Per the guidelines here's the info on my bike and myself:


It's an '87 with  36K miles on it. I did the belt to chain drive conversion. Did the verslavy mod (i think that's what someone called it)  to the timing chain tensioner at around 17K miles. didn't know it was a common mod and that it even had a name... at the time it was just a logical "temporary" fix i came up with but i guess it's a keeper... (unlike some other ill-advised temp fixes that I've come up with) ... that's it, as far as modifications go.
I know a thing or two about especially automotive mechanics although I don't do it for a living.

So recently i changed the timing chain and refurbished the rocker arm tappets. The problem was, i put it all back together, It starts without a problem, but when i go full throttle, it will rev all the way up nicely and then it sort of chokes and revs down for about half a second, then revs up for half a second, down, up, down, up ... the whole time, the throttle is wide open, also backfires randomly during the process. The up-down revving  seems to have a steady frequency, half second up, half second down ish... but the backfiring happens randomly. i suspect either the carb caught some dirt or something while i was fixing the other stuff. Or i got the timing wrong. That brings me to something else... Is there any timing mark on the other side of the crankshaft? the right side, if you're sitting on the bike i mean.... Because i can't see the mark on the left side... i see the groove on the inside of the hole where you unscrew that big round cap but not the mark  behind the crankshaft bolt, it literally looks like someone filed it off.... So i found TDC by rotating and feeling the piston in the up position... But i noticed the piston stays up for a little bit even if you continue to rotate a few degrees... or I thought it did.... plus, i was rotating the crankshaft clockwise to find TDC... i've read that you're supposed to do it counter clockwise so i'm mentioning that so someone might be very kind and explain why it makes a difference.

Another thing is that, even without letting it reach the point where it starts giving this problem, i.e. without going full throttle... it just feels slower, lazier... It could be that i'm using a Honda CX650 as a backup bike in the meantime (faster) so now my savage feels slow... but it doesn't feel quite right. and given the symptoms... could the timing be a bit off? should i start by cleaning the carb? I'd appreciate any help.

Thanks, what about the bottom mark? is there one on that same side of the engine?

nothing to the carb at all... just removed it, put it in a box while i worked on the other stuff, then put it back in.  I was only able to work on the bike for a couple hours on saturdays so the carb was down for about a week or two. Based on the symptoms (revving up and down on its own and backfiring while throttle wide open) i thought it must be either timing is a little off or the carb needs a cleaning.  

The other thing is... i can't set the crank using the mark on the left side case. The notch is there when i remove the plug, but the mark on the crankshaft is gone, filed off or something. Are there other marks anywhere else to set the crank?

Thanks for your help.

Why would anyone file off the timing mark?... ...

Check again,.. I think you're just missing it...

Serowbot wrote on 02/11/14 at 08:19:49:


why indeed? I know, right? but i understated it, sorry, it doesn't look filed off... it looks like someone took an angle grinder to it... I'm sure I'm not missing it, It's gone!!!  I'll see if i can take a picture or something... anyway are there any other marks to set the crank? and what about the symptoms? (backfires, revs up and down... all during wide open throttle, plus it feels lazy). Actually, I'll try to take a video this weekend when i go back to where the bike is... And post a link or something so y'all can see/hear what i'm talking about, In the meantime, any other ideas?

Again, I appreciate your help everyone.

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 02/11/14 at 12:12:51:



Thank you, In that case I doubt it's the timing... or maybe i just hope it's not... I'll check the carb first and see how that goes...