First off, hello!

I've been reading around the forums for a couple of weeks now, since I bought my savage, and I have found a wealth of information and a very helpful community! I was very glad to see this!

I bought a 2003 Savage with ~10k miles on it a few weeks ago and have come across a few issues I would like to discuss with everyone, see if I can't find a solution!

I found this post;
[Link in next post]

...which sounds about like my issue.

The bike starts and idles fine, but when I apply the choke, the bike dies. This is not a big deal as the bike starts and the engine sounds strong, I only bring it up because it sounds like the issue the guy in the linked post was having.

My MAIN issue is that after 1/4+ throttle is applied I almost completely lose acceleration and power.

The engine will rev very high if I keep twisting the throttle but the bike does very little to get moving.

The only way I can REALLY get the bike to accelerate without any problem is if I move through the gears slowly with the throttle only applied at about 1/4 open until it get s up to speed.

The post I linked mentioned the improperly set diaphragm in the carb, in fact, most of his post sounds exactly like my issue.

I was curious if there were any other thoughts, ideas, or advice.

I am in Albuquerque, NM, so I am in a very high and dry climate.

Thanks in advance! Let me know if I can provide any other details!

Look up Serowbots Petcock troubleshooting

Consider a good carb cleaning, could be a vacuum issue, could be a sticky slide, or both, Could be crap in the carb, too I guess.. The age/miles say it sat a lot,,

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 06/20/12 at 10:09:36:


True, it does seem to have sat for quite some time, the big pain I have at this point are the soft screws in the carb I have come across so far.

Slow, deliberate turning and I started to bite into the screws and could have stripped them if I kept turning.

Any tips for getting those screws out?

Serowbot wrote on 06/20/12 at 10:13:48:


I had also considered this, I am going to try loosening up the clutch cable some to see if the clutch needs to settle more but the odd part is that I only lose power and acceleration after the first 1/4 of the throttle.

From closed to 1/4 or so it accelerates and has decent power response.

I'll let you know what I find when I loosen the cable up some to see if it needs to travel more.

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Thanks again for the help!

l33tl4m3r wrote on 06/20/12 at 10:22:32:


pb blaster soaking before hand helps, a vice to hold the carb still helps also.

and replace them as already mentioned.

check your vac line for gas or the sewrowbots petcock check.

a good going over of the carb, get it clean, and together correctly.

you're a mile high which is about the only place stock jetting works, so take that into consideration when you have it apart.

apply the penetrating oil, vice grips on the head if you strip 'em.  and replace with good stuff.

Thanks for all the tips on getting the screws out, I'll let you guys know how that goes.

I bet the carb needs a good cleaning.

verslagen1 wrote on 06/20/12 at 11:40:07:


After checking the clutch cable, the petcock is next in line, gonna make sure it's nice and clean and working correctly.

Thanks for the heads-up on the jetting for my altitude.

Start simple, right? lol!

Cavi Mike wrote on 06/20/12 at 12:36:20:


It idles fine, but when I put it into gear, let the clutch out and begin to move as soon as I pass about 1/4 throttle open and the clutch is all the way out the bike accelerates very slowly and no matter how far I turn out the throttle it does not move or respond any faster just simply revs the engine higher.

It does still accelerate but at a slower rate than it does in the first 1/4 of the throttle.

With the choke, as it's very hot around here right now I assume that the bike is dying due to the exact reason you are stating, it is running too rich and stalling out.

Hope this helps and makes sense!

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Thanks again, everyone!

Serowbot wrote on 06/20/12 at 13:17:35:


Will do, I had read that about making sure your brakes were free and not causing a lack of acceleration and had totally forgot to test it out.

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 06/20/12 at 13:28:14:


Now, with the vac line, I should be able to turn the petcock to on and pinch the vac line causing the engine to idle higher until it dies, yes?

Should I just pull it off and look through it?

Or am I confusing this with another test method, lol? It's very possible, I've done a LOT of reading lately!

EDIT: Also, if the vac line is the issue would switching to Primary correct my lagging acceleration?