Ok what's going on???  I had my bike out last week after having it parked for the winter.  Was running fine and then all of a sudden started choking and coughing when I apply throttle.  I pulled over to a gas station and stared at it for ten minutes waiting for god to fix it............he didn't.  It will idle and start fine but when i go to give it some throttle it's like it's not getting enough gas or air.  Sounds bogged down.  I pulled it over to the pumps and put in some 91 octane as it was possible bad gas from sitting all winter.  That seemed to fix it up and it ran fine for me home.  So this past week thought i'd do some basic maintenance.  Pulled/drained the tank and removed the petcock to check the filter (which was ok) and replaced fuel with fresh.  I changed the air filter and gas line.  Just took it out and it started up fine.  Got about half a klick away and went to get up to highway speed and blaahhh.  Same thing.  Stared at it for another 20 minutes and god still didn't fix it for me.  I was able to limp home with the choke out.  It still didn't have any power but wasn't as bad as with the choke in.  The line going to the carb looks ok but I will change that too now.  But does anyone have any ideas??  It's bike riding time - i want to get this resolved asap

LOL at Sluggo  

Such a simple bike.........  Seems my options are the carb or something electrical.  Bike only has 5000K on it.  I did change to a warmer plug last year but it ran fine rest of the season.  Anyway, that's the simplest and cheapest place to start.  I'll yank the tank and change the plug tomorrow.  But if anyone else has any thoughts feel free to throw them out there.

sluggo wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:04:


If God was involved with this, then he'd have given us wheels and more horsepower.

8)

After removing the tank I've discovered that the ignition coil screws have vibrated loose.  I'm not sure how robust these are but I'm going to try the impedance tests as per the clymer manual.  As far as carb or fuel/vacuum lines - i'd think the bike would run lousy when warm or cold.  Ignition coil, however, may only be affecting the bike as it heats up.

The bike will always start.  It idles fine even after warmed up and with the choke off.  I've tried the pet thingy in all three positions and it's the same.  And i was wrong - it was doing it this morning while cold as well.  Again it's just when I open up the throttle it bogs down.........  Just now however I had the seat off and was messing with the air intake and it's now working fine again.  So where to now.  Someone mentioned the petcock diaphram - What about my carb?  Everything is stock and the bike is a 96 but only with 5000k.  I have no idea what the previous owner did maintenance wise.  Bought it last summer and everything was fine.  Is there a "carburator kit" one would use to rebuild the carb or???

Kropatchek, I'd posted almost the same thing, and then decided not to spook him with the carb slide and diaphragm, so I deleted it. But since you so kindly brought it up, I'll add that Savage owners should put a couple ounces of two stroke oil or ATF or MarvelMystery oil or even motor oil in each tank of gas. Keeps the carb slide from sticking. Don't know why, don't know how, don't care. I just know that it works.
-WD

If I understend right , the bike was running fine. After that all of a sudden the bike started to bog down when givving a gas. The waiting and staring did not help. Switching to different positions of the f. valve did not make a difference. BUT WHEN YOU HAD THE SEAT OFF AND MESS UP WITH THE INTAKE the bike ran fine.
Why don't You check for some obstruchion in the intake. You have a bunch of wires there. Something might have pressed on the opening of the rubber intake and closed it. Some people like to keep stuff under the seat right where the intake is.
 Make sure everything is put together correct , put the seat back and go try the bike. Let us know what happened.