Hi everyone, just picked up a '96 Savage and I love it.  It has 19,700 miles, all stock mechanically except a screaming eagle pipe the previous owner put on it.

I bought it about ~50 miles away from where I live, started right up and ran great all the way home. I did leave the petcock in the "PRI" position after shutting it off the first time I parked it, not being familiar with this style of reserve valve.  After reading the owners manual I turned it back to "On" after it sat for about 4-5 hours the first night I shut it down.  Started the next day, rode great.  The day after that I did the following maintenance:

Oil change (Mobil 1 synthetic 10w40 with OEM Suzuki filter)
New OEM Suzuki air filter
New front brake pads
New NGK DPR8EA-9 spark plug (stock replacement per manual)
Put a bottle of Lucas Fuel system cleaner in the tank: s119917610.websitehome.co.uk/lucas_fuel.jpg

After doing all that I started it up, let it warm up for a few minutes, then took it for a test ride.  It ran great for about ~5 miles and 15 minutes or so.  I stopped at a light on the way back from the test run and the idle started to decrease and the engine sputtered and died after about 10 seconds of being stopped.  It started right back up, seemed to hold idle by itself, I rode it back home and it ran fine.  

The next morning starting it up it seemed to be running rich (very faint puffs of black smoke and fuel smell) and wouldn't hold idle.  Ever since then the bike has had that issue.  If I try to rev the bike while it won't hold idle, it'll rev up but then want to die when the revs are going back down after revving it up.

I pulled the spark plug and it was black indicating it was in fact running rich, I tried swapping it out with a Champion 809 (RA6HC) which is a stock equivalent to my understanding.  After swapping the plug it performed the same way as when I replaced the plug the first time (ran great for a short time, then fouled out within ~20 minutes/~a few miles.)

Frustrated I put the original plug back in, that looked a bit brown on the tip but seemed ok.  Each time I gapped all plugs at ~0.9mm per the manual, and checked the original plug and it was at this gap also.  It started to do the same thing again (running bad and not holding idle), but heres where it gets wierd.  

It seems to only have the idle issue when trying to warm it up with the petcock on "On", but if I warm it up with the petcock on "PRI" it seems to run fine.  

So I can warm it up on "PRI" and it'll be fine, but if I put it to "On" while warming up the idle will decrease and it'll die.  It can be switched to "On" after its warm and run fine.  Also, after its been sitting outside in 90+ degree weather all day I can start it at the end of my workday, warm it up for a few minutes, hop on and ride home all with it in the "On" position and its fine.  Makes no sense to me!  I checked the vaccum line on the right side of the carb and theres no fuel in it.

At this point it has the original NGK DPR8EA-9 spark plug that was in it when I first got it, and it'll run fine with the petcock process I described above.  I was thinking of putting an NGK DPR7EA-9 in it to see if that'll fix things.  I've used the Lucas fuel system stuff on multiple cars and bikes, both fuel injected and carb'd and never had an issue.  Playing with the choke doesn't seem to help, I've always started it with the choke pulled all the way out (unless its warm then I leave it all the way in and it'll start right up), and if I leave the choke pulled out or try to pull it back out after its in it'll die.

I've tried searching and can't seem to find the exact same issue.  Sorry for the super-long first post but this issue is frustrating!  Any help would be appreciated.  Thank you!

1st, did you replace the vac line?  put clamps on the end if they are loose.
2nd, look for air leaks on the intake, what air filter do you have?  The petcock is marginal at low vacuum, any leaks will be greatly noticed.

Not related, but I recommend to all new owners to check their cam chain.  Many times the reason to sell a bike is it's due for maitenance.  Your mileage is right there my friend.  In the tech doc's is the procedure, cam chain check or something like that.  don't have time to give you a link.

How does it run with the choke out? How does it run if you just leave it on PRI?

These bikes tend to come from the factory lean, so a rich spark plug would be surprising, unless the previous owner jumped WAY up in jetting in the carb, which you can feel free to check.

It seems that spark plugs are rarely the problem on the savage, and they just serve to tell you what is going on in the engine.

I'd recommend leaving the petcock on PRI and riding it for a while. if everything is hunky-dory and it idles fine, you've got a bad petcock, and it is time to look for a Yamaha Raptor (http://www.ronayers.com/Search/N/687/PartNumber/5LP-24500-01-00/Source/YA) or a stock replacement).

Assuming it passes the petcock test, i'd check the jetting on the bike, making sure the carb is clean and in working order at the same time.

replace the vac line.

spacepirates wrote on 08/03/10 at 11:42:02:

+1 What you describe really sounds like a fuel leak (doesn't have to be liquid) in the vacuum system that seals when the engine warms up. Might check to make sure that a fastener that seals the fuel isn't missing or loose.

Digger wrote on 08/04/10 at 21:01:21:


+1 Mine was temp sensitive...don't ask me why, just was.