The base priced end cap is just a stamped piece of steel, no name or logo.  As long as the plates will go on and you have an end cap that will bolt down then use it...you need it.
A stock Savage really needs a muffler with some back pressure on the exhaust system. That will help with the backfiring problem.  The other part of the equation is to be sure that the pilot circuit is properly adjusted,  The adjusting screw that the factory hides behind the little cap...remove the cap if it is still there, and adjust it.  If you  have to back the screw out 3 or more turns then you need the next larger size pilot jet.   The only bike that should run a completely open muffler is a radically modified ...and I would suspect that even then, if hooked up to a dyno, a rad mod bike would make more/better power with a little muffling.
"All singles discolor because they make too much power"...REALLY??   This is the first time I have heard that the Savage makes TOO MUCH POWER.  That must be the reason that when I am riding my Savage on the track at 135 mph that the suspension needs to be upgraded again.........yea right.  That is the best one I have ever heard about the Savage.
Anyway, put the plates on the muffler, adjust the pilot circuit, and then go ride and enjoy.

Savage_Rob wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:07:


Hey there, the dealer's right.  The HP is up to 31, ya know.
:'(

Savage_Rob wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:07:


Yeah, WE, as in this forum, ride the biggest underpowered single of all time....go figure.  And sometimes they too blow stuff out their nose.

Okay, I'll fess up, I spit Pop Tarts and coffee on the key board I was laughing so hard.

A "Stuporcrap" without the right amount of discs and fuel tweaks actually ROBS power.

31 whole horsepower out of the new ones? The current "toy" makes that at half throttle, out of 1 cylinder... Do have to say the Savage will smoke it off the line though.

TOO MUCH horsepower...  

Fix the Trapp, remap the idle circuit, and do to your local stealership what I do to mine... pull in the lot, flip him off, and ride to a decent shop.
-WD

theikeman wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:07:

I also have an 87 Savage, and I have been messing with the carb for a week now.  Yes, you could do the white spacer thing with the carb still on the bike, but I do not recommend it!  Our 87 carbs are different than most of the owners on this board.  I put a half spacer in and it runs worse, and I also have a pipe on it, mine is a mac pipe.  I put the white spacer in and it's better but still too rich just off idle.  I am still trying to get mine dialed in, but I have definately learned that our older models do not suffer the super lean setup that the newer bikes have.  Try to richen up the mixtue screw a bit, should help with the decel backfiring.  Yes, our carbs do have the 155 main, so do a plug chop to see if that main is rich enough or even too rich.  Best of luck...Joe

theikeman wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:07:


Buy another set of disks.  My spouse's is running 14.  It is louder, but it has really good bottom end.

Ike, bring it to the shop Monday, as in, August 1st if you can. Mine got like that occasionally, I'll check yours and see if it is the same problem. Odds are, you have no header gasket, and likely, no center joint gasket.
-WD