Read where the Savage choke doesn't really choke .... it is fuel enrichment jet that opens. My '02 pops and backfires as normal Savages do, and the throttle response seems jerky at times. Feels like the engine trys to hold back. Then I said to myself, stupid try pulling out the choke. Pulled out the choke one click while crusin' and immediately my machine leaped forward gaining speed and smoothness with no more pops. Is my engine trying to tell me something? Engine talk .... "I want to go faster, and be smoother, but I can't." After ROARING around a bit with the choke out, I pushed it back in ... the bike s l o w e d down to its poppin' old self. Love my white spacer if it's in there, but maybe I should loose it. .....Krug
In Reply to: Carb white spacer--love it or loose it ? posted by Krug on March 19, 2003 at 01:35:05:
At one point I was running mine with the choke out a notch. I'm not sure whether that's what caused the spark plug to foul very soon thereafter, but this may be food for thought, since it's such a pain to change the plug. (It may also be that both problems were caused by allowing some jackass at a performance shop to fool with the carburetor.)
In Reply to: Carb white spacer--love it or loose it ? posted by Krug on March 19, 2003 at 01:35:05:
Thanks for the thoughts and opinions---weather's still cool .... see if I still get much poppin' when the weather gets even warmer. Here in N.J. elevation typically runs from sea level---100'. .... Krug
In Reply to: Carb white spacer--love it or loose it ? posted by Krug on March 19, 2003 at 01:35:05:
sounds like the engine isn't up to opperating temp. mine acts the same in 60 deg weather. i just run it around a bit with the choke on , then when it's warm i shut it off. it runs faster .cause it's getting more fuel
In Reply to: Carb white spacer--love it or loose it ? posted by Krug on March 19, 2003 at 01:35:05:
With all due respect to those with different opinions, many of us, self included, have taken the white spacer out and fattened up the low end carb screw and absolutely would not change back. It's easy to do - believe me, this is a novice talking. If you don't like the result, change it back! One of my pet theories is that altitude makes a big difference. I'm at about 300' and the bike ran very lean. Stands to reason that as you gain altitude the mix shifts towards more fuel. Maybe this partly explains differences of opinion. Another thought is that changes to a less restricted muffler (Jardine, Supertrap, etc.) will make the spacer removal more necessary. I could tolerate the performance with the stock muffler, but when I switched to the Jardine, the backfire got really bad. With the spacer out, backfire is greatly reduced, but not eliminated.
Rode to work along the Lake Erie Shoreline today. Cold this A.M. but should be in the upper 50's F later today. - Mike M.
Posted by Polar Pilot on March 19, 2003 at 01:45:59:
In Reply to: Carb white spacer--love it or loose it ? posted by Krug on March 19, 2003 at 01:35:05:
OVer four years I have read it seems like a thousand comments about the white spacer trick to avoid backfiring from the Savage engine.
I mostly run into town at highway speeds so my engine is good a hot on almost every ride.
I have not removed the white spacer - but I did modify my throttle usage - when I want to slow down - I close the throttle completely. This has almost totally eleminated the backfiring - although at shut off I do sometimes still get a wuufff.
If your machine runs better with the choke out one notch, it may be that the needle in the carb is set to low - and needs to be raised to get more fuel into the motor.
Removing the white spacer would only be a last step option to solve this problem in my opinion.
Posted by Chris Chausse on March 19, 2003 at 05:53:44:
In Reply to: Re: Carb white spacer--love it or loose it ? posted by Polar Pilot on March 19, 2003 at 01:45:59:
My bike also seems to run smoother (sometimes) when I pull the choke out 1/2. Although other times it seems fine. I'm a little confused on all the carb adjustments. I'm riding a 2001 with only 385 miles on it so far - I'm gonna wait until my first service and then decide if I want to pull the needle out 1 notch. We'll see I guess.
