I bought the heaveir springs CSK24 I think from ronayers. THey were way smaller than the one I currently have. I thin kthat the po may have rigged some very stiff springs from some other source.

I certainly will be taking the shims out, this week some time. I just noticed doing a search that I think the po put the vesrah springs on mine. They are probably 50% stiffer than stock. That's likely why I have never had clutch slip problems.

Bike bandit sells the vesrah plates and springs for the savage.

VC330- Plates - 79.95
SK330- springs - 10.95

Your second answer is better than the first.
But I hope my springs are made of this stuff.

I'm more worried about fatigue stress.  I've done a lot of testing and seen a lot of failures of springs that were designed right to know that you don't know what life to expect until it dies.

Even though the cycles are low (how often do you pull in the clutch) for every 10% increase in max stress you lose a factor of 10 of life.  This would be ok if the springs have infinite (or 1 million cycles which ever came first) life by design.  But if they are designed for 1000 cycles and you reduce by 10, then you have only 100 cycles of life.  Hope you make it home.  

thumperclone wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:03:
RPM stats and cost is listed in the tech/document section. It is hard to tell mileage without a correct speedo, but I know it has improved. I have this one circuit I make that used to take 1 gallon of gas and it took less this time, and I went to a bigger main and pilot jet AFTER the conversion. So that something in it's self.    Hutch

I got about 30 miles on her today, it was 80 and a perfect day for a ride. It feels to me that where I was in fifth is now where I am in fourth. In short I have essentially gained an extra gear. Now at 70+ it is a very comfortable RPM. THough I have noticed that she vibrates a lot more, But that might be jujst because of the extra load on the engine.

Shimming the clutch was a bad idea for me, like i said earlier I think I have the high friction springs anyway. So I'll be taking the clutch cover off this week and removing the shims, Other than that the mod was a complete success. I am still thinking of going down to a 15 or 16 tooth front, just to take some of my fat assed load off the engine.

Just got back from a mileage check. I used the state map distances and the signs on Interstate 75. 264 miles round trip at an average of 75-80mph, did use third lane on occasion(80-85mph). Total gas consumption, 4.5 gallons.I used to get 50-52 mpg on the back roads(55-60mph) with a 152.5 main and 55 pilot. I am now running a bigger 155 main and flying down the interstate at 75-80mph and getting 58.5mpg.No screaming rpms, just a smooth level groove that it falls into. I must also mention that it was calm when I left this morning, but on the way back I was bucking 20-25mph wind gusts. Even with the wind gust there was no need to downshift to pass any vehicle, just roll on the throttle.On two lane black top at 50-55mph it is just an easy lope, and all that is needed is a twist of the throttle to get a STRONG, STEADY acceleration, no down shift needed. This is the best $95 I ever spent. WHOLE NEW BIKE. The 14 tooth sprocket makes it a little quicker off the line than stock, but I was all the way to end of adjustment and chain was not as tight as it should be. If you ran the 16 tooth(2.69ratio) and 14 tooth you will be able to use the same chain. I have the feeling that I will DEFINATELY be running the 17/43(2.53ratio) 99.9% of the time. This is just what I was looking for, PERFECT for me.   Later Hutch

Just want to throw in another BIG thanks to you guys for hammering this thing out. Having this info available may allow me to stick with these simple bikes I really like. I WAS looking at bigger (read that heavier, more expensive and complicated bikes) now I'm thinking I'll keep the pair of these around!

Now that I have two of these bikes, I'm thinking chop/bob for town and country, and a 'road' bike. At least one will get the chain drive. Probably both! A chopper that will rocket to 70 with dropped gearing, and a road bike that will putt-putt at 75-80mph sounds like a fine duo to me!

This opens up great opportunities for me. I can put the pair of these on a small trailer, and invite friends on overnight or weekend trips like I used to do with dirt bikes. A pair of Savages on a 6'x10' trailer should only weigh in at 1500# - 2000# or so. My wife has already offered to drive the Envoy for road support on a long ride up HWY #1 that I've owed myself since 1970.

Sincerly in your debt,

John K

P.S. As Hutch led the way on actually achiving results, and was first to get-r-done on the cheap, I've decided to make a donation of $20 to the forum in his name. Please let the donation records reflect as such.

Thanks Rockin _John, I appreciate the gesture!!!
On your chopper/bobber I would suggest using the 14/45 combo. It gives you a ratio of 3.21 versus the 14/43  and a 3.07 ratio. When I tried the 14/43 out it was a slightly better take off than stock 2.96, but not a whole lot. Just a suggestion. I do love the 17/43 for the highway, it is perfect for my weight and needs. Thanks again!!     Hutch

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


That's the beauty of the whole chain thing... you can have it any way you want it! Back about 1975 my car conked out on me. I was broke, and my Yamaha DT-250 enduro bacame my primary transport. I took the dirt knobs off that I'd had on it, and put some more streetable tires back on it; then geared it WAY up by changing both sprockets. The thing would go around 100mph! I was afraid to ride it often over about 85mph though; because it got pretty twitchy above that.

But with the Savage, like you, I'm not looking for a land speed record. It would just be nice to have at least one of the bikes set to Putt along at Interstate speed.

The sad part of all this is: The Savage is my first Belt driven bike, and I was really enjoying that aspect. I've had shaft drive bikes, and though they have their benefits, the distractions really bothered me. If Suzuki had used a seriously wide ratio transmission in the Savage in the first place, all of this modification would not be necessary, and the belt could stay.

Ahh... Well, that's what has made me a DIY'er all my life anyways. Seems I could never be happy with the way things are made, or someone else's work. It's the curse of wanting to have things exactly the way YOU want them. The rewards in having exactly what you want at your own craft have usually been well worth the effort, in my experience.

Having done a lot of industrial prototype work gives me a keen appreciation for the labor saved by those who light the path for others to follow.