Have just rebuilt 87 savage, new cam chain, cam, reset valves to spec. cleaned carb(155 jet) full spacer, no backfire with dyna muff.  Problem is bike now gets only 30 miles per gallon. Air fuel screw set at 2 1/2 turns out.  Any ideas on why milage dropped to 30 from 50 before tear down and rebuild?

sparkett wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:12:


first few simple things that come to mind are dirty air fliter or fouled plug. what pilot jet did you use??

sparkett wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:12:

Brewbrother wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:12:


If it got the brake adjuster very black in 90 miles, I'd up that to  VERY rich.

If the carb was "gooie" I' consider removing and double checking all the carburetor air bleeds. They are above the fuel level and have to be clear to start the atomization process. If they are even partially plugged, it will cause that circuit in the carb to run rich. I've found that a product call 'Sea Foam' works very well as a maintenance item for the fuel system -it increased my mileage about 5 mpg- and it is a fuel stabilizer for winter storage or little use times.  I'd recommend running it through your last run tank of fuel and then adding the recommended amountat storage.  Max

it may imply that the carb is cleaning out, and the engine is starting to lean out a bit (a good thing). were you running the 155 main jet prior the rebuild? i've seen it reported that too large a main jet simply caused worsened gas mileage. debby has gotten 35mpg with her bike jetted with a 155, 2/3 spacer, dyna muff, but that was running 70mph into a 30mph headwind for 1.5 hours.

Oh one more simple thing to try - there's a drain plug on the bottom of the float bowl. If you can turn it (it's not frozen up) counterclockwise, drain the bowl. This will flush out alot of junk that usually ends up in the bottom of the bowl.