Posted by Tom on March 18, 2000 at 00:09:35:
Okay, you folks have me confused on a couple of issues. First, We just purchased a 2000 Savage and are breaking it in now. (Tad chilly here in WI, but we are working on getting her to 600 miles asap.) My problem is with the advice to remove the white spacer off the needle. This is a Mikuni carb. The needle is pulled out of the main jet as the vacumn increases causing more fuel to enter the carb. To remove the spacer will cause the bike to run slightly leaner in the mid range, maybe eliminating backfiring, but not particularly good for the bike's engine. Has anyone run an O2 sensor to verify if the mixture is near 14.7 for max fuel mileage or 13.2 for max power? If maybe even the bike is running a bit too lean, burning valves? On my Bandit, I have two shims added to each carb in addition to the stock white shim (added .038" to stock) to eliminate flat spots on the HP Torque curves and to get rid of the too lead condition most new bikes come with. Another interesting note is that the dealer's parts counter lists the Savage as having 145 mains, yet the shop manual I purchased and the one in the dealer's service department lists stock as 155 mains. Does anyone remember what the main jet had written on it? I will pull it apart this weekend and check, but wonder if something changed in the past year or two. Lastly, has anyone done any experimenting with punching holes in the air box to help increase air flow? The big single seems to need a lot more air than its getting, but that will amount to shimming the needle and changing the main jet and probably changing the pilot circuit as well. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Tom in Wisconsin (Heather's new bike)
BTW The Supertrap came in today with the manual, looks very nice. Can't wait to get this bike broken in and on the dyno to start messing with it. From what you all have noted, there will be a nice gain in power with the new pipe.