My still-new-to-me Savage was intermittently acting funky - I describe it as lurching, like it's running out of gas when it's not - and it was doing it at various speeds, all temps, etc.  Gas was fresh and so forth.  SeaFoam added, but haven't gotten enough miles for it to have one anything yet.

I had planned the Raptor swap anyway, so we went ahead and did it since we were taking the stupid tank off to swap the plug (which looked fine) anyway.

Runs MUCH better immediately.  Once we figured out the tank removal (simple, yes - AFTER the first time!), no problems at all.  Took note of the thread on making sure no loose paint is present, and removed all of the paint (it was all flaky anyway - failure imminent?).

Funny thing is, the petcock had obviously been removed before.  Not only was there the expected evidence of multiple tank removals, but the screws on the stock petcock were scratched up.  Makes me wonder if that's why this bike got traded in - it was running funny and he couldn't fix it.

Anyway, thanks (again!) for the great information you all provide.

* Tomi

I bought mine new in 2012, and it almost got traded or sold before the first 100 miles. Fortunately, I had learned the forum lesson on a previous bike. So I found this site, and fixed my frustration. I guess your bike's previous owner wasn't so lucky. Good going, and enjoy the ride. Oh yeah - one more thing I just discovered - the S40 doesn't like ethanol. They say it has something to do with the low (8.5 to 1) compression ratio. The unburned E10 likes to explode in the muffler I guess.

Tomi wrote:
"Not that the after fires bug me. And they bother my dad, which inspires me to leave it alone. "

Thank You Tomi...

I don't have a lot of "pops" on decel, but I can absolutely count on one when I hit the kill switch.  It's like the last firework on the 4th of July.

Steve H wrote on 05/28/15 at 14:39:51:


Well then rev the bike up just before you hit the key! ;

For a nice quiet shut down.....just let it idle for 15-20 seconds to cool down a bit before you turn the key off.

It really is best to have the bike at idle before you turn the key off, as that will pump as little unburned fuel through the engine as possible.  Revving the engine up on anything with a carb before you shut it off will pull a lot more fuel into the engine and pump it into the exhaust when the key it turned off.