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General Category >> The Cafe >> In the mood to make it worse again [ch129322]
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Message started by Daltonjk on 09/23/25 at 16:48:00

Title: In the mood to make it worse again [ch129322]
Post by Daltonjk on 09/23/25 at 16:48:00

Hey guys, long time lurker, 10 year owner.
My savage was a gift from my late father that got it for free after it had been crashed and left for a few years.

I have rebuilt the motor and followed a lot of the guides you guys have made. But I've also done my own *customizations* for fun. Like get rid of the air box and add a jack Daniels bottle for the breather port. My dad loved my stupid mods and always saw it as an expression of myself so I want to continue making it dumber [ch128514]
And it's been this way for a few years but I'm getting that itch, you know the one. This time I want to tackle a bigger project. It's been a while since I saw someone take on the gear ratio project? How's that going?

I want to make it better for me to ride. I'll never get rid of this bike and I'm committed to riding it more but I have a problem of riding harder than it can handle and putting myself into foot peg slides. Other than "stop driving like an idiot" you guys have any recommendations?

I also travel for work and never remember to set up my charger so I end up having to buy a new battery every darn time I want to ride. Has anyone done a battery delete? I saw the lithium battery mods but I want to fully get rid of batteries. Like go kick start and capacitor, has anyone done this on a savage?

Thanks in advance!

Title: Re: In the mood to make it worse again [ch129322]
Post by Dave on 09/23/25 at 17:18:34

How long does your bike sit idle when you travel?

Have you added anything that is energized when you turn the key off? Like a USB charge port, clock or some other powered device?

Trying to eliminate the battery is likely impossible on this bike. I am not sure how you intend to get the bike started without a battery...the electric starter on the bike runs off a battery, and there is no kick starter. Also the decompression controller and ignition system all need power to get things rolling. The ignition system is very sensitive to voltage and doesn't tolerate much of a drop below 12V....or it fails to make a spark.

If you can eliminate any sort of power draw when the key is turned off, a Lithium battery will last a very long time without being charged. My bike sits for 5 months every winter - and the Lithium battery fires the bike up just fine every spring....and has done so each spring for the last 13 years. I have eliminated the decompression controller and decompression solenoid and I have installed a manual one. I suspect the battery will need to be replaced next year...as it does not spin the engine over as fast as it used to.

NOTE: Most bikes that can start and run without a battery have a magneto specifically set up to provide the spark energy - and this magneto circuit is set up independently of the coil for charging a battery or providing lights. The Savage is not set up this way and it would not be easy to modify the system to work that way.

Title: Re: In the mood to make it worse again [ch129322]
Post by Daltonjk on 09/23/25 at 17:26:41

It can sit for up to a year without power. The bike has a history of having a parasitic draw. It's a 97 and I did a lot of the wiring when I was a teenager learning it [ch128556]

I was hoping to build and install a custom kick start. I was thinking a capacitor would be able to replace the battery and run off of the alternator. Now that I'm thinking about it more a better idea might be to grab one of those portable jump packs, and connect it to the capacitor when I'm ready to start the bike.

Title: Re: In the mood to make it worse again [ch129322]
Post by MMRanch on 09/23/25 at 17:47:42

You can add 2 two teeth to the front pully by modifying the Kawasaki EN500
https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/kawasaki/kawasaki_en500_87.htm
https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/kawasaki/kawasaki_en500_94.htm