Sup guys. So, my brother finally wore me down. After a couple searches on google images of Savage Bobbers I was sold on the idea. I thought I should post some pics and explain what we did.

This all started with him and I modifying pegs. A guy we know has a lot of parts laying around and he had these old pegs with engine guard clamps for mounting.

My brother and I realized if we took the old peg out, cut off the rubber and then cut it down to size with a hole drilled in it, we could run female mount pegs using the original peg as an extension mount.

Pegs were free, a vise, drill, electrical tape, 2x bolts, washer, nut, chop saw and a grinder was used to do this. Electrical tape made the peg tighter and cleaned up the look.



The pegs can still be flipped up. They are tight, no rattling or anything like that. Was a 20min mod and these pegs feel better and look cool.

Next we removed the sissy bar and chrome side rails. I need new rear turn signals anyway. I believe there is a write-up on removing the side rails and sissy bar so I won't get into any detail about that.

Since the rear turn signals were gone and I was going to have to use hand signals til I get the new ones, I figured hell...lets take off the front too. So we removed them and the front fender. Cleaned up the front end a lot. Turn signals were easy, couple bolts and then you take apart the headlight and unplug the signals. Pretty simple. We then turned the mounts in so they weren't sticking out.

We pushed the stock handlebars up a bit for comfort and style and at this point my brother said, "This bike would look so good rigid..."

He convinced me to remove the rear shocks so we could get an idea what it would look like. We did, and used a big wrench to keep the fender from laying on the frame. I was sold...it looked amazing.

Off to the local Ace Hardware. We bought a long piece of steel square bar, was $16.99  We then bought 2 drill bits, a smaller titanium for pilot holes ($12.99) and a big one ($21.99) to match it to the spacer size on the studs for the shock mounts.

Again we used a chop saw, vise, grinder, original bolts/nuts, drill, square bar and a measuring tape. I believe the length was 9' from bolt center to center.


This took about 45minutes. I was skeptical about the ride being rigid now. PFFT I love it, didn't hurt my back at all. Felt like I had more control, the bike truely felt better. I no longer had the slide effect from my seat, with the bars up and ass down I was leaning back and it just felt right.

Then we decided with this cool new stance...the stock exhaust just didn't cut it. We removed the stock muffler and heatshield. I have a muffler from a early 70s Triumph 650 so we started messing with ideas.

We ended up mounting the muffler backwards as the one end slid over the header easy and this put the rail mount on the side of the muffler in the right spot for the mount.

We put it real quick to see how it ran and sounded. It sounded much better but not obnoxious and throttle response seemed better but could just be the cool sound.

1x bolt, washer, and a few minutes is all that was needed to do this exhaust. I'm going to have it welded tomorrow but its fine for now. I'm also going to cut the small tip off the end so it won't look so obviously backwards lol



I'm going to post a vid or soundclip so you guys can hear the exhaust, it sounds great, I like it alot.

Next I'm going to redo the seats, going to do the "Diamond Jim" mod. Thinking about putting the chrome side rails back on. Who knows, this is just the beginning.

We did this on 4th of July afternoon. All of it. I feel we greatly increased the look and feel of the bike. Everything done here did not involve ruining any original parts except the original pegs. Everything you see can be reversed back to complete stock if you wish. I went ahead with this project knowing I could go back if it didn't work out. I personally love it and I'm glad my brother talked me into it.

More to come, any questions just let me know. I'm gonna pull the suspension bars off and paint them to match the frame, going to order new handlebars. I got a couple ?s

apes or drags? I love the drag look but I love the apes too.

I may drop another inch, we have enough room to do it. Too much ya think?

Any tips for the seat mod? My vinyl is shot but the underneath is perfect foam wrapped in plastic.

SoE wrote on 07/05/11 at 16:14:01:


I use to think it was just style too but I found after doing alot of searching for hardtail vs softail that many riders young and old prefer rigid because of it's better handling and being able to throw your weight in hairy situations. And honestly, I don't think it really matters what you're riding when it comes to long trips. Cruiser, sportbike, chopper, everyones going to be saddle sore in the end. (No pun intended) 

I wouldn't say our roads around here are wasted but they aren't very good either. I didn't notice your typical bumps anymore than with the shocks. Which makes me happy because I don't like spring seats.

It's funny because I tried and tried to convince my brother to keep his suspension on his Virago bobber for "comfort" and after letting him turn mine rigid it feels better. I always felt like I was sliding towards the tank on the stock shocks. Now that it sits low I've got more of a pocket to sit back in...much more comfortable.

Easiest way to strut a Savage is with a set of lift shackles from O'Reilly, Pep Boys, Autozone, etc. Just drill the chosen holes out to 9/16". If you drill them all out you have roughly 4" of adjustability. Good 9/16" bits aren't cheap, use cutting oil and go slow.

I used to ride exclusively rigid. My Savage was like that for a couple months, until a work injury ruined my lumbar spine. Can't do it now and miss it. I run Intruder rear shocks for clearance and the handling suffers for it. Wallows like a Geezer Glide.

Don't waste money on a new seat. Ditch the stock foam (too soft) and replace it with 2 layers of blue ensolite (camping pad from Wal-mart) and cover with leather of your choice. Mine has held strong for 10 years, and it is kept outdoors. Water buffalo hide. A thrift store jacket will do 2 or 3 seats if you know how to trim out the pieces, 2 if you don't. Those pricey seats are usually carpet under foam under cover anyway. Use upholstery thread, stuff holds up for years.

Oh, I vote for at least 10" rise bars.

Dang WD, that was a lot of good info. Thanks.

I may look into the hard tail options soon.

Magic, post some more pics when you get the seat done.
-d

WD wrote on 07/05/11 at 17:04:01:


Thanks for the info! I'll look into the lift shackles. As I said I have room to go lower so it'd be nice to have the option.

Camping foam, sounds interesting. Aside from old jackets I know marine grade vinyl is pretty cheap as well!

SoE wrote on 07/05/11 at 18:10:18:


Will do!

Just my opinion, but if someone thinks they feel more in control with a rigid back end, then the problem was their shock springs were too soft, which is a chronic problem with Japanese cruisers. Add to that the fact the LS650/Savage/S-40 is a small bike, and some of us are extra large guys, yeah, the springs are going to be overwhelmed and things will feel wallowy.

If you only want to change the seating position,... do the seat lift mod, and you can keep the suspension...
I did a 2" lift to the nose of the seat... very comfy...
How to here...
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1109035237