sorry went back listened to your recording, I think you may have your valves set to tight, I would reset .(loose  is ok ,tight causes burnt valves)rotate engine the sane as the wheels ,some books have it backward I  had this happen, had same sounds ,rechecked ,(to tight),reset to .005,good to go!

batman wrote on 05/09/16 at 08:06:14:


Hi, I've tried looser and tighter clearances with no change in the sound, and they are now spot on .10mm.

The factory DR650 piston kit really isn't cutting edge for the Savage....unless you are talking about the Wiseco piston made to fit the DR650.  It will require a bore as the smallest they made for he DR is 95mm, and the Savage is 94mm.

If you cylinder is good - you would be better off with this:
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1455470509

If you didn't have cam or rocker wear when you had your head off, chances are your oil flow is fine.  Take the front valve inspection cover off....if the parts inside are oily - you are getting oil up there.

If it's not "No Oil' in the top end or the top con rod bearing it could be the valves hitting the top of the piston if the valve timing is out by a stretched timing chain. Sounds pretty solid of a knock and you mentioned metal flakes in the oil filter? Not a good sign either. Use a stethoscope to pinpoint were that nasty knock is coming from. Seemed to occur when you revved up the engine and stay. I would check the cam lobes and rockers for galling and wear due to no oil up there. And while the top end is off check the valve timing.

That's a pretty tinny sounding racket. Where were you holding what you recorded it with?

Leaving it on the sidestand and troubleshooting it starves the cam for oil. If you're gonna be leaving it running while you study it, get it as close to vertical as possible and if you're gonna be running it very long, a fan blowing on that air cooled motor isn't a bad idea.
The RPM related clanking makes me wonder about something in the exhaust.


Instead of the screwdriver/stethoscope, try a piece of plastic tubing. Not recommended for contact with too scorching hot surfaces.
A piece that fits in the ear and a metal rod shoved in the other end can be handy. I have an old stethoscope that I shoved a rod into. They are cheap. And a mechanics stethoscope isn't that much, either. Pardon me for saying it, but, it, Sounds like you could use one.

If you could get the guy who sold it to you to be honest about what he had done to it before it started doing that, you might be ahead.
I don't understand why anyone would step off into
Bobbing a Savage and leave that turd of a muffler on it..

If it was my bike, and considering the shady history of the bike....I would most likely take the engine out of the frame, take the top end apart and see what stuff looks like.

Once the head is off and you can see the cam/rockers/head and valves look like.  If nothing looks bad up there (and you know what to look for), I would take the cylinder off and inspect the piston/cylinder/rod/crank.

If this is a bike you are going to keep and ride and put some miles on....it is a worthwhile investment of time and money to have the engine put back together and reliable.  You can decide what parts the bike needs to become reliable again.....worn out or damaged parts should be replaced.

As for it being the flywheel being loose I believe there has only been two cases on this site that makes the odds 2500 to 1 that you would be number 3

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 05/10/16 at 12:37:40:



I sat on the bike while recording with my phone on the right hand and moving it around, can't really remember where.

Bought it from a friend who got it in a trade, all he could say is that the PO had replaced the cam chain. It had a straight pipe when I bought it, and there was a clanking then too, but maybe it was slightly different. I have to check the exhaust and buy a stethoscope. Haven't really dared to rev the engine due to the noise, but it seems to be louder at lower revs. I haven't driven it yet, either.

The timing is correct AFAIK, the marks on the cam shaft end were vertical when the left side plug hole mark was lined up with the crank shaft marking.

The upper con rod bearing is the piston pin, right?