SuzukiSavage.com - The Death of a Savage

Max_Morley

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LT650 Luxury Touring
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Re: The Death of a Savage
Reply #15 - 03/01/06 at 16:21:56

In the early days of Bert's forum in germany, we had one rider who had over 80K when the cam chin tensioner went. I do not remember anyone on that forum with a lower end problem. About the only problem was ruining the cylinder head due to running out of oil because of the plug leak. Even those were fixed with another head, cam follers etc and run for years.

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Max at Thumper Acres. '96 Savage bagger, '03 Savage w/Cozy sidecar for wifeni.

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Bugscraper

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Re: The Death of a Savage
Reply #16 - 03/01/06 at 17:31:22

vroom1776 wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:03:

I've heard of 1 drive shaft failure on a V* ... and that guy was doing wheelies. I've got 26 k miles on my V* 1100 with 0 problems

Hang out on CC&D (Classic, Custom & Dragstar -- Delphi); there have been a number. 1 guy had 3 failures on the same bike. BTW, these are 650's; I haven't heard of any with the 1100. Probly better design.

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Bugscraper

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Re: The Death of a Savage
Reply #17 - 03/01/06 at 17:39:58

cigaro wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:03:

First of all to TankerBlaze, thank heavens you're alright. That was an unexpected and potentially fatal mechanical failure.

However, how many of these type failures have occurred among the thousand plus members and viewers? Statistically, I'd bet it's very, very small. If this was a new motorcycle, there probably would be immediate cause for alarm. However, it's one of the tried and true bikes on the market. If this was a recurring deficiency it would have probably become apparent 10 years ago. Still, it's good to know about and be aware of.

That's exactly the kind of failure I wouldn't want to happen. Would you like to be the 3rd? That pot metal rod -- STUPID cheapo feature. Some of the V-twins LOOK cheap externally (plastic chrome, etc.); but, I wonder if any of them use pot metal rods?

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WD

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trash".

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Rosemark TN
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Re: The Death of a Savage
Reply #18 - 03/01/06 at 21:41:57

Make it 3, not mine fortunately. Had one show up on a trailer today with the rod hanging out of the bottom end. Send him to the metal shredder down the road, I MIGHT have been able to salvage the headlight bulb... Even the CDI box was smashed. What part of "if it's trash in your yard, it's trash in my yard" don't people understand anyways? Big end of the rod flat sheared off, the final downstroke punched it out through the base gasket. The drive belt was wrapped around the rear wheel.

Bike was a 2000 model with right at 13K miles on the clock. Owner said he ran nothing but Suzuki 10W40 synthetic in it. I keep saying, these bikes need Castrol GTX 20W50 or a similar dino juice in them...
-WD

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On 2 wheels since 7/87

Black and Chrome 2003 1950s style custom

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Dynobob

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2003 LS650 (with
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Northern Virginia
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Re: The Death of a Savage
Reply #19 - 03/02/06 at 06:37:53

I think the Savage is a very durable bike. Trust me, the rod is not made from "pot metal".

WD, I tend to agree with you about oil. I'm switching from 10W40 Honda dino to Yamalube 20W40 dino this spring.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Savage. If you do choose to buy a Honda Aero, I can tell you from experience (I also ride an ACE 750) that they are extremely durable bikes. Water cooling and Honda build quality - what's not to like ? If you get a model with the single pin crank, they sound awesome too.

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vroom1776 Serious Thumper Offline Posts: 2110 Gender:	Re: The Death of a Savage Reply #20 - 03/02/06 at 06:59:51 Bugscraper wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:03: Hang out on CC&D (Classic, Custom & Dragstar -- Delphi); there have been a number. 1 guy had 3 failures on the same bike. BTW, these are 650's; I haven't heard of any with the 1100. Probly better design. yeah, I was talkin' about the 1100s...
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Savage_Rob Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Mechanically Inclined Amateur Posts: 6972 Texas (Dallas area) Gender:	Re: The Death of a Savage Reply #21 - 03/02/06 at 07:27:33 I'm running a 15W50 synthetic but will likely switch back to a 15W50 dinojuice when I use up the stock I have. I got a case a a great price so it's taking a few changes.
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PerrydaSavage

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Republic of Newfoundland
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Re: The Death of a Savage
Reply #22 - 03/02/06 at 07:55:02

Guys, as a Savage owner, I'm more than a little concerned about the type of connecting rod failure described on this Board over the past few weeks ... seems like this kind of sudden malfunction does not only toast the Bike, but has the potential to cause the Rider to loose control resulting in injury or death ...
This is serious crap and am very surprised that Suzuki hasn't adressed it in one way or another with a recall and/or re-design of the engine itself.
Seems like by not adressing this type of failure of the LS' engine (is Suzuki even aware of the problem?), Suzuki could be leaving itself open to lawsuit?

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Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure you are not, in fact, just surrounded by arseholes!

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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:	Re: The Death of a Savage Reply #23 - 03/02/06 at 08:51:20 yeah its not like these are really old bikes either ???
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Savage_Rob Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Mechanically Inclined Amateur Posts: 6972 Texas (Dallas area) Gender:	Re: The Death of a Savage Reply #24 - 03/02/06 at 09:13:49 I'd bet Suzuki would disavow any responsibility if the bike had been functionally modified though. Still, I'm curious as to whether they've heard of this and if so, what they've determined to be the likely/primary cause in the majority of cases.
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PerrydaSavage Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Riding "The Rock"! Posts: 3522 Republic of Newfoundland Gender:	Re: The Death of a Savage Reply #25 - 03/02/06 at 10:03:11 Is there any way to query Suzuki about this? I bought my Savage as a long-term Bike ... This is causing me to doubt my choice and think about if it'd be wise to keep it at all ...
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mmosel Senior Member 2005 No Login Offline My bike is officially THUMPING now. Posts: 415 NW Oregon Gender:	Re: The Death of a Savage Reply #26 - 03/02/06 at 14:38:44 I was thinking the same thing. Suzuki should be notified. I wonder if an upgrade could be made? If nothing else, maybe a replacement at 10k?
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Reelthing Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Fish or ride that is the question Posts: 5397 Houston,Tx Gender:	Re: The Death of a Savage Reply #27 - 03/02/06 at 17:26:54 you'd be hard pressed to find any make or model that hasn't thrown a rod at some point, if it is believed to be a safety issue you can always file a complaint on the DOT website - www.nhtsa.dot.gov - if they get a enough maybe we'll get a recall and a forged piston rod ... hello turbo and N2O - now we're talking
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torque

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Re: The Death of a Savage
Reply #28 - 03/02/06 at 18:06:27

Reelthing wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:03:

you'd be hard pressed to find any make or model that hasn't thrown a rod at some point

but his was a 2001, most bikes now days last more than 5 years before they have a huge failure,and when i mean failure i mean something happened that u cannot fix for under $3,000.thats why if u buy new u must get the longest warranty available,and read it over a couple of times to make sure ur not getting screwed.

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Reelthing Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Fish or ride that is the question Posts: 5397 Houston,Tx Gender:	Re: The Death of a Savage Reply #29 - 03/02/06 at 18:33:55 Oh I agree it shouldn't have blown like that nor should have yours - I just don't think it's all that common or finding a clean used head to work the ports on would be easy. Glad both you guys got out with your hides and safety issues far out last the manufac waranty, I might file one if I was either one of you guys.
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