So..Been searching through the forums for some answers to why the new to me 2009 Savage I purchased is acting up. It was bought about 3 weeks ago at 4500mi clean body no visible damage. Seemed pretty well kept so I bought it from the 2nd owner who said the wife was forcing him out of the new toy he bought back in October. Bike came with no manual or service records so considering the mileage I figured the most it needed was an oil change ,brakes maybe battery.

Well from the get go the bike had a iffy start. Took a little roll on the throttle to get her going.

On my first real ride a few days after purchasing it suddenly shut off going around 50-60mph after about 20mi and a hour or so of riding. I'm a noob and chalked it up to overheating of a single cylinder air cooled engine. After all it started right back up after a 10min rest. Got her home just fine.

Next the battery turned out to be bad a week later after getting a jump after a rainy day at work and it wouldn't start on the way home. Replaced the battery. Fitted it with some new connections, rubber casings and got it going back as a daily commute.

One day I didn't ride because it was suppose to rain and it didn't so I rushed home after work jumped on and took off for a nice ride in some near perfect weather. I mean who wouldn't

Abt 30minutes in I'm heading up a nice road with a slight hill at 65mph in 4th or 5th gear. Not even 10mi away from home and the bike cuts off and speed drops fast (the hill).

Pull over inspect for leakage ..nada..
engine hot?.. anh  feels warm.
Go to start... starts right up

Put it in gear... Dunp. It's back dead.

This happens whether shifting up or down. And I can't start in gear.
Read up on the issue and the kickstand switch seems fully functional. Realize my oil window looks empty (Wasn't before) so I get a tow home. (thought maybe the clutch plates are rubbing and oil is good for engines lol)

During the wait for the oil filter which was only available special order I oiled the kickstand switch up whuch didn't solve the problem.
At this point I no longer want to even let it idle in neutral until I change the oil.
I began emptying the oil and removing the front brake pads for replacement. I filled a 1.75Liter jug and a small coffee jug which is 2L give or take. I don't know why I couldn't see it in the window when in upright position.  

I drained the spill tube which was a little watery but nothing out of the ordinary.  I checked the air filter to find gas in the air box and covering the right bottom section of the filter.

That caused me to clean the carburetor which was clean overall but there was metal specs in the bottom float bowl. (Bad right?)

At this point I realize that there could be something wrong and decided to cut my lost and at least try to get it rolling in gear before shelling out cash on all the cool mods on this site.

Right now I am waiting on the raptor 660 and the oil filter. I have a jet set, kn 1290 cone filter and the breather filter in the cart. I wasn't sure if I should add those considering if the bikes a flop I'd get more on the trade in if it's stock.

I know the more details the better you guys can understand what's going on so that's my first month with this bike.

If you have any ideas on how to get this bike running  that'd be awesome. I paid 2700 for it and don't know if I'm willing to shell out for a new engine just yet.

+1 petcock

The petcocks fail one of two ways. Either they leak, allowing gas to leak into the fuel line or the vacuum line thus flooding the carb/engine, or the vacuum diaphram gets stiff and shuts off the fuel under low-vacuum conditions.

I had the latter. The bike ran fine until sustained 60-65mph into a stiff headwind. Throttle response would get a little iffy, then the engine would just quit. Same symptoms as running out of gas. When it would happen, I could reach down and turn the petcock to prime. If I hadn't slowed to a stop yet, the engine would start firing again.  Turn back to "ON" and the same thing would happen again. I ended that trip just running on prime.

Welcome, You are at the right place. I would kiill to have a bike with low mileage. Even with problems. Go slow and be patient. The "hole" on your bike is not deep, especially  after a littletime on this forum. My Savage quit after a couple of weeks and cranked back up after a few minutes. Serowbot put me onto the Raptor Petcock (Yamaha number 5LP 24500-01-00). That was 18,000 miles ago. I fixed the rubber plug leak, timing chain, and at over 25,000+ miles I rode over 150 miles last week on a spring day ride with never a thought of being stranded. I didn't understand all your problems, but there is a blue wire under the tank which can come unplugged and cause problems with the neutral cut out/crank/kickstand start. Happened to me, but my fault-not the bike. Anyway there are folks on here who know something about everything that can happen to our little bike. And they are conservative and methodical. They don't  recommend throwing money at it until it is new. Welcome to a great bunch of folks anda fun machine that can embarrass the competition. Boofer

5 years old, less than 5,000 miles,, heck,, its been neglected,,Yea, change oil,, change the GAS, drain the carb bowl, dont bother babying your new baby with premium, it doesnt need it or love ya more if ya pay the extra.
Toss Rotella T 15/40 in it, definitely ditch that petcock,, Slap a Raptor on it, The 2 most important mods are Raptor, for dependability, & the Verslavy, to keep the engine alive. Id pull the battery, check the water level, haul it to have it tested. If theres anything that makes me crazy its buying something & having a crappy battery in it,, Ive been known to replace a battery, just because I didnt know its history & it looked a little on the old side. I dont like walking home when I rode away,,

Thanks Boofer and WD. I started loving the bike so when it crapped out on a beautiful day during a great ride it hurt. I'll keep tinkering and get her back going. Thanks guys

no just that most forums are slacking in the longevity column.

Good news the bypass worked! Got her in first gear with a modified stock petcock, fresh tank of gas, some seafoam and an oil change.
Bad news is something was burning on the right side of the bike in the vicinity of the oil filter. Seemed to be coming from the space in between the header and oil cover. Could this be the Polish, wax or spilled oil from cleaning and changing the filter? The smoke was white

Thanks. I'm planning to wash her down pretty good and all should be well