Have you done anything to the carb?  Where you using the choke when starting?  How long?

Thank you Marshall 13, When you say to check my jetting I still have the stock jetting. The main is a 145, my neighbor (a dirt bike racer/mechanic) thinks I need to go 1 jet size smaller. I was under the impression that I needed to go one size bigger since there is everything is free flowing. I thought I'd need more fuel to match the increase of airflow. I'm not to sure which direction to take it.

Facebite138 wrote on 05/09/09 at 07:33:41:


Yeah I would go up to a 146 main at least. I ran that with stock filter and a harley muffler, increased my idle a tad, and played with the air/fuel mixture to rid of the pop. I would get some backfire when my muffler was not clamped down properly. check the muff for leaks first for sure.

odvelasc wrote on 05/09/09 at 08:02:28:

I have never seen a 146 for a Savage, next size up is 147and 1/2, then 150.

Phelonius

& drain the gunk hose hanging down.

you gotta do the whole re-jet routine... get a few spark plugs, gap them correctly... take a sharpy or similar and mark them, numerically, alphabetically, whatever floats your boat... while your engine's cold, loosen the plug a half turn, then warm the bike up... pull the old plug, and install the first of your series of new ones, not too tight, just tight enough it wont leak or rattle loose, USE ANTI-SIEZE!!(you loosened the cold plug to keep from dogging up the threads when you took the plug out of the hot head)... start the bike up, just get it rolling in gear, dont rev it high... keep the throttle below 1/4 open... chug it at that setting for a couple moments, then pull in the clutch, hit the kill switch, and shift to neutral... dont drop the clutch while the bike's in gear...ok, pull plug, install next in series... same basic exercise, only 1/4 to half throttle... same for 1/2 to 3/4, and then 3/4 to full.... now, you have 4 plugs from your tests... clean, gap, and re-install your original plug, preferably waiting until the head is cold.... each of those plugs will tell you whether the jetting is correct, lean, or rich for the throttle setting involved... look at the insulator around the center electrode, see those deposits? tan is the correct color.... darker is richer, lighter is leaner the tech section on this site is absolutely loaded with jetting info for the stock carb... my suggestion is to read through ALL the posts on jetting... you will find a post where someone has a very similar set-up to yours... use their jetting as a start point... there is a superb post on jets involved at each throttle position... do the homework, find a good baseline to start from, then it's tons easier than just "welp, ill go one leaner and see..."

edit: of course, you clean and reuse each of those test plugs after every jet change... you're done when they all come back coated in cafe con leche(caramel to those who dont live in the miami area) colored deposits... and if you have to compromise, do it to the rich side... lean motors fry pistons, burn exhaust valves, run hot, and just basically steal all your riding fun....