First thing.... family member....with tools....
Second thing... calls you for information...
Third thing... He has the bike for A YEAR???
You knew to come here.... he should have done the same, the internet is FULL of information, if he is too lazy to look, he ain't worth squat as a mechanic.
Sounds like he did not check the piston to make sure the bike was "top dead center", so his valve adjustment made things worse. The TDC mark is only a gage to tell you when it is there... you have to visually make sure the piston is actually at the top AND the mark is on.
Politely ask for the motorcycle back, hopefully he has all the pieces. Then ask around for a mechanic that can work on savages/s40's, read here, get to know the bike, talk to a few mechanics about your woes....until one mentions this site, or the known problems an how they are fixed.
If he is charging you for repairs.... I would disown him.... brother, brother-in-law...half brother... would not matter... if he is taking advantage of you for a YEAR.... he really should not be a family member.
Short of tearing this thing down and rebuilding it, NOTHING should take longer than two months (even if other projects are in progress).
If you had read here, and hit the tech section, YOU could have had the bike on the road in two months.
It is obvious you didn't start reading this forum until AFTER your "relative" was trying to fix your "backfire". Because if you had been reading here you would have known the savage backfires normally, and you would have known the fix and be riding it now.
I'm only being a little "stiff" on you because you are letting a family member make you suffer and walk (for a YEAR) when you could have been riding.
Hopefully when you get the bike back you can look it over, take a few pictures, and post them here so folks here can help you figure out what the.....sigh.... I hate to call him this... "mechanic" did to your transportation.
It sounds like you are either
1. afraid to work on it because you are not too mechanically inclined. or 2. don't want to bother with it and will just throw money at it to get it fixed.
Don't be afraid to do it yourself.... ask around here, there are folks here that don't even know the name of some parts that are fixing problems and riding! And some of them live in apartments with no garage!
Fill in your profile about the area you live in and maybe one of the folks from here could help you figure it out!
I can only hope you do not get discouraged, and take some of the advice we are giving you to heart.
I am not trying to be hurtful, just trying to get you motivated to fix your savage and get you riding so your feet will thank you!