I am not a fan of adding an additional fuel filter.....sometimes they actually cause problems with an air lock.  The stock bike has the filters on the petcock, and the carb has a screen on the top of the seat for the float needle.  The stock filters work just fine.  Most carb issues come from letting the fuel sit in the bike too long and from corrosion or fuel varnish, not from dirt coming from the tank.

Why would you want a gas filter to trap water? If the filter were to fill with water, it would no longer pass gasoline.  This just adds an additional maintenance issue of checking and replacing gas filters.

Buying gas from a reputable, high-volume gas station, riding the motorcycle regularly and keeping the tank topped off should take care of any water issues. Unless it is a really large slug of water, it will just suck through the system and get burnt off. I've never had an issue with bad gasoline. I ride often. At least every few days in summer and at least every 2-3 weeks in winter.

Here's a thought for those of you really worried about water. What about adding a sediment bowl with a petcock drain in the bottom of it? These were common on old cars and tractors. It would certainly be a conversation starter.

Fuel Vs. Water in the filter... best writeup I've seen was this:

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1211846392

Done things similar with my lawnmower the last couple years, simply put, it works.

Crankcase vent... I'll have to look.

W.O.W.

Thats
Words of Wisdom.


Yes, get in and check the cam chain,, but the filter? Its not as great a plan as it mite first sound like..

OK, petcock is genuine Yamaha Raptor, I got the box with the bike, and the original petcock with it. Box has the sticker from the local Yamaha shop on it... so yeah, I'm thinking it's the real deal.

I have the airbox also, so I could put that back on if I want to.

With the fuel filter, I'm going to try it, it's easy enough to undo if it doesn't work out.

For a battery, yes, I'm going AGM since they're a lot tougher in terms of vibration, and Savages do vibrate a bit. The fact that there's no maintenance is a plus.

The wiring problem is that the clips and such that secure the wiring harness to the frame have broken, and the wires are dangling horribly. I'm planning to correct this with wire loom and cable ties to neaten up the whole package.

I have an Iridium spark plug in my motorcycle.....a bit more expensive than a normal plug......but the fuel tank I have on the motorcycle is mounted very low and I have to remove the side panels to get the seat off, remove the seat, and then remove the fuel tank before I can get to the spark plug.

The benefits of iridium and platinum are not current flow - but resistance to wear.  In the old days of carbs, manual chokes, leaded fuel, and oil bath air cleaners we used to get no more than about 25,000 miles out of a set of plugs in a car.  The electrodes would wear and the sharp corners would become rounded....and that makes it harder for the ignition system to create a spark across the gap.  Iridium and platinum are much more resistant to this rounding off of the electrodes, and because of this the electrodes can be made smaller - which does make it easier for the ignition system to create a spark.  I just replaced the iridium plugs in my wife's Honda Civic that has over 100,000 mile on it.....and the spark plugs looked like they had no wear at all!

So although you won't get any more horsepower - you will get longer life and possibly make things a little easier on the ignition system.  The benefits are that the bike may start a little easier on a cold damp morning, and you will get more life out of the plug.

Here is some info on the use of Iridium in spark plugs.
http://densoiridium.com/faq.php

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 12/16/14 at 16:00:06:


I no longer have the chrome covers, and the GT550 tank I have used is really low on the frame, and there is very little room over the cylinder head.     The GT550 tank is pretty tall top to bottom - so when I lowered it enough that the top was under the steering stem the bottom was really close to the head.  There is no room to get the plug out with the tank on.