The Savage will handle easier, quicker, and more nimbly than the sporty
The Savage weighs basically 1/2 what the sporty does, try pushing the sporty around after doing the same with the Savage...BIG DIFFERENCE, especially if trying to back it up hill on a driveway or something
The power to weight ratio is pretty close to the same, and with a few tweaks the Savage will outrun the sporty up to about 80.
I had a sporty for a couple of years and liked it, it was smooth and I liked the sound, but the performance was not comparible...my Savage ate up the sporty. And I got really tired of pushing the 550 lb sporty around at home...very hard.
Keep in mind that a sporty is built to a higher state of tune than a Savage is in stock form, so some mod's need to be done to thSavage to bring it up to an equal starting position. At this level the Savage takes the first half of the run and the sporty takes the top half. Top speed for both is about the same in the mid 90's.
Savage is half the price of the sporty and maintaining it is MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE and a whole lot easier to do yourself.
Performance parts for the sporty are everywhere and even under the rug. The Savage is another story, but some performance parts are available for it and I think I know someone who has them available...REALLY GOOD DUDE TOO !
If you want a Savage to be made to RUN, then this is DOABLE.
I think mine will be well into the 50+ hp range, but the dyno will tell here shortly...we shall see what it will do.
One thing for sure I learned on the previous build, with a 42+ hp engine,
I never ran into a HD of any model that could hang with my Savage from 0-85 mphFor a long time I REALLY WANTED A SPORTY...REALLY BAD and I finally got one; a great deal for it. Riding it was nice for sure, but everything else was much more of a chore and the desire for it faded within a year so off to ebay it went. Now I have one primary Savage, my '96 that goes by REX, and also an '85 & and '87 model that may be brought back to life once other things in my life setttle down. total cost for both of the older models was $500 and I have all the parts needed to make them both run.
Yes, life is pretty good that way.
Oh, just a small correction from some above info:
-Performance Carburetor Kit $400
-Performance Camshaft $200
-NO NEED to shave the head if you get the high compression piston to start with from Wiseco
Notice indents on each side of piston top for valve clearance and the center portion of top is raised 2 mm above normal, which for the LS650 engine with this 97mm piston/bore brings the compression ratio up to 10.5:1...A VERY NICE NUMBER INDEED.