six months ago i was living a totally different life... and then i tripped over her and fell onto a motorcycle... everything changed.

couldnt be happier with the savage but it needed a trim while i wait for the ryca kit. the front fender was removed, the license plate bracket removed and rear indicators and brake light relocated, de-badged, rear fender bobbed and seat cut for a 1-up

riffing from the guys over at rsd (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYWzHDy_qCs&feature=player_embedded @ 1:59)

i bombed the bobber with some paul virilio...



its true don't you think?

heres the bobber after the ryca front lowering mod with upgraded front springs which i highly recommend http://www.rycamotors.com/CS-1_kit_components/loweringkit.html

the install is very easy with the tool supplied by ryca. so easy in fact that i forgot to take pictures while doing the mod as things moved along very smoothly. here is the ryca video on the subject if interested http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klaPwtm2AX0

the mod improves the handling so much so that even if you're not doing the full ryca conversion i suggest lowering the bike anyways.

in the photo, tires of the bobber bombed with some truth, inverted handle bars and ryca lower mod can all be seen including the blacked out headlight

next up the white spacer mod:

i decided to go ahead and do it as the backfiring issues and leanness of the factory settings just don't work for southern california. im holding off on the air filter, re-jetting and exhaust for now as that all comes with the ryca kit http://www.rycamotors.com/bikes/kit/

i went with 1/2 the thickness of the original washer

heres more on the subject: http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1191899985

and heres ryca's instruction video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFFuF9QZ4IM

I FORGOT: i was reading another thread and i remembered that along with the 1/2 white spacer mod i also did this spring mod: http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1268545171 which really helped out on the backfiring issue. im looking forward to the new jets and k&n filter provided by ryca for the cs-1.

decided to do a chain conversion http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1174239333/0

i went with a 43/17 despite ryca recommending not to do it since there may be some clearance issues with the rear set brackets and chain.

i used two 1" washers as spacers and put them on the outside of the front sprocket in order to have two sprockets line up perfectly

i highly recommend chain conversion. the savage is way more responsive now and has better gas millage. its worth the higher maintenance over the belt any day of the week. the speedometer is off by about 10 mph @ 60mph compared to  factory settings (which is miscalculated to begin with) but im probably only going to run a tachometer anyways.

MotoBuddha is about 5 weeks ahead of me in the ryca build and has posted a few pictures about potential chain conflicts: http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1304184759

this is giving me some ideas for my own solution to the problem which may be headed in the same direction as motobuddha...for now im thinking of upgrading to a 45/18 ratio and notching the rear set bracket. however, i wont know until i start fitting the parts...im about 5-6 weeks away from receiving them...sad

a very sad day: the bike is totally stripped down and only a carcass of a savage now. i miss the bobber already causing me to fantasize about my next bike build...yamaha xs 650 hardtail anyone??? yes please!

moto-workbench. the zip lock baggies are to preserve fresh-to-death-ness