Texas-1-lunger wrote on 11/20/09 at 12:44:51:



YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEPPP

Charon wrote on 11/20/09 at 21:01:41:



That is the key, for sure.  If all someone wants is to go faster then the decision is easy; buy a go-fast bike.  But, if like most folks here, we do not want a different bike but do want to enhance the performance characteristics of the Savage/S40.  It is those characteristic that attracted us to this bike in the first place.  
Personally, it is the strong torque curve from idle to about 3/4 throttle that I like most.  A stock engine will run out of power at just beyond half throttle; thus the top speed of just 85 mph.  The stage 1 performance cam expands and raises the power range to idle-3/4 throttle and beyond.  
It's kind of the like the "before & after" photos of a persons health/strength before and after spending 6 months with a personal trainer.

Maybe less weight would make the S40/Savage seat more comfortable On the other hand less padding on the rear may offset any gain.

ARGH........ TORQUE.......POWER    

So far so good, I only have a month on it so I can't speak long term.

A stage 2 cam runs like a stock Savage until you twist the wick, then the beast wakes up and roars.

I ran the original Stage 1 cam for 4 years and 10,000 miles.  During that time I had at least 2 severely low oil situations.  The "silicone carbide" treated cylinder showed no signs of damage at all.  The original stock valve rockers did show significant wear and were replaced.  The cam lobes also showed some wear on the up-slope and peak.  In spite of this, engine performance seemed to be completely normal up to this last teardown.  I sent the camshaft back to Webcam and they renewed the cam lobe hardweld for a modest fee...during this fix I had them change the cam profile to the Stage 2 version.

With the Stage 1 cam, silicone carbide cylinder treatment, slight exhaust port opening, custom header/muffler, and performance carb, the engine ran great.  I could cruise easily at 75-80 mph and did so for hours on the highway.  My longest "day" trips were of about 300 miles.  Cruising in the 60-70 mph range was very easy and lazy feeling.  It would just rumble right along; no strain at all.  Even in 5th gear, slowing to near 30 mph only required an easy roll-on of the throttle to come right back up.  Of course, if you wanted to jump it, then dropping down to 3rd would lite the freaking fire and its "hang on for the ride" time.

I am kind of hard on my engine ... heavy right hand syndrome... so that is an important factor.  Even so, I believe that if I had not had the low oil situations that there would have been no damage to the rockers or cam lobes. If you are a normal rider and do not neglect your oil there is no reason to think that the life of a performance camshaft should not be any less than a stock cam...or perhaps last longer due to it being a Hardweld.   Durability and reliability should not be a concern at all for normal street riding.
The enjoyment of the ride on a bike with a performance camshaft is just plain  fun.   It cruises easily and when needed will get up and go with attitude.

Im only 120 lbs and the bike has lost about 80 lbs from stock.

I live in the mountains and ride tight twisties all the time. A good fiend on his 100+ hp ZX6R cant keep up with me.

The savage will spin the back tire on 2nd gear shifts. Or exiting corners hard leaned over, partially due to crummy tires. It actually gets sideways really controllable.  This is with my Mikuni carb, full exhaust, and ported exhaust.