I was headed to work this morning and just outta the blue the Savage will only give me 1/4 throttle. I thought I needed to switch over to reserve but that didn't help. Anyhow, I rode on in to work and thought nothing more of it. Then this evening when I started home It didn't get any better. It ran that way from the shop all the way home. So I check my air filter....clean as a whistle. So I check my spark plug....nice and brown just as it should be. So I check the pilot screw....right where I left it at 2-3/4 turns. That left me only one other place to look.....The Carb.
After taking the top of the carb off I found that the slide was actually stuck to the carb body. I bumped it with a screwdriver handle and it popped loose. When I took it out I found that the slide had what looked to be carbon deposits all over it and the inside of the carb body. I cleaned it up best I could as well as the carb itself. That's when I found that the slide had some shiny places on it where apparently it has been rubbing.
Anyway, why did it get the deposits?
Obviously it stuck due to the deposits. And I suspect that the deposits also caused the scuffing/scratching of the slide.
Next question. How do I prevent it from happening again?
For the record I am still running the stock air filter, 152.5 main, 55 pilot, and an open 1-3/4" straight pipe, with the idle screw out 2-3/4. Also running regular (85 octane) unleaded fuel. The bike runs a tad rich. Not enough to blacken the spark plug though. ???