i was wondering if there is and advantage to being able to advance the timing on the savage or not and if there is how exactly would i do that ? any help would be appreciated ..... finally got some time to trying to upgrading the bike!!!!!!

Your going to have figure out how the CDI advances the timing.
Leave the timing port open, and I'd leave the oil filler port open too so not as much oil gets blown out... that hole.  Maybe leave the oil level low.
attach a timing light and have fun.

It's been said that you can slot the mounting bracket for the sensor and kick it up a notch.

TDC sensor is under the stator cover.

pitbullcustoms wrote on 01/30/10 at 15:43:49:

 Their talking about the pickup coil, not the coil..err..coil.

Its got several different names, ignitor, pickup coil,TDC sensor,etc. Its what picks up the signal ( its a magnet actually) from the crank as it turns  to tell when its time to fire. Their all the same thing.  It basically takes the place of the points on the old bikes.

Some bikes ARE adjustable.(My 750F Honda is one) and it lets you fiddle with the timing  either slightly advancing or retarding to get the best performance and/or drivability.

Personally I just set mine at factory specs. Thats good enough for me and provides good starting, smooth running and decent power, which.....amazingly enough.....is exactly what factory specs are suppossed to do.   Give a happy medium of all 3 for the masses.

I think I'm the only one who has tried the slot the bolt hole on the sensor trick so far. I had to replace the stator cover anyway so while I was in there it seemed like a good idea to give it a shot. I slotted both bolt holes and checked the static advance using a degree wheel. I was able to get about three degrees static advance but had to change the hold down bolts over to cap screws to get a little more clearance when tightening them down. Performance wise it is an easy way to gain about 300-400 rpm at the top end. Before the advance the engine would loose it's power at around 5000 rpm. I'm not saying that the engine won't rev over 5000 rpm, it just would start loosing it's balls. Now it will run up to almost 5500 rpm before dropping off on it's power. I think that it was worth the effort and noticed the improvement. I would of gone with more advance but didn't have any more space to move the sensor. Of course without a dyno test before and after the mod it is a seat of my pants improvement. But still you got to remember that the engine has been so detuned that any spark advance will help the overall performance.

I was thinking a plate would work if you ground down the mounting pillars on the side cover. The sensor needs to be centered on the flywheel and the thickness of the plate might move it past the trigger area. I was thinking about grinding down the mounting pillars by the thickness of the plate to keep the sensor centered.

The sensor is found attached to the inside of the left side cover that goes over the flywheel. To get at it you need to pull the cover and unscrew the two M6 bolts that mount it. I slotted the bolt holes with a dremel and moved the sensor counterclockways. Think about the rotation of the engine and move the sensor against the direction of rotation, not with the rotation. The sensor is magnetic and will get some metal filings on it which needs to be cleaned off. You will need to replace the side cover gasket cause it will tear. Luck with it, it was a bit of a PIA to do.

Truckinduc wrote on 02/13/10 at 20:12:52:

brush on (in a can from the hdwre store)electrical tape or replace the leads..?
had that prob w/ a 70 type 3 VW, injector leads  were too close to the exhaust manifold worked till i installed a weber dual stage carb...