I just got my first savage a week ago and, aside from the massive vibrations that's agravating my carpal tunnel, I love it.

The biggest problem is the starter. To start the bike, you have to take off the center seat, find something that I guess is the starting motor, use a screwdriver to connect two posts, and then it starts perfectly fine. It looks like a wire is supposed to go to at least One of the posts. Pressing the starter button does nothing.

The guy told me that it was a broken solenoid, but when I look at the diagram at mrcycle.com, it looks more like the starting motor.

If I just order and replace the starting motor, will that fix it? Will replacing the solenoid fix it? Any suggestions, anyone?

And does anyone know an easy way to reduce the vibrations other than taking off the carb and rejetting it? I'd take off the carb, but I don't have a garage to work in, and it sounds like a pretty intensive job.

Thanks all!

Thanks!

darn, the guy that sold me the bike told me the solenoid was a $30 part. Mrcycle.com wants $130. Can bypassing the solenoid do any damage to anything, or is this a repair that I can put off for a little longer?

As for the vibrations, I guess that's why they call it a "thumper." I've got a pair of summer gel gloves which helps some. I've heard that adjusting the carbs can make the engine run smoother, so maybe I'll try the mod in the spring.

Also, is the thing with two plastic pipes under the seat the air filter? Thanks again

Hmmm, I figured he meant the two squarish openings into the top of the airbox under the seat.  If so, that's the snorkel... simply the air intake port(s) for the airbox below it.  The air filter is in the airbox and is accessed behind the right side panel.

Oops! my applogies...

http://www.metric-magic.com/

V

I'm starting to hate this bike. Every once in a while, it just refuses to start. It usually starts up with no problem, even in the cold, but every once in a while, it'll keep cranking without starting. Sometimes when I turn the key to turn on the bike, nothing happens. No neutral light, no headlight, nothing. Then, if I take out the key and wait a couple minutes before I try again, it usually starts normally, as if nothing had happened.

Today, it gave me a LOT of trouble starting. On one attempt, the green neutral light was on, I put used a screwdriver to connect the posts like I normally do, there was one spark, and the green light went out.

PLEASE tell me that if I replace the solenoid that it will fix all these problems? I don't have much time to work on my bike and I need reliable transportation, so I was thinking about replacing the relay starter motor while I was at it.

I'm very tempted to buy a used solenoid assembly off of ebay, but I'm worried that it might fail on me. Do you think it's worth paying for an OEM part?

I submitted a quote request at metric magic, so we'll see how much he wants for the parts.

I would check your battery charge too.  I thought I had a busted solenoid too because I could hear it clicking when I tried starting.  It gave me all sorts of grief; it wasnt even the same thing that kept happening.  A new battery fixed it all though.  If you know you have a good charge you can at least eliminate that.