I.ve done a search all over the web but found nothing really . what I need to know can I cut out part of the spring on the rear shocks to lower the back of the savage. I was thinking of lowering it about 1.5 to 1.75 inches from stock.   Thanks

you really dont want to cut spring steel.  While you cut it, you typically heat up the steel and mess up its force per distance travel rating.  You could prolly get a cheap set off of ebay to mess with, though.

V

verslagen1 wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:11:

...or wrap it with a wet towel. Cutting coils is a common way to lower a bike. Beware - the springs will become stiffer - you may end up with a very stiff ride.

never seen that one...

Okay, here's a pic of my hardtail savage:



It's undegone some more change since then.  I made the struts out of 1" rebar, 10.25" long, center to center, ~14mm (0.552" or so) holes, no rubber gromets.  Welded and heat treated the bushing on there with a TIG (bob at the machine shop did that for me).  I chose the length b/c that was how the stock shocks were when I sat on it and I did not want to change the steering geometry.  In retrospect, I may have gone to maybe 9.5".  The bushing are made from 1" OD cold rolled steel.  I THINK they are 18mm or so wide.





Advantages:  more power to the ground.  Looks cool, is cool.  Puts hair on your chest.  Very fun to ride.  It is NOT the same bike at all anymore.

Disadvantages with STRUTS: no two up, can bend frame.  can bend frame anyway.  money leaves your pocket and goes into your chiropractor's (actually, not too bad yet).  Very hard on this cheap bike.

Now, there's the proper way to hard tail a savage:



with a different fender, it would be possible to take a pass.

don't do much hiway riding on my savage anymore, got a V* 1100 for that.  BUT!  I will say that rough highway on the savage eats the middle of my back for lunch.  It's not so much yr butt as it is yr back that will end up hurting.  I would not want to hit a large pothole at 70 mph.  I've hit a couple of good bumps at some large speed and ended up on the gas tank a couple of times.

Frame bending... take a look at the upper left side shock mount.  See how far out it sticks (to get around the belt drive)?  That is the most likely failure point.


you may also do a search on this site for "progressive" shocks.  A lot of folks get longer ones, but I believe they also make 9.5" ones.  Once you do the search, you will have all the info you need to get right shocks from progressive, if you want shocks.  Progressive doesn't make anything specifically for the savage, but there isat least one model that will fit.

V

I'm not too sure about that... Does the stock tire fit between the rear part of the frame where the rear fender attaches?  If not, I don't think I could have used anything less than 9" center to center, maybe 8", judging by the first pic I posted.

Also, in this next pic, you can see the weak point on the frame:



this pic is misleading in the amount of space between the tire and the frame because of the angle.

Thanks for the info Vroom1776....  Where I live the roads are in a horrible state.. I have also hit a bump and it sent me flying, but I was lucky and landed on the seat again and managed to hold balance.  I don't think I will take that chance.. to go hardtail. I don't want to lower my driving speed. or risk to be thrown overboard. .. I'll  just follow your advice and get some progressive.. and maybe get me some cheap struts to try... or if I have the possibility to try another bike with a hardtail...    
But it just looks so xxxxxxx cool.

Bugscraper wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:12:


unfortuantely, no.  I got onto bert's froum about a month before it crashed (or whatever happened to it).  Were tehy struts or was a whole new tail section made and welded on?

Just curious

V