Hi all, I'm terrrible at this stuff. First off let me apolgize to Lancer cuz I'm so wishy-washy...

That being said, I have been going back and forth about whether to go all in and get the Performance Beast set up from Lancer...new Carb, Stage 1 Cam, and Big Bore 97mm jug.
It's alot of dough and I haven't broken it to my wife yet (which is a whole 'nother story) but with othodontics in the mix for one of my kids this year I'm just trying to get some affirmation from others that have gone this route.

Has anyone done this mod and what are your overall impressions? Is the performance boost significant (pretty sure it's a screamer which I'm not convinced I need)?
Now I'm reading about the cam chain possibly needing replacement because of the increase stretch on the chain and I'm already on the second hole of my verslavy.
Plus, new shocks, fork brace and fork oil and air filter mod and the reduced mpg's not to mention that I'll probably want the new header that Lancer is working on have me wondering if this is a wise choice... ....help!
P.S. I've no doubt that I can perform the work just not sure if I should hop up this bike or consider a different bike.

If I were looking for anything more than a mildly noticeable bump in power,... I'd step up to a bike that's built for it...
Even a stock Ninja 500 will eat any souped up Savage, under any conditions outside of a parking lot,...and they're nearly just as cheap in the used market...
$1500 to $2500... in good running condition...

What kind of a bike are you looking for.......and what is wrong with the one you have?

If your engine is worn out, the carb is junk, and you want to rebuild the bike so you can keep it a long time......It is a good time to rebuild it and put some improvements inside.  At rebuild time - the cam, Wiseco, carb, etc. could be less then new parts.......or at least not too much more than stock.

If you really like the bike but want a bit more power and speed - and you really like that big single and feel it is the bike for you.......then throwing some money at it will only make it better for you.

If you want a fast bike........time to cut your losses and move on.

The Savage is just perfect for riding around on my little hilly country roads in Kentucky......I believe your roads in Colorado are similar.....except the height of our hills is multiplied by a factor of 10 in Colorado!  I believe the boosted compression brought on by the Wiseco would really help at 6,000+ feet.  We rented a Kia Sportage 4 cylinder when we were in Estes Park.....there were a few times I though we might have to get out and push!  I never knew that altitude could take so much power out of an engine.......it was amazing!

I just found this equation for power loss at altitude:
(elevation x 0.03 x hp @ sea level)/1000

For the 30 HP Savage at seas level, in Denver it is 5,000x0.03x30/1,000 = 4.5 HP.  That is a significant HP loss!

Time to trade it in on a new S-40 with fuel injection....once you get a good map for your mountains it should be fumble free.?