, creamed corn drink, izuke beans drink, chicken & rice broth, etc. Thus it could tide me over so I wouldn't have to stop at a restaurant during a ride. I've attached a picture of a familiar drink dispensed from one of those machines. Back then it was like around 105 Yen. :) Quote:
I can understand that. Because of US EPA regulations, similar to Japan, it would be limited to earlier model bikes and they would have to comply with SAE rated lighting, AFAIK. Since my bike was earlier than 1996, it was easy to register. I still have the deregistration title from Japan; if I ever took it over there, I could re-title it. Quote:
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Yes, I understand. We got like 79 inches of rain a year, and the close proximity to the ocean laden the air with salt mist. My pristene highly chromed Highway Hawk package rack was reduced to heavy rust pits. To refurbish, I soaked in diluted muriatic acid to remove the rust. Then sanded the chrome to give adhesion to etching primer and sprayed it black. When I redo it, I will fill the rust pit holes with spotting putty, and refinish in acrylic enamel. Ditto for my Suzuki engine guard. Quote:
Actually a 250 would be more than adequate, a 125 would be sufficient, plus the fees and insurance are less. Good luck on your endeavors and return safe. Appreciate all you are doing over there. :) |
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