FinnHammer wrote on 07/20/25 at 23:13:42:Regarding the 94mm, i think it would be a better solution to make it in an oversize, so that it will be nested into a freshly bored and honed, cylinder. Many cylinders will be worn, and the step just above where the rings reverse direction sits lower in the original piston than in the hi comp Wiseco, so this step has to be honed off, leaving a cylinder that may get close to worn out size.
Just my 10 cents.
I agree - I like having a freshly bored cylinder matched to the new piston!
Years ago when the DR650 pistons (Pop Top) were the only upgrade available, you had to choose between a 95mm, 96mm or 97mm and you had to get your cylinder bored (The stock size DR650 piston is 95mm and the stock sized LS650 is 94mm).
I chose a 95mm as I did not know how reliable the new piston was going to be, and I wanted the ability to bore again if I had a failure. It is a shame that I had my 94mm cylinder with only 1,200 miles bored to 95mm. The setup has proven to be very reliable and with 16,000 miles on it the piston and cylinder looked great when I took the engine apart last winter.
The 94mm flat top was created so that Savage owners could get a stock sized piston that was designed specifically for the Savage - and could avoid the expense of having the cylinder bored. If you did need the cylinder bored - then the 97mm was an option.
The initial batch of 97mm pistons took a long while for Lancer to sell, and recent attempts to get folks to commit to buying the 97mm have not resulted in enough interest to justify Lancer to order 12 more of them. You, me, DragBikeMike and 1 or 2 others were the only ones to make a commitment. Similarly - I believe any attempt to make 95 or 96mm pistons would not be successful.
As time goes on and the Savage gets older - I believe the market for pistons/cams/carbs and other performance parts is likely going to drop. If you believe you are going to want/need performance parts (or even common maintenance parts) - now might be a good time to stock up!
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