Went for a midnight cruise on the '87 the other night. Fueled up from the same 5 gal. mower can that I'd filled the '99 up from the other day without problems. First leg was about 10 miles on the Interstate to midtown with intent to scope out some of the bikes and folk around a few RUB bars. Savage ran great the mile to the highway, and down the 10 miles of highway. But when I exited, the the bike started backfiring and cutting out. It would barely pull away from the light. I tried moving the petc0ck to Pri, and that didn't help, so I assume it wasn't a vacuum / petc0ck problem.

I've had the bike run odd before when I pushed the choke button back in too hard before, so I readjusted the choke out and back in. In doing so, I found the bike would run half way decent with the choke one notch out...

I'm guessing a lean condition from an upstream vacuum leak at the boot/manifold, or something clogged in the carb. I made it home ok by using the choke to help me get up to speed, then it would pull okay without the choke. (More reasoning for a manifold side vacuum leak?)

So far, I've removed the tank and found that fuel does flow free in the Pri position. I'm not too big on the idea of modifying the petc0ck, even if they are a PITA. They serve a good safety purpose, and of the many I've had they've proved generally reliable.

Guess I'll give the carb the once through clean-out and make sure all the hoses are clear and tight. I've been through all kinds of auto, boat and cycle carbs, and have read enough threads on the oddities of the Savage's carb; that I don't expect any trouble. But if for some reason I get stumped; I'll be back hollering for HELP!!!    

Yep.

Inline fuel filters.....PRICELESS!

justin_o_guy wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:04:


Huh? ... Doh! ohh... my sig file

All done without a hitch. Went ahead and did the spacer mod with a flat washer that calipers measure at about half thickness. Repaired the bunged low speed mix screw head too while I was at it. I had a new mix screw, but it didn't look like the old one:



So I just filed a new slot on the old needle jet and put it back in at 1-1/2 turns.

Put it all back as it goes; pull the choke and crank for a few seconds with the kill switch off; turn the kill switch on, set the choke on first notch, and it fired instantly. The idle was even good! 8)

Runs purrrfect! Even got it over 85mph in about a half mile. I'm very happy now that both bikes are running well.

Now maybe I can finally get around to putting that custom stretched headlight on one of them.

Rockin_John wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:04:

Tell me is that a primer method that fills the carb without the fire? what purpose does it serve?
Thanks.

verslagen1 wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:04:


My '87 has been considerably rewired with all the "safety" features eliminated.  8)

In fact, I almost ran the battery down once cranking it with the switch off. DOH!