SuzukiSavage.com - Savage mods

klx650sm2002 Serious Thumper Offline The more I learn the less I know. Posts: 2041 Cumbria,England Gender:	Savage mods 05/27/05 at 03:54:21 Whatever You've done to Your Savage be it a 140/90/15 rear or a sportster muffler please post here the mods you have done and what you think of the results. Hopefully this will prove to be a useful reference for others. Clive W
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red2k1

Ex Member

Re: Savage mods
Reply #1 - 05/27/05 at 05:45:02

Appearance:

Chrome tank and fender trim
Chrome side reflector grills
Chrome turn signal and headlight trim visors
Chrome brake and clutch levers
Barbed wire graphics on swing arms
Suzuki engine crash guard
Chrome horn cover
Clear Alternatives Clear Turn Signal Lenses all around with red rear bulbs
Chrome Barbed Wire license plate frame
Chrome Bullet license plate fasteners
Chrome Brake Master Cylinder Cover
Chrome Front Fender Guard
Chrome Lightbar

Function:

Dunlop Qualifier raised white letter tires, tubes and rim bands – 140/90/15 – Rear requires shock adjustment or replacement. Excellent all around tires

Replaced rear OEM shocks with Progressive Suspension shocks # 412-4207C+ (12.5" center to center). Necessary to accomodate wider rear tire and gives the bike entirely new handling. Very highly recommended even without the wide rear tire.

National Cycle Street Shield EX – Recommended

Pro-Tac Drivers backrest – Highly recommended – increased comfort and drivability

SuperBrace fork brace – Highly recommended, added stability

Suzuki Rear Rack – Small, but recommended

Emgo Travel trunk mounted on small rear rack. – the more storage the better – easily stores a full-face helmet

Suzuki Saddlebags - the more storage the better

Biker’s Friend Roll Bag - the more storage the better – this is a good one

115 decibel horn – you can hear this one

Riderlight Wireless Brake Light System – piece of junk, worked for 23 minutes

LED Brake Light Bulb - It’s Okay

XENON H4 Headlight Bulb – Works well, Recommended

Rivco Fuse Block – recommended for adding additional electrical things

Vista Cruise Universal Cruise Control – It works and I like it

Lift front of driver’s seat by inch and a quarter – a must do

NGK Iridium Spark Plug - Highly recommended

Reworked the stock carb, 1/3 white spacer, 155 main jet and idle mixture screw out about 3 turns. – another must do

K&N air filter with air box door removed - another must do or a K&N Cone filter

Jardine Slash Cut muffler - another must do

Junked the stock carb for an Edelbrock/QuickSilver – changes the character of the bike to a highly responsive fire breather. However, very difficult to start in cold weather.

Stainless steel front brake line - highly recommended

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Savage_Rob

Serious Thumper
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Mechanically
Inclined Amateur

Posts: 6972
Texas (Dallas area)
Gender: male

Re: Savage mods
Reply #2 - 05/27/05 at 06:21:13

SuperBrace
Major improvement in front end stability and handling.

Progressive 412 Series Shocks
These really make a big difference in ride quality. Bumps are now absorbed before they reach my spine. I used the 12.5" heavy duty version but I'm sure the 11" or 11.5" would be excellent choices also.

Amal Mk2 Carburetor
Round-slide carb - not CV... means simpler design, with no diaphragm to worry about, much better throttle response. It does, however, lose a little in fuel economy and the best prices on parts I've found are in England, so I have to wait a bit for delivery.

MAC muffler
pretty good quality, breathes very well, very loud (I wish it were slightly quieter)

K&N drop-in (direct-swap) air filter
high quality, breathes very well, filters very well, easy to install/clean/relube

white spacer mod
On my original Mikuni carb, I actually have a DynoJet needle but its current setting has the net effect of about a 1/2 thickness spacer with the stock needle.

head seal/plug fix
It never really leaked much but my engine is simply cleaner now. I'm sure it has to help at least a bit with engine cooling too.

Kuryakyn ISO grips
less vibration, more comfortable

Dunlop 491 Elite II tires
Good quality, good handling, rear tire is a 140/90 instead of the 140/80. It rides well and looks good but rubs the left side's mounting hardware for the side chrome until I removed the saddlebag supports and raised the shocks' settings. I also replaced the standard bolts with mushroom-head allen-bolts to lessen the liklihood of further rubbing. These mods were only necessary with the stock shocks. The addition of Progressive 412 series shocks negated the need for any of this.

Wingerline highwaybar
I like it. It's solid and sturdy and I like the look. It also allows me to shift my feet forward on longer open-road stretches. I like my feet on the pegs otherwise.

sheepskin seat cover
warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer, adds a little padding... I also raised the front end of the seat as advised. I highly recommend this.

S40 Gel seat
Fits the Savage just fine and the gel isolates a lot of the vibration.

Stainless Knurled Thumb Screws
These make taking the seat off much easier.

Xenon headlight bulb
much brighter - a big difference over halogen

BackOFF brakelight modulator
gets cagers' attention better

NC Windscreen
more comfortable, less fatigue, less road yuck on me

headlight visor
I'm not normally big on these but it keeps light from hitting the lower edge of my windscreen and lighting the whole thing up (in a fiberoptic-like effect) at night. That was disconcerting when I first bought the bike.

mudflaps
Added one to the front fender; it keeps the bike cleaner. I'm plannig to add one to the front of the rear fender too.

trunk
Lockable storage when I don't need the full-size carrying capacity of saddlebags. I removed my full-size trunk and replaced it with a homemade version. It's a .50 cal ammo box, painted rustoleum hammered metal black, and bolted to the rear rack with neoprene washers in between. It's durable, waterproof and carries the major necessities. Currently removed until I reinforce the luggage rack.

iridium plug
recommended

125 dB horn
actually gets some attention

Click image for larger view:

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WD

Serious Thumper
2005 No Login

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Professional
"scooter
trash".

Posts: 5207
Rosemark TN
Gender: male

Re: Savage mods
Reply #3 - 05/27/05 at 07:30:39

Mods huh...

Speed and handling: no front fender, no belt cover, free flowing exhaust, no air box door, mixture screw out two turns from stock (still needs jetting), 140/90/15 rear tire (mine came with a 130/80/15), run both tires on maximum pressure.

Apearance and comfort: seat cut down to 1/4 stock thickness and leather covered, all passenger related parts deleted, Custom Chrome rear bullet lights w/red lenses, apehanger handlebars, braided stainless brake hose, chrome license plate frame w/skull fasteners, hubs and spokes painted black, rim center painted orange, dice valve stem covers w/orange dots, HD shifter peg, Honda 450 Rebel headlight w/HD visor, repainted a candy copper/orange, pin-up girl stickers, rotor center blacked out, mini glaspac with fishtail pipe.

I still need a sprung solo seat, frame stretch and/or forward controls, slimmer grips, new pegs (mine have ground down ends from teaching the son to ride), considering some form of sadlebag (probably will make them, off the shelf bags are expensive).
-WD

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On 2 wheels since 7/87

Black and Chrome 2003 1950s style custom

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LANCER

Serious Thumper
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Savage Beast
Performance Parts

Posts: 10670
Oklahoma
Gender: male

Re: Savage mods
Reply #4 - 05/27/05 at 16:32:30

Yellow 96 Savage:

-engine bored one size over with silicone carbide treatment on cylinder, which reduces friction and heat (by Bore-tech)

-cam reground by Webcams for considerable boost in performance

-stock carb replaced by aftermarket item...Edelbrock Quicksilver and Amal Mark II, both perform very well with increased power and excellent responsiveness...also have used both K&N filter and 6" velocity stack with microscreen

*Result of engine changes is a substantial increase in power, which has yielded much stronger acceleration, quicker response, smoother running and higher top speed.
(stock top speed: 87, now: 100)

-rear shocks replaced by 12.5" Progressive set

*Result of suspension changes has been a significant improvement in stability and handling

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« Last Edit: 11/05/13 at 03:10:59 by LANCER »

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Ed L.

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"We All go a
Little Crazy
Sometimes"
Norman Bates

Posts: 2808
Sunny Florida
Gender: male

Re: Savage mods
Reply #5 - 05/28/05 at 16:41:13

Performance mods/
1 Idle air mixture screw turned out 2 1/4 turns. Helped
reduce backfires
2 White spacer replaced with two #4 washers, about
about 1/2 orignal thickness. Increased power noticed
from 2000rpm to 3800rpm.
3 Rejet main from 145 to 152.5. Real big difference in
overall engine performance.
4 Replace stock air filter with K+M drop in unit and drill
out airbox door. Small increase in top end, maybe
maybe 200rpm more.
5 Replace stock muffler with sportster muffler. Nice
sound and look and drilled a 1/2 inch hole through the baffle. Also replaced the stock heatshield
with a 10" long straight one.
6 Installed a inline fuel filter.
7 Installed a small engine tach from Northern Hydralics.
It hasn't broken yet but other posters have had
problems with them.
8 Installed a Superbrace. Big difference in handling at
at speed and on bumps
Comfort Mods
10 Raise the front of the seat by 1 inch.
11 Cover the seat with sheepskin. long gone, using the onepiece suzuki gell seat now
12 Replace the stock buckhorn handle bars with 31 1/2
inch low rise clubman handle bars. Gave a more
natural hand and arm position.
13 install 4 inch forward control plates
14 Replaced the stock footrests with solid "o" ring type
Broke the stock ones off with a low speed drop.
15 Keep the saddle bags that came with the bike, nice
to have extra storage. Also keeps the paint off the
road in case of a drop.
16 Advanced the ignition by about 3 degrees
17 Install stage 1 cam and Slavy type chain tensioner (11k miles)
18 Dremelled the exhaust port out to fit the inside diameter of the header. Work done while the head was on the engine.
Ride Safe, Ed L.

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« Last Edit: 09/08/14 at 16:04:42 by Ed L. »

Silver '02, clubman handle bars, Cobra headlight, Sportster muffler, K+N stock air filter, 152.5 main, Superbrace, oil cooler, 1/2 inch aluminium plate forward controls, spark advance, goes like stink

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DOA_Savage

Ex Member

Re: Savage mods
Reply #6 - 08/19/05 at 12:00:37

Hello fellow Savagers!
New member and first post.

Well where do I begin, I purchased my 1987 Savage 5 years ago. Rode it a year, tore it to pieces, lost interest, put it in a box and in a storage unit for 3 1/2 years.
A few months ago got some motivation from a family member and started the "Savage Project".

1.Body Work
Shaved everything that could be shaved off. Eliminated the passenger seat (solo conversion). Took the original rear fender and cut 6 1/2 inches out of the middle and bobbed the rear. Eliminated all signals and mirrors. Filled all holes that could be filled. Retro fitted a old set of Harley drag bars and made my own 4 inch risers.

2.Paint
This was the hardest part, finding the color I wanted. I ended up painting the frame, swing-arm, triple-tree, headlight housing, handle bars, control housings, and engine 3 different shades of black; jet, flat, and gloss.
Painted the furniture (body) a House of Kolors Candy Apple Red Pearl with custom ghost flames. Also painted the belt drives and few other accent parts this color.

3.Drive Train
The drive train is stock, accept for the Mack muffler. The engine's fins, crank case, clutch case, controls, and foot pegs are all polished. Eliminated the drive belt guard and custom made my own side mount tag bracket out of aluminum (wich I also polished). The carburator is the factory Mikuni, but since it sat in a box for 3+ years it needs work. All bearings in the frame have been replaced.

4.Electrical
As I mentioned before I eliminated all lights accept headlight. I' am going to fabricate my own LED setup for a break light, running light, and rear turn signals. I also relocated the rectifier to believe it or not inside the air box, the cavity inside the air box is so large I had ample room to mount it. And I also modded the air box lid to previde more air if there was any problem with flow. I also left the battery box in the stock position for now.

5.Grips
I used a set of cheap (Can't think of name) Harley Grips I found at a local Harley shop. But there are nice thick cusshion leather grips. I mean I think I paid $18 bucks for them, but they are nice comfortable grips.

6.Rims & Tires
Factory spokes (needing polished), and the tires are Dunlops factory size I believe. Brakes caliper, rotor, and rear braskes are all factory(Except the pads).

7.Seat
The seat is the factory seat I had it reapholstered (I think I spelled that right) and more padding added.

Needs Now
Carb rebuilt (Or buy Lancers Amal MkII kit....Hmmmm)
Custom Light Fabrication
Air Cleaner
Lower Suspension

List of Products
House of Kolors Candy Red
House of Kolors Cinder Red Base
House of Kolors Base Primer
House of Kolors Clear
Ford Silver (For flames)
Chevy Midnight Black (Frame and few other accents)
High Temp 2000 Degree Black (For motor and exhaust)
Flat Black
Harley Drag Bars (with dimples)
Risers 4" (Made my own)
Fender Bobbed (Made my own)
Lights (None for now)
Mac Muffler (Very Loud)
Suspension (Factory)
License Plate Bracket (Made my own)

To Be Continued........

David,
USNR UT3
NMCB14 Det06

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dubb-1b Ex Member	Re: Savage mods Reply #7 - 08/28/05 at 15:40:25 my mods are simply; removed stickers from the tank and side covers and installed a flyscreen.
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Tony

Full Member
2004 No Login

Offline

Posts: 102
Saugerties, NY
Gender: male

Re: Savage mods
Reply #8 - 08/31/05 at 18:25:54

Mine are pretty basic also:
'05 S40 (White)

Changed:
Spacer mod on Carburator
Idle mixture Screw adjusted
1" Raised Seat Mod

Added:
Sigma 1600 Digital trip Odometer/Speedometer
Saddle Bags (Suzuki non-studded)
Leather Fork Tool Bag
Gel Seat
Green Tribal Flames added to Tank and Fenders
Formotion Clock and Thermometer
RiderLight LED Taillight with helmet light (Love it!)

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-Tony

......Remember;
Where ever you go,
there you are.

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torque

Serious Thumper
2005 No Login

Offline

2008 nightster,flat
od green and black

Posts: 748
rock hill,S.C.
Gender: male

Re: Savage mods
Reply #9 - 09/01/05 at 14:11:17

my mods

removed...................................................................
1.front fender
2.rear fender
3.belt guard
4.belt pully guard
5.stock pegs
6.baffles
7.right mirror
8.stupid buckhorns
added.........................................................................
1.custom brake light bracket
2.custom turn signal bracket
3.custom side mount licence bracket
4.custom rectifier mounting plate
5.superbar handle bars
6.custom one piece pegs/highway pegs
7.custom upohlstered seat
8.custom black flake paint
9.2 inch aluminium plate to raise the seat nose

the bike is 52 pounds lighter than stock,making it around,298 pounds!!

a true chopper Grin

engine.......................................................................
1.1/2 spacer
2.k&n

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clueless-FSO

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Posts: 454
Birmingham, Al
Gender: male

Re: Savage mods
Reply #10 - 09/01/05 at 16:17:16

96 Savage bought used:

Removed sissy bar and side rails.

Raised front of seat and added about 1 inch padding.

HD Muffler with baffle punched out.

Relocated rear blinkers to fender.

Replaced buckhorn bars with HD drag bars(bought HD 'cause I could see 'em before buying)

Removed side cover and tank decals.

Replaced white spacer with 3 #4 washers.(Too rich with 2, so took 3 and shaved them down a bit)

152.5 main jet

140/90 rear tire

Fabricated nice looking highway pegs.

Drill out airbox door.

Used 19mm sockets for risers.

Memphis shades screen(only for winter)

THANKS FOR ALL THE IDEAS!!!!

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'96 Black "bed liner" paint.. Ed_L forward controls, HD bars with 1"socket risers, 155 main, pod filter, HD exhaust, punched baffle, modded seat, chain drive conversion, slavy mod
one of a kind

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mgarula

Ex Member

Finished my upgrades
Reply #11 - 10/18/05 at 07:48:26

Ok guys, I know many have been asking about various part replacements. I spent the last 3 months slowly adding parts to my 05. The last part came in today and I have bolted it on ( the rear pegs) , but, no I'm not lying, it's raining in Phoenix today and I won't be able to get pictures up till the weekend. Here is what is possible.

Added:

Suzuki windshield, great money.

Suzuki Sissy bar, great money.

Suzuki Engine Guard, not great mony unless you buy...

Kuryakyn ISO Right Angle Highway pegs, (short style, The installation is unique you will see when I post pics.)

Highway Hawk comfort footpegs for front and rear that match the ISO Highway pegs, great money, you need to by both the front and rear for a proper installation (you need to mix parts).

Kuryakyn Universal ISO grips, great money (installation is hard and unique, more later)

Pro One Tear Drop Billet mirrors with short stems (look really great, but after I almost got run over at a stoplight, because I could not see directly behind me, they were gone ASAP), not great money based on how I use the bike.

Suzuki mirrors from a M50, great money. (If I had it to do over again I would by the mirrors from a 06 yamaha warrior, its the same mirror as the M50, but the stems are shorter)

Re-padded and covered the seat to eliminate SBS, great $10.00

Stainless Steel .25 by 6 inch chrome steel drawer handles, great money (drilled holes in the side rail and bolted on. Until I got the saddle bags these were how I tied things to the bike. These are required for a good saddle bag install, they keep the bags from shifting and provide a place to use a padlock to lock your helmet, saddle bags cover helmet lock on side rail.

De-Badged the whole bike, (small guitar E string, two pieces of wood, and a whole lot of rubbing Achohol and elbow grease, I scratched the yoke on the trees removing that little 'S' emblem ... Still p$!;ed about that one.

Cortech saddle bags, best money spent on the bike see below.

Saddle bag comments: I use this bike as my main transportation since July 20 '05 I have clocked 5137 miles. These saddle bags are a soft bag with semi-hard sides. Installed under the seat with the Chrome handles, see above, this looks like a custom install. 20 liters of storage per bag. You and your passenger still have access to the rear pegs. This week I carried 4 2liters of pop, .5 gal milk, .5 gal icecream two bags of other small stuff, all in the main bag compartments! The thing about bags for the savage is finding something big enough to be more that cosmetic, but small enough to fit without melting on the exhaust, blocking the marker lights or blocking the pegs. These are as big as you can get and put them on the bike, and the reflection tape on the bag is a big plus at night.

Mirror comment: I really, really, really liked the tear drop mirrors, and I was able to adjust them so I could see the right and left lanes fine, but when sitting at a stoplight I could not see traffic comming up behind me. When sitting at a stoplight, late one Saturday night , I almost got run over. I heard screetching tires, smelled burned rubber and looked behind me to see a very scared highschool age girl behind the wheel of her car about 8 feet back. If you aren't going to ride the bike alot, and when you ride, mostly with others, go for the good look and buy these mirrors. If not by the M50s or Yamaha.

What's comming:
Later in the week with pics I will give part numbers and detailed source and install info. Here are some props I promised to give out. These are the places you need to see about your Savage or S40

www.metric-cruisers.com (foot pegs)

www.mrcycles.com (windshield, sissy bar, M50 mirrors, engine guard) These guys have the best prices I've seen.

www.maximumperformancecycles.com (ask for Bronze - everything highway pegs, ISO grips, and tear drop mirrors)

www.cyclegear.com (saddle bags, and soon sissy bar bag, helmets lots more) I deal with Sheri at the Cave Creek store, she's awesome, her bosses should give her a raise.

Last thoughts:
Every day I'm told how cool the bike looks, and people will stare until they finaly have to ask what kind of bike it is. I have even had savage owners who could figure out immediately what it is.

I still need to replace the marker lights front and back. My back lights, right side, have been broken twice by people walking past the bike. I good replacement that is bright and will work with the 05 side rail is my current search misson.

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pgolden

Ex Member

Re: Savage mods
Reply #12 - 12/14/05 at 13:00:26

Bought 2001 model with 1800 miles
Came with:
National Cycle windshield
Suzuki Engine guard
Suzuki luggage rack
Kuryakyn ISO grips
Suzuki saddle bags and support...........wish they were a little bigger but they look good on the bike
Suzuki fork bag......................................don't use
Chrome headlight and turn signal chrome visors
Jardine muffler....................................was too loud!!

Modifications:
Painted Viper Red Oh Yeah
Louder Chrome horn
Chrome reflector accents
Chrome billet slotted mirrors...................Oh Yeah
152.5 Main jet
white spacer shaved to 1/16"
Idle mixture screw out 2 1/8 turns
K&N air filter
NGK Iridium spark plug
Harley Sportster muffler (stock) great sound
Raised seat 1" in front, 3/8" in rear highly reccommended
Changed oil & filter. Honda 10W40 oil
Chrome lic plate frame with bullet bolts
Chrome fuel filter, with red clear fuel line
Bungee nuts on rear fender a must have
Progressive 412-4200 shocks great mod!
Super Brace
Chrome brake and clutch levers wider (fit better)
Kuryakyn Chrome helmet lock on crash bar work great

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theikeman

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Live each day as if
it were your last
...

Posts: 344
Gibsonton in South Florida
Gender: male

Re: Savage mods
Reply #13 - 12/26/05 at 19:51:52

Already done:Sportster Handlebars with 4" rise, ribbed chrome/black grips. Polished engine cases, lower fork legs, header pipe. Added Python slash cut muffler. Removed side rails bag supports and and grab bar, added bullet blinker lights.

Weight Loss: Stock muffler and heatshield, side rails, grab/sissy bar with pad and rear turn signals . Bag supports, Stock "pullback bars and grips, stock mirrors.

Still to do: Buying one piece seat, will do seat mod, new plug and plug wire,spark plug removal mod. Have Tachometer to install. Buying 7" headlight. Adding Pod style air filter and iridium plug.

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1996 Just bought it, Maroon, so much to do, so little time ... Future adds: Iridium, dyna muff, air filter mod, fork brace, 1 piece seat, carb mod and more

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saabsaviur

Ex Member

Re: Savage mods
Reply #14 - 01/08/06 at 21:13:06

i bought my used 1996 in aug 2005 with 12.5k miles a smashed tank bent pegs, constant backfireing and terrible faded paint what i have done so far is as follows

Recoverd OE seats in black vynel
Custom sissy bar pad
Chrome Maltese Cross Sissy Bar Plate
Chrome Plate Frame
Bullet Frame Screws
Fixed dent in tank and straigten pegs
Custom Black Paint Silver Flames
Black Painted Heat Shields
140/90/15 Rear Tire
100/90/19 Front Tire
Leather Shifter Covers
Leather Tank Strap
Leather Saddle Bags
Matching Black Full Face Helmet w/silver Flames

WHAT I WANT TO DO

Seat-mod
K/N Air Filter
All Chrome Braided Fuel Lines
Chrome In line Fuel Filter
Polish all Alluminum
Repaint bike bike Flat Black with Glossy Traditional Red/Orange Flames
West Coast Choppers Rear fender
Ostrich Or alligator Skin Covered Seat
some cool Mirrors
Chrome Grips
Chrome Brake Res Cover
Drag BArs Or Z bars

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