Hey Guys,
I finally just got my savage over the weekend. Its a '98 and i'm not sure exactly what it has done to it, accept i can see a Jardine exhaust. Anyway, I was out for a little test drive today, and realized something was not right.  In any gear when if I give it even 50% throttle it immediately starts sputtering and backfiring.  Its as if its falling on its face.  It starts and idles fine, however.   Anyone know what could be causing this?

Yeah, I guess its time to get dirty and see what i can dig up.  I don't really know what the mileage is because its falling on its face and backfiring so bad that i'm scared to drive it far.  As far as the air filter/box.... ther is no air box, the previous owner removed the airbox and has an open cone filter thier (looks like a K&N).  Vaccuum hoses all look good and no leaks are apparent. Tomorrow i'll try pullin the petcock and see if its gunked up in there.  Also whats the best way for me to drain the tank and put fresh gas in there?  Thanks for the help =)

"What's your mileage?"

I think he meant how many miles are on the bike not current MPG.  Probably helps in diagnosing problems.

Best of luck with finding a solution.

With the jardine muff and the cone filter, the jetting in the carb may not be quite right; but the varnish-stale gas is the first and easiest thing to check.  Also check the exhaust that there are no leaks.  Welcome aboard..

My brain is like the old Texas Instruments 994A I learned on.  If it isn't absolutely necessary, don't retain it or it'll overflow...  So I've been reading and deleting all the stuff about white spacers, jetting, etc. that applies to the newer bikes.  Now there's a new S-40 in the neighborhood that might require my attention on occasion.  Guess I better go back and bone up on all that info.  I still haven't figured out why 155 is too much for most of the new bikes, but o.k. on mine.

Oh, well.  Maybe my brain will stretch to fit?

A stage 2 jet kit is a 50 pilot (which is actually a step down for the newer bikes which come stock with a 52.5) and a 152.5 main jet.  Like I said before, I finally settled with a 150 main and 55 pilot.  There are MANY different setups on this site so you'll just have to experiment and see what works best for you.

Absolutely.  Send member Lancer a pm for his JET SET.  It has everything in it that you could possibly need and for a great price too.  He is our resident carb expert and has helped me on more than one occassion trying to help me fix what I screwed up. ha ha

Well....
I got home... drained all the fuel out (It poured right out with the petcock open, so i'm assuming the petcock isn't all gunked up.)  It still seems to do the same thing. If anything it may have gotten worse. It seems now at even 1/4 throttle it backfires and sputters.  Maybe it is the jets, i don't know. Anyone got any other ideas?