Hey there, I'm a new user on the board and new owner of a 1988 Savage.

I'm going to preface this post basically as a rant with a question. I'm really the one at fault here, and I'm going to have to live with it, and now I'm trying to fix stuff.

So the backstory:

I got my federal tax check and always wanted a motorcycle. I checked the local dealerships and found a pretty decent motorcycle, the 1988 Suzuki Savage. The bike had 19k miles on it (a bit much) and the dealership said it was ready to ride. They demonstrated it worked and I was amazed so okay $1100 bucks for this, okay. Bought it.

First Few Days:

The day it's delivered to my place I turn it on and it's awesome, decent sounding idle. I ride it around the block learning it's characteristics and park it and turn it off. I make sure to always turn the key downward as the rear lights stay on if I don't, so as to not run the battery down.

Changing of the battery:

Later I try and turn on the bike and it seems the battery is being stubborn so I say, "Hey the bike has been sitting for winter, I figure it needs a battery!" It turns out that's a good assessment and buy the battery and install it. Everything works.

Idle Problems:

The tank is low and hasn't been ridden for a while so I figure I go and get some gas. I put the cheapest gas in there (sorry if I offend there), and get the motor going again. This is where I start noticing that when I slow down the bike dies. "Maybe I didn't warm it up enough?" It was around 45F around the time so I make that note.

Changing of the Spark Plug:

Time goes on and I make sure I at least I warm up the engine roughly a couple to 3 minutes so my engine doesn't complain. Seems to work, but then I notice sometimes after a warm engine or long rides I'm getting idle stalling. So first things first I change the spark plug.

Changing of the Vacuum Hose:

I also change the vacuum hose that connects the vacuum from the petcock to the carburetor.

Motorbike continues to stall intermittently and now sometimes has gas coming from the bottom of the bike when I park. I'm thinking it's from the overflow tubes. I think.  

Currently:

I can get the bike to idle for a bit and over time it's been to the point where I can only get it to continue to idle without dying by opening the throttle to keep rpms up. I can no longer ride the bike without it dying. I've done some research and come to multiple conclusions from:

* maybe the petcock is bad and I've ordered a Raptor petcock in case. * Perhaps the bowl is stuck, and a mechanic is coming over to check it out because I'm not too mechanically inclined (I'm a computer programmer).
* I've also come to the conclusion that perhaps the carburetor really does need some cleaning.

This purchase has become a project, and i'm sure you'll come to the conclusion it's my fault for buying the bike so cheap. It just seems like some carburetor issues and I'm hoping it's just that.

So I'm asking for a little bit of advice on what to do. Should I take it in to get a carb clean? Should I do it myself? I keep hearing about Seafoam, and wondered what that could accomplish. I've ordered the Raptor petcock and hope perhaps that may be the issue and I figure I'll find out tomorrow if it could be.

One thing I did anticipate upon buying a motorcycle was practically becoming a mechanic to the bike, and oh boy was I right.

So a gummed up carb could dump some gas? If that's correct I should just clean the carb, and that would mean either me doing it myself (for the very first time), or taking it in to a mechanic (which requires a trailer or truck to get my bike there). Hmmmm... how can I save money and not break anything at the same time?  

I'd recommend the seafoam as a 1st effort.

If you had bought a 26 year old car......you probably would be having troubles as well.  Even though the Savage is a simple device, time and stagnation do take a toll on things.....especially ones that sit with fuel in them.

A good tank and carb cleaning, and a Raptor petcocke most likely will get you back to riding.

Quote:


Once you get the petcock/carb issues sorted, your bike will run just fine on cheap gas. all it needs is 87 octane. Just be aware that with the amount of ethanol in most gas nowdays, it's not good to leave a tankful sitting in the tank for months at a time without putting a little stabilizer in the tank - Sta-Bil, Seafoam -or something similar. Or just ride it enough so that the gas is always fresh

They SAID its ready to ride, but if they didnt put a cam chain in it,, Its Time to look in there,,Thatll sink an engine,, Call them & ask if that was done,,

Welcome Sketarius,

And NO, you didn't make a mistake... the savage/s40 is a solid machine, only a few things ever go wrong with it, and with a few tools (bought, borrowed or rented) you can fix it, heck your a programmer, you can picture whats happening in yer head if someone explains the problem!

Gas...it will run on the cheap stuff... drain your carb bowl (bottom little screw on the carb, put a hose on the little drain on the bottom and run it into a container). If there is nasty stuff in there, you need to clean the carb.

PetcOck... good thing you ordered the raptor, it will fix the gas leak coming out your drain tube (remember to always shut it off when you shut the bike off and turn it on when you turn the key on), and remember to block the vacuum port on the right side of the carb after you install it.

Timing chain tensioner... high mileage bikes will need to have a new chain or replace the tensioner with an extended version from Versy here on this site...
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1338489898

Dying at stops... probably really slow idle... left side of the carb, knurled knob with a spring on it...clockwise to increase speed, counter clockwise to decrease idle speed, this single piston needs a slightly higher idle, no lug, lug, lug.... needs about 1,200 at least to keep the oil pumped up to the lifters.

Enrichment (choke)... there are actually two positions on the knob slide (left side round black knob front of carb) first position is hard to feel, just pull it out slightly and easily, you should feel it catch a bit. The first slot is for keeping it running to warm up.... all the way out is to get it started. You will have to ask all them northerners about starting below 40 degrees as I live in florida and rarely need to "choke" it.  P.S. it is not really a choke....from my understanding it adds fuel and does not choke off the air.

Tech section... take a long read sometime, i'm thinking almost every question you will ever think of will be answered by just cruising through there and reading a bit.... but never be afraid to ask anything, these guys here are constantly teaching me lessons every day!

Sketarius wrote on 04/17/14 at 15:16:13:


Yeah, there are advantages to single cylinders and carbs.
Once the carb is cleaned, you should still check out the petcock. I wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't part of the issue.  If you order it now it will be in your hands when you get the bike back and you can install it right away (or heck, ask the mechanic to install it while he has the carb off, it's a 5 minute deal). It would s*ck to get your fresh carb back and THEN find out you need a petcock too and have to wait 10 days for it to arrive.