Thanks for the add to the site. I just picked up a 2003 Savage last weekend with 7800 original miles for $700 for my son's first bike.

I'm planning to put a new battery in it, fresh oil & filter, spark plug, air filter, etc.

Are there any common issues with this bike I need to look for as we get it ready for him?

All you ever wanted to know, and more.

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1181745927

Thanks for the replies. Tires are not original, I've already had it on the lift and inspected them for any issues.

BTW, I'm not new to motorcycles by no means, Started on dirt bikes the summer I turned 4, had my first street bike before I was legal to ride it, I'll be turning 42 this year, my 26th season on the street.

This is my beast, 2005 Yamaha Road Star 1700 Full Custom

stewmills wrote on 02/08/17 at 12:25:43:


Thank you, I have updated my profile to include where I'm from and other info.

He will be going through the MSF course this spring before I take him on the open road. As for me logging miles, I doubt I'll see many on it. I'm built more like an NFL offensive lineman at 7' tall and 375lbs.

Welcome!

Get in some riding time on it.  It is recommended usually to check the cam chain tensioner by about 10,000 miles.  If it lets go, you get trash for an engine. One of the guys on here sells a modified one that works much better and will not fall apart in your engine causing damage.

The petcocks have been known to die with anywhere from around 1,000 miles to 25 or 30 thousand on them.  It'll cause all kinds of crazy issues when it does.  Replacement is about $30 when it comes time. There are several posts on here with the Yamaha part # you need.

You might want to check out the seat raising mod in the tech section too.  It helps make the seat more user friendly by not continually sliding you forward into the tank.

Thanks for all the responses.

Tires were put on in July of 2015, they are still in good shape with no cracking. However, they are Dunlop tires, and well, with 25+ years and 100's of thousands of miles, I feel safe in my opinion that Dunlop tires suck. If you like Dunlop, more power to you, but not for me. So they will get replaced before the real season hits.

We pulled the tank today and drained the old fuel from it. The petcock was not flowing fuel, so we pulled it from the tank, pulled it apart and thoroughly cleaned it. Put it back together and it is functioning exactly how it should.

Since we had the tank off, I had him put in a new spark plug. Since the bike had set for close to a year, I had him put a small amount of MMO into the cylinder to lubricate the top end.

Next we pulled the carb, cleaned the jets and inspected seals etc, It is all in good shape. Carb is back together and back on the bike.

Fuel & vacuum lines from the carb to the petcock looked iffy, so I went ahead and ran new line. Used a fuel injection hose since they hold up better over time.

After all that, he put the new battery in it, bolted it all back together, pulled the choke, set the petcock to prime and fired his bike for the first time. She purrs really nice except for an exhaust leak where the muffler &  head pipe connect.  

By this point, it was time for dinner & school work, so I had him put up the tools, clean everything up and tuck her away for the night.

Plan for after school tomorrow is to change the oil & see if we can fix the exhaust leak. Sounds like checking the cam tensioner will be added to the list.

Saturday will be the beginning of riding lessons.   Wish me luck!

Well, I had torn down the petcock & rebuilt it before the warning. The diaphragm showed no signs of wear or rot. Moves effortlessly with light suction and when introduced to a heavier vacuum to check for leak down, it had none. Since I had it apart, I replaced the O ring that is inside it.  

This isn't my first rodeo rebuilding parts on a bike, but now that I know that the Raptor mod is to fix an underlying issue of a failure that doesn't seem to fall into a pattern, I'll order a Raptor one when I order some parts for my R* this weekend.