Posted by Jim on March 16, 2000 at 23:55:50:
In Reply to: Re: latest mods... posted by George on March 16, 2000 at 20:32:19:
George,
Happy to share the info.... I may make this sound diffilcult, but I'm just trying to be detailed enough. It really wasn't that hard. In addition to normal wrenches, you'll probably need access to a vise, some wood scraps (to protect pieces in the vise), a hacksaw and some RTV. It would also be best if you had the HD nuts and bolts (they lock into a flange on the muffler and keep from turning).
First pull off the stock muffler/heat shield (it's actually a unit; two piecies screwed together; comes off as one piece). The only stock piece you'll need for the HD muffler (I used a stock 99 Dyna muffler.... don't know if others will work) is the chrome clamp that attaches muffler to pipe.
The HD muffler isn't long enough to get two screws through the Savage's support (below the swingarm), so I just used the front one. You may find that the distance from the end of the header pipe to the raised ring (obvious when the Suzuki muffler is off) is too long to slide the Dyna muffler on all the way (the Dyna muffler actually narrows just inside the front), so you may have to take about 1/4 inch off the header pipe (I recommend removing the pipe entirely as opposed to trying to cut/saw with it on the bike. Be careful here. Take off as little as possible in case you want to put the original muffler back on. And it's really easy to scratch up the chrome that Suzuki uses: it is REALLY thin plate.). Not only will this allow you to slide the Dyna muffler all the way to the raised ring on the header pipe, but it will also allow for better alignment of the support arm/screw (more later).
When you put the Dyna muffler on, you may find it is a little too big, but it has some expansion slots which can be compressed really easily with a vice and some blocks (to keep it from scratching). Go easy here; you don't want to take the muffler end out of round. I kept sqeezing a little, then rotating it about 90 degrees, then repreating until I got the desired fit. Again, my header pipe was off the bike, so it was easy to check for fit.
When you slide the muffler on (first remount the header pipe and forward heat shield), use some RTV sealant around the header pipe end. Install the clamp so that it covers the seam between muffler and the raised ring. The clamp has a little tang off the leading edge which helps it align nicely to the front of the raised ring. I also rotated it around so I could get to it; the screw head ended up pretty close to the oil fill window. You'll probably also find that the clamp doesn't close up enough on the muffler/raised ring. I put mine in the old vise and sawed off the little protrusions on the nut side of the clamp (they limit minimum diameter) so that I had plenty of room.
Before you slide the muffler on, install (LOOSLEY) one of the stock HD nuts and bolts in the FRONT hole on the Savage muffler support. As you slide on the muffler, fit the bolt head through the round hole in the HD muffler flange, and slide it back (actually slide the muffler forward) into the square groove; this will stop it from turning when you tighten it up.
I tightened up the front first, then the back, then let the RTV set up for 30 or so minutes.
THEN..... VAROOOM!
You might want to look into getting another heat shield to cover the joint (although if you don't scratch it up too bad, it looks pretty good without one!). You could probably attach another one like the one that goes by your right foot, but the original one from the back will look ridiculous with the slimmer HD muffler. Not to mention the way that it is srewed to the old muffler....
Now I don't know about dynos, or power curves, but it feels like I got about 5 mph added to my top end (up to 85 mph witha fair amount of power up there). I have also already done the carb mod by removing the white spacer.
Bottom line is that it looks alot better, and as I rode past my local Easyriders on my way home yesterday, all the Harly boys craned their necks around to see the big bad Savage roaring down the street!
If I confused you here at all, e-mail me and I'll be glad to help!
-KTRSD
-Jim