340mm tall shocks are about the longest you can get without having issues with belt tension (chain tension) that result from the swing arm being at too severe of an angle.  You still need to adjust the belt a bit loose as it tightens up when you get on the bike and the shocks compress.

You can run an 18" rear wheel - a 130/70-18 tire will fit inside teh swing arm......however that size tire is too wide for the 2.50 -18 rim that most people install.  I am using a 3.50-18 rear wheel as it is the recommended width for the 130/70 tire on my cafe.  For a "dirt" tire you may want to have a smaller rim and a taller tire......check and see what tires are available in 17" diameter and what size rim width they fit.  I have run 110/90 and 120/80 tires on a 2.50-18 rim and they provide plenty of traction on the Savage.,...most vintage bikes with 2 - 3 times the HP of the Savage used 110 or 120 tires (Norton, Triumph, etc) - the wider tires may not be desirable if you end up riding in the dirt.

A lot of tires are available in the vintage 4.00-18 size, and that tire fits on narrow rims as a result of the tall tire sidewall - however the tire has a larger OD and it may not fit in the swing arm with the stock belt......check the tire OD before you buy one.
 

Check post #3 in this thread:

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1498156004/0

And post number 76 & 77 in this thread.

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1421689358/75

If you want more rear suspension travel, an 18" rear wheel and shocks with an eye-to-eye length of 13" will get you 4-1/4" of travel at the rear wheel. That's a significant difference from the OEM set-up. My bike is quite comfortable (I'm about 175 pounds).

Send Chris an email. He will need to know your weight and the weight of the bike. If you have the front:rear distribution of the bike that will be helpful.

use button head bolts and put the head outside instead of in.

Got the shocks on. It took about 2 hours mostly due to my ignorance. I thought it would be easier to get the shocks on while the wheel was off, but I couldn't put the axle back in with them on due to the change in swing arm angle and conflict with muffler. This meant taking them off and putting back on again. Otherwise it was fairly easy. Getting the rear wheel back on can be tough. Not much room between the swingarm and exhaust now, but I've ordered a new exhaust already.

The bike is dirty as hell after my black hands were all over it, but attached the pic.

I was using a 15/16 socket on the nut, but I could see switching and using adjustable wrench. Is that what you do?

gtenginerd wrote on 10/14/20 at 15:59:34:

I just lean on the pillion it goes down far enough that I can get a socket on it.