The first story about the tight valves- total BS.  If You have tight intake valves the first symptom is that You lose the idle and the bike is a pregnant dog to start when cold, but it runs pretty good at high RPMs. The mixture is lean, not rich , caused by not enough "suction" and by "blow back in the intake "
About the HD exhaust- I don't want to argue, but again the story about the high temp caused by a restrictive exhaust sounds like an absolute BS. If the exhaust is restictive, the mixture will be richer and the temp. will be lower.
From a different point, You have a Savage 400, so Your exhaust should be more restrictive than LS650's. If nobody here had a case of rich running, You should not have a problem there. I am inclined to think that You have a carb. issue, but it is very hard to diagnose by e-mail. If You think the muffler is too restrictive, you can debaffle it and see what happens.

georgekathe;

I am sealing the muffler and the pipe with a clamp, car-like I think, and I there was some kind of aluminum-based mix that he used there. I will double check.  

Slavy,

I  do not fully the logic about restrictive muffler and the hot valves; everyone claims that if the muffler restricts, there would be less air coming out of the engine, and therefore, less air coming in with the fuel mix; so the mix would be richer, hence cooler. ???

Isn't the suction created whe the piston goes down independent from the amount of air coming out of the header when the piston is exhausting the gases? What's the relationship between the air coming out and the air coming in? I have laways thought they were independent from each other.   ???

I could understand a richer/poorer mix being affected by a more/less restrictive airbox, as more air is let into the carb with every piston suction stage, but I do not fully understand the relationship between my intake and my exhaust, specially considering the explosion expands the gases in the chamber.  ???

Greg,

I think my first mistake was not to replace all the head components at once 6 months ago. We just repaired some and changed others. Also, I could not find valves for my engine at that time, but this time they were available.

I do not winterize the bike; I ride all year round. Come hail or high water, I'm  out there. Only snow, or ice on the road, which we do not get here, would prevent me from hoping on.  8)

You are right, I'm happy and broke, but I am riding again  

Take care,

RW

Hi pals,

Here is the (bad) news:

- The bike is not running well. It smokes blue (a lot) when starting cold in the morning, and also puffs blue when I twist the throttle at the traffic light. A slight amount of black smoke comes out when idling.

- Idle is not stable, specially when coasting to stop. It wants to die, and sometimes it comes back; other times is dies. When the start button is pressed, it comes alive again without problems.

- My mechanic says it is possible the new (6-month old) piston rings may be burned, as a result of the high temperature and compression the new valves created (for only 1 day of running, very calmly and for a short 20 km ride, at moderate speeds, not above 80 kmph). He wants to take the engine out of the frame, pull the head and piston and check what happened. Then, he suggests I may need to buy new piston rings, and hope the cylinder does not need any machining, or a sleeve.

- He says the blue smoke is not related to carburation problems, but the black smoke is, and I agree with him in this part. He said he would pull the spark plug out and see its condition.

- He also claims that if I keep running like this, I may also burn the (brand new) valves again, and then, I may be looking at a complete engine rebuild (new piston, piston rings, new valves and complete top end repair, plus gaskets and seals, and maybe a machined cylinder).

Comments, suggestions and ideas welcome.

Thanks,

RW

blue smoke usually means - burning oil. Just smell the smoke. If there is a burning oil You will smell it.
I still think that You have a carb issue and I agree with velslagen1-at least CHECK with different mechanic.

The only good thing is that I have still not paid him for his labor, and he will not charge me any labor for this second change of parts.

Still, I am grounded for at least two weeks.

Ride safe,

RW