The decompression system temporarily opens the exhaust valves when you press the start switch, to make it easier for the starter to crank the engine. If your bike is stock and the decomp system is working correctly you won't really notice it.

pics:

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1169356966

The parts are under the tank, and behind the chrome cover on the top left side of the head.

Note: If your bike is starting OK you probably don't have to adjust anything, but the photos in the thread will show you what the stuff looks like.

Thanks all.

copterdoc wrote on 06/12/14 at 17:58:43:


If you only ride when it is warm, you have a good battery and you have the stock piston...you might be able to get by without the compression release.  I suspect that in really cold climates when the battery performance is down, and the oil is really thick.....the decompression solenoid may be a necessity.

My bike has a 95mm Wiseco and I have converted to a manual decompression. Most of the time I don't need the compression release - but about 1 out of ever 100 starts the piston happens to be on the compression stroke when I hit the start button - and the starter is not strong enough to push the Wiseco up over TDC....and the starter just can't spin the engine over.  Then I pull the decompression lever and away we go!