SuzukiSavage.com - Durability of Savage

dinamasu

Ex Member

Durability of Savage
05/23/07 at 13:22:53

The Savage utilizes Suzuki's "Big Single" power plant, a ~30 horsepower air-cooled , 652 cubic centimeter, 4-stroke one cylinder, SOHC engine, affectionately known as a "Thumper" engine.

This engine had a SERIOUS DURABILITY issue, caused by the combination of plain camshaft bearings and almost two feet of oil feed line to the cylinder head. The long oil feed meant that after a cold start, the camshaft ran dry for several seconds, leading to frequent camshaft seizures in the long run.
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The above I found on Wikipedia.

And I was reading a thread in this forum about reliability versus Rebel 250. Where the above Wikipedia statement was mentioned. But the responses in that thread were more confusing than helpful.

So my question is with prudent maintenance is there a question of durability with frequent camshaft seizures OR is this Wikipedia poster just whistling Dixie?

--
Don "Very Short Person" Inamasu

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mornhm - FSO Serious Thumper Offline HMMM Posts: 1105 Gender:	Re: Durability of Savage Reply #1 - 05/23/07 at 13:50:13 Anybody ever hear of a camshaft seizing on a Savage? I don't think I remember reading about it on the forum. Maybe before my time. Serious durability issues??? I suppose you would have to define serious, but this seemed to be referring to the alledged camshaft oiling problems. Gotta love Wikipedia
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smokey02

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Re: Durability of Savage
Reply #2 - 05/23/07 at 13:54:23

Yeah I read that too, but I bought one anyway. I believe I read somewhere else that the oil path problem was made worse by too much sealant not letting the oil get by the head studs, or something like that. I do have the dreaded oil leak up next to the exhaust outlet, but it runs great anyway, I put 11,000 miles on it in a year and a half and it has never stranded me.

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verslagen1

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Re: Durability of Savage
Reply #3 - 05/23/07 at 13:58:05

This discussion has been discussed before and all I can say where are these frequent cam shaft failures?

Of the nearly 5000 members literally world wide with links to several different groups world wide, the only place that these cam shaft failures are discussed is a sole wikipedia entry.

Was the disgruntled author misled by his stealership mechanic? Who do you beleave? 1 or 5000?

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grim Junior Member Offline Posts: 92 San Jose,CA Gender:	Re: Durability of Savage Reply #4 - 05/23/07 at 13:59:36 I heard from a bike mech that these bikes are meant for nice weekend rides, not highway commute at 75/80 mph. At these speeds, it is balls out for the savage. Things breakdown faster. If you know how to fix them, great bikes, if not....you're better off spending some money on a more "reliable" bike.
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LANCER Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Savage Beast Performance Parts Posts: 10665 Oklahoma Gender:	Re: Durability of Savage Reply #5 - 05/23/07 at 14:45:34 In my mind and experience, there is no durability issue. I dismiss the wickie personality.
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borne2fly Ex Member	Re: Durability of Savage Reply #6 - 05/23/07 at 15:17:03 I'm tearing one apart now for oil leak issues, but it has 15K miles and never left the gal who owns it stranded. The cam lobes are still pristine, as are all the surfaces in the cylinder head that serve as cam bearings. Most of her riding is around town and under 50mph.
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vroom1776

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Re: Durability of Savage
Reply #7 - 05/23/07 at 15:26:10

as long as the idle is set correctly (and oil paths are not clogged) the cam will get oil at start up. if you take the head cover off, or the cam out, be sure to lube the cam journals with molly di-sulfide grease (aka starting grease). I've never heard of a camshaft seizure on a savage either.

A cam chain failure, yes. This is what everyone here is freaking out about...

the savage will do 80 mph all day long for at least 5 days straight, stopping for gas. I did it. then my cam chain adjuster failed. not the cam lobes or journals. the bike continued to go, just not over 65 mph. Greg_650 posed pictures of his cams that had pitting or galling. those are the only one's I've heard of or seen like that on a savage.

originally posted & taken by Greg_650 here

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Reelthing Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Fish or ride that is the question Posts: 5397 Houston,Tx Gender:	Re: Durability of Savage Reply #8 - 05/23/07 at 16:38:59 The sour grape on the wiki likely ran it out of oil
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dinamasu Ex Member	Re: Durability of Savage Reply #9 - 05/23/07 at 16:51:01 Thanks everyone. I had never heard of a durability issue and it seems that Suzuki would have had to "pull" the Savage {or the S40} off the market if there were one. I own two 650 Rotax thumpers that put out 48 hp and 50 hp respectively. But the bikes weigh 25% more than the Savage.
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Reelthing Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Fish or ride that is the question Posts: 5397 Houston,Tx Gender:	Re: Durability of Savage Reply #10 - 05/23/07 at 17:42:51 now hang on, the rotax 2-cycle twins 377/447/462/503/532 CC engines are absolute works of art - love um - so if your rotax power bike engine was built like these - well our savage engine isn't good as these but it's pretty good!
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Serowbot YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline OK.... so what's the speed of dark? Posts: 28660 Tucson Az Gender:	Re: Durability of Savage Reply #11 - 05/23/07 at 17:45:00 And "Norway" just posted pics of his bike with 95,000 miles on it. Still running strong. Na-na's to the wiki. I think some recognition is in order when he hits 100k! Let us know when you get there, Norway.
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Savage_Rob Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Mechanically Inclined Amateur Posts: 6972 Texas (Dallas area) Gender:	Re: Durability of Savage Reply #12 - 05/23/07 at 17:48:50 Reelthing wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:05: The sour grape on the wiki likely ran it out of oil Or a salesman wanting to sell bigger bikes with higher profit margins.
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firsts40 Senior Member Offline Proud PGR Member Posts: 316 South Mississippi Gender:	Re: Durability of Savage Reply #13 - 05/23/07 at 19:25:14 ??? I agree with most of the above. If there was a major problem with the engine design, do you really think it would still be around after 20+ years? Preventive maintenance is the answer. Keep the maintenance up and don't ride it like it is a crotch rocket, and it should be pretty much trouble free for many, many miles. 8)
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Reelthing Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Fish or ride that is the question Posts: 5397 Houston,Tx Gender:	Re: Durability of Savage Reply #14 - 05/23/07 at 20:09:37 and keep good(syn for me) clean oil in the correct amount - only has 2 qts and only takes 5 minutes to change it
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