Took her out for a ride today, then about 5 miles in, the bike would not accelerate past 40, bucking and backfiring.  I turn it around and go back home.  Stop the bike, and notice that when the key is ON, no power at all, no lights, no starter response, just like the battery is disconnected.  Operate the key a few times, nuthin'.  I am scratching my head, getting ready to take the seat off, try one more time and tada, power is there, lights on, battery at full charge, starts right up and runs like a champ.  

A few days before this ride, I took the tank off, just to do it for the first time, and cleaned out the spark plug recess, getting ready for the new plug that is coming from BikeBandit.  Cleaned the 2 elec connectors under the tank , put it all back tgether, fired it up no problem.

I took the seat off, reseated tall the connectors, and fuses.  Rode it 20 miles, no problems, running strong.

I do get a bit of backfiring coming off hard throttle, she must be lean.  I am thinking that the Jardine pipe (Loud) i have os too open, and the emco revers cone on the way might help clear that up a bit.

I think there is a broken wire or bad connection somewhere in the big wiring near the battery, fuse, or something.  Any tips are appreciated, I will be going over the wiring piece by piece pretty soon.  I am an EE, so it's just a matter of getting the schematic and crunching through it, methinks.

I had the exact same symptoms, and it was a loose battery connection.  The screw-in connectors seem to vibrate loose.

Recently pulled the tank.
No power, yeah, check the battery, check fuses, then check connections under the tank.

Thanks for the suggestions.  I pulled the tank off, reseated and cleaned every connector under tank, seat and left cover.  Changed the battery with nice new sealed Yuasa.  Charged it up.  Bike starts, all works.  Sheesh, I hope it doesn't let me down far from home!  I think I will add some extra tools to my kit in case I need to tear it down on the roadside.

Got it.  I dl'd some schematics didn't really look at them yet.  The charging and continuity checks are quick and easy I will post what I find.

I am really having fun orking on this bike you know.   He Savage is a strange little bike and I like the culty club aspect of owning it.  It's quirky and far from the mainstream, kinda like me

But as JOG said earlier ,you really need to be checking your cam chain tensioner ! it it comes apart it will ruin your engine!

George ,sorry ,I thought I read that you had 23,500 miles on the bike(someone else's post ) you shouldn't need  to check it right away, unless PO used it for a lot of short drives.