New member here, just purchased my Savage this past weekend, and excited to join this community as I’ve heard nothing up good things about it through social media and YouTube.

My bike is a 2003 that has been under a carport for the past 6+ years. I have two major questions:

·   I’m currently in process of draining the old gas, cleaning the carbs and an oil change. Going to try to charge the battery and see if it’s still usable, otherwise I’ll replace that as well. Is there anything I am missing before I start her up?

·   A few rust and grim still remain after a basic wash. Noticed what looks like rust and junk in between the belt divots, will try to wire brush them out, and not sure what exactly it is on the handle bars, what would be the best way to clean these off?

Any additional tips and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Don't mess with the oil until it's running.
Don't go into the carb until you try to get it running.
Dump the gas.
Put a half gallon of fresh, regular gas in.
Put the Petcock on prime.
See what happens.

A new battery would only make sense.

Otherwise, no new spark plug, no mechanical anything, until it Tells you what it wants.

Some ether to shoot under the seat would be a good plan.

It's important to remove the sparkplug(and clean and gap it) and spray fogging oil ,or a couple of teaspoons of motor oil into the cylinder,  I would then jack the rear wheel up ,and place the bike in gear ,and turn the wheel by hand to rotate the motor and spread the oil ,and to make sure the piston rings are not frozen to the cylinder walls and insure you don't damage them , BEFORE you even try to start it. the oil has drained off these parts eons ago, on a bike that's been sitting that long, and there is not any oil pressure until the motor actually runs.  Don't crank the starter more than a minute or two (if it doesn't start by then it's not going to) and let it sit 15 or 20 to allow it to cool in between or it can be damaged  also $$$$$.

Wow thank you for the great advice, looks like I was going about this all backwards. I just ordered a new battery online, should be here next week. Will be working on a draining the old gas, clean the spark plugs, building that $20 dyi jack lift with a 4x8 I saw posted here so I can put some oil into the cylinder, and spin the tires by hand in the meantime..

Bummed out about the aluminum corrosion, started brushing it out, and I see how it looks patchy and dull now, but I have confidence it'll still look good with a little work.

You guys have no idea how thankful I am for the detailed information. Can't wait til my battery arrives!!

If anyone else has anymore additional tips for this newbie, please let me know  

Inspect the tires for dry rot. Look for cracks in them. Personally I’d replace them on general principle if they were sitting in the weather that long.

Drewdeluxe wrote on 05/30/19 at 15:05:09:


My advice?
Go BLIND.
Get five thousand miles on it
Then worry about the cosmetics.
Make it a winter project.
Get prepared.
Visit the paint store that sells to automotive body shops.
There's a Two Stage rattle can clear coat available. It's expensive. About twenty five bucks a can. You MUST HAVE a carbon cartridge air mask. Available from Lowe's for around thirty bucks.

Stripping and preparing parts is tedious and we can cover that later.

Orbital sander
Various grits
Three M green scrubby pads
Water spray bottle
It's not that bad.

Two Stage clear rattle can

Off to the races.

Some inexpensive, smaller parts could be cost effectively replaced
But engine sides, probably not

A very fine scotch bright pad (white?) and marvel mystery oil , will remove much of that oxidation .