Ok!  Im sure some are gonna gonna go balistic on me but I have to say something. What is all this concern all of a sudden on the life of the cam chain? Until last year  I dont even think I ever read a post where anyone was concerned about it all the way back to Berts old savage site. Now it seems to be the opinion that we need to change the cam and tensioner every 5,000 to 10,000 miles!
I now have a little over 32,000 on the original cam chain, and Im sure to Gregg D's dissapointment, when he opened mine up I think he expected it to fall out on the floor. As it turned out, it was only 19mm out and so we closed it back up and decided to do it next spring.
Yesterday I took my bike to the dealer and the shop manager told me its right about where it should be after only 32,000 miles. Once again he told me not to be concerned about it till 50,000 miles. In 25 years he has never had to replace a cam chain on a savage with less miles than that. So I  rode to another dealer  across town and asked their opinion. Same.  Put  a small stethascope on the case and said mine was still fine.
This is where some will go nuts! ... he laughed when I told him about everyone in here all of a sudden panicking and changing and modifying theirs with less than 15,000 miles. on their bikes. Plenty of warning time before it would go out because of all the racket the chain would make. 500 to a 1,000 miles maybe. I told him about a few in here that had theirs fall out and he said well then they were not listening to their bike, cause they just Dont fall off without plenty of warning, unless it was a manafacturer failure maybe happening to one in  200 savages, but he couldnt remember any.
His advice? Tell them to quit taking the darn things apart and just ride um!  Their bullit proof!

Sorry to piss some of you off . but maybe he is right.
I know Gregg is gonna beat me to death with my new cam chain the next time I see him.  But it almost sounds like in here that you should never venture out on your savage without at least 3 extra spare cam chain and tensioners hanging off your belt!

Bulletproof my a$$ mine came apart at 13,000 on my '86,it started grinding on my case,and the tension jammed into the side cover gouging it out.Tell the dealer I guess springs and metal shavings in the oil wont hurt a "bulletproof" engine .I'm at 15mm on my '87 with 7000 miles

Ive had bikes for35 years and a lot of buddy with bikes we have never had to tear the motor or carb down. If you take care of them and use carb cleaner in them and leave them along they should have no  trouble in 50000 miles and I  think a lot of people here are asking for trouble by monkeying  with motor and carbs No one here is a engineer .  Ride your bike and enjoy it. dont leave it outside in the weather keep it dry. happy riding.

stinger wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:10:

I don't know about beating you over your luck with the cam chain tensioner, but how about if I do it because you still can't spell my name right?  GREG!

Now, moving on to your good fortune that is laced with blind optimism, how does your "Almighty All-Knowing Favorite Service Manager" ...(yeah, the one you never actually use for any service work)...explain all of the photos on this forum?  Did you show him these photos or let him read any of the posts?

Heck, after all this I don't know if you have even seen these.

Go right ahead and keep on riding.  Go for that 50K mileage.  Just don't drop your cell phone on the highway this time.  You'll need me to come with my truck...

2 savages in yuma, '86 & '96, different owners, different histories, both died from cam chain failure, i'll help you with the math 100%  

hate is for angry people, we're all friends here

I think the serivce manager had an ulterior motive in saying the cam chain ain't an issue until 50,000 miles:

• ignore the cam chain per service manager
• tensior fails
• engine trashed
• new bike is bought at stealership

When the service guy at one of the local shops told me my bike would NEVER run with a cone filter, I knew I'd be better off researching & learning everything I could about this bike on my own and then doing my own work.

jkhulon73 wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:10:

I told Stinger that in person once...

He has still never had any shop service on his bike...he does it all himself.  The manager knows that too

skrapiron -FSO wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:10:

Yep.  When repairing a XS650 I found lots of references to cam chain issues on that bike, too.  Mostly the guides.  Around 25K miles.

I think the biggest difference is the way the Savage tensioner works.  It ratchets out under spring pressure to a rigid stop as the chain stretches.  It never can bounce back or fluctuate.  In a way, that might actually accelerate the cam chain stretch.

I checked a tensioner on a XT 250 yesterday, and that little thumpers tensioner is spring loaded with an external adjuster.  It bounces a little with the chain tension pulses when it is adjusted properly.

Here is Stinger's at 30K (2K miles ago).  Let's all say a little prayer for him