I've been reading and looking up what I can on this site but it seems like it's taking me forever to gleen the info I need so I decided to start my own thread. Okay, here's my many dilemmas...
I just bought a 1986 Savage from a woman who's (now) ex hubby put a bunch of Harley stuff on the bike.

1. He put a Harley sportster muffler on (my former sportster wasn't nearly this loud) so upon my inspection, I found that he yanked everything out of the insides on it (now it's a straight pipe) and in doing so, also ripped up some of the wall inside. Way too loud for where I live. She did send along the original muffler. When I went to install it, I saw that her ex had drilled 4 big holes in the end of the pipe around the center hole. I still put it on hoping for a quieter sound but it's only minimally quieter than the HD one. What I'd like to do is get an original muffler in decent shape that isn't going to p!ss off all of my neighbors or at least find an aftermarket one that isn't loud. We have noise ordinances here and this is just waaaaay too loud. I'm not looking to make this a big, nasty, faster machine than when it was built. Just one that runs well. Any suggestions on where I can get an original stock muffler or at least a quieter one? I also don't know if it's connected the way it should be. There is something wrapped where the pipes come together. Should there be anything else there besides that when I clamp it down?

2. He took off the rider and passenger pegs and rigged up some thin HD passenger pegs in all 4 slots. They don't fit and actually sag pretty much. I won some almost new original stock pass pegs on ebay a few days ago, so I'm okay there but I'm having a hard time finding something to fit the unique configuration for the rider pegs. They don't seem to have a "normal" bolt in that other bikes do. I haven't been able to come up with any on ebay or craigslist. I don't mind going for some aftermarket ones that are a bit chromed up or whatever, but it seems pretty hard to find them for this bike so that they actually fit. Any ideas on this one?

3. The bike came with the almost-straight handlebar but I really need one that pulls back to the rider a little more. I'm a 5'6" female and I feel okay riding like this, but on a longer ride, it's gonna kill my shoulders. I'd like to keep the bike as stock as possible. Any replacements ones out there that you know of? I've also thought about just putting pull back risers on it. Anyone out there done that and have a pic of what it would look like?

4. The carb jetting as far as I know is still original. (yeah, he messed with 2 muffs and never rejetted once) I'm figuring out from this site that these things come lean. When I do finally get the muffler situation straight, can I keep the jets that I have now or should I still rejet? Maybe the white spacer thing is all I need to do? Any help you can give me to understand this part is greatly appreciated.  

5. The front rotor is a little warped. I've never had to turn down a cycle rotor before, only on my cars. Is that a possibility or do I need to just buy a new rotor. Then again, who the heck sells Savage rotors?

6. When I ride, I can hear a definite tapping/popping from the engine area. It's a hollow kind of sound. Gets faster as the bike revs higher. My cycle mechanic friend took it for a ride and thinks maybe my exhaust seal is leaking at the header. I read on here to do a candle test. I bought a crush washer just in case. I'm about to go out and test it and redo the seal. Are there any other things that could be causing the sound? I'm hoping it's not a rod or something.   When I bought it, I didn't hear it because the exhaust was so loud. I put the other muff on and wonder if I may have created an air leak at the header somehow.

Okay, that's it for now. I know it's a lot. Thanks for any help you can give. Off to check the exhaust.  

Thanks for the reply verslagen1.   We had a great place in my town just outside of Portland that sold used parts for all kinds of bikes. Just a couple of guys collecting stuff over the years. They got bought out not too long ago. I loved walking through the boneyard and picking up parts. (We are also restoring a 1980 Honda CB650C right now.) I know I could have gotten some handelbars from those guys. I miss that place.

So I had wrenches in hand from my trusty, but very dusty, tool pack (just because I wanted to see if they will actually work when I'm out on the road. they fit a lot in those little bags don't they?) and started to loosen up the bolts holding on the header only to realize that they were already kinda loose. I'm thinking it's not supposed to be like that. So, before I took it totally off, I went ahead and tightened it down to see if it would make a difference. I think it sounds a little better than it but I do still hear the tapping sound. It's hard to know what it's supposed to sound like when I haven't heard another Savage to compare it to. I still have the new crush washer just in case but I want to run it a bit like this. I did a candle test and found no leaks afterwards.

I managed to replace the spark plug while I was there. It's a bit of a pinch to get the plug wrench from the kit in there under the tank but I changed it out without removing the tank.  The plug was dark and wet. I believe that may mean that it's running a little rich? I'm off to find the thread with the carb pics to see what screw does what. I'm not going to mess with it until I change the muff though.

Another question... do all of the years of Savages have the same footpeg setup? I saw in the marketplace that someone is parting out a bike but it's a diff year.

Verslagen1 - when I went to put on a new exhaust gasket, the bolts just moved freely. I'm figuring they were just a little more than hand tight. Tightening it has a made a little difference. In the end, I think I will just pull the header pipe off and put the new gasket in anyway. I'm still not sure what the tapping noise is. It almost seems like it's coming from the carb area. It kind of echoes up through the gas tank and makes it hard to know where it's coming from. It's definitely louder when I'm riding but it's not like I can stick my head down there when I'm rolling along. I may take a ride over to the stealership today and talk to the wrenches. Have 'em take a listen. I'll just head directly for the older guy cuz the young one is clueless if he can't hook it up to a computer.

I have noticed that I've got a pretty good backfire when I'm downshifting from 4th to 3rd, but not everytime. No other time, except for the shutdown puff, which I have to say is kinda cute. It's like it's saying... I'm not done having fun yet.  

Well, I have rear pegs coming from ebay. I won them for less than $10 with shipping. They look almost new.   I'm still trying to track down some original front ones.