I have finished my evaluation of the DR650 camshaft.  I have learned a few things in the process.  For instance, you must use the rocker arms to establish the correct timing events.  The rocker ratio changes as the rocker arm swings through it's arc.  The ratio increases as the cam lobe moves the valve to towards the max open position.  Geometry, should have paid more attention to that class.  

Here is a picture of what does not work:

So I bit the bullet and pulled off the head cover.  Now I could check the valve timing with the rocker arms included in the mix.  Here is a shot of a good setup.  Note that the dial indicator is now contacting the valve adjuster tip on the rocker arm.  The indicator is angled to the exact angle of the rocker adjuster.  It was easy to setup and the numbers were repeatable and very accurate.

I am confident that these timing numbers are within +/- 1 degree and +/- .001".  They are more precise than the numbers I collected on the stock cam (see prior post "cams stage1 vs stage 2 vs stage 3") because I didn't have to fight with the valve springs and alternator auto rotating the engine.

Comparing the DR 650 cam @ .050" lift points to the stock LS650 cam @ .050" lift points  yields the following:

The DR cam opens the intake valve 30 degrees earlier.  This has to promote a much better cylinder fill.  Intake noise and blowback at low speed will probably increase but it should be negligible.

The DR cam closes the intake valve 8 degrees sooner.  This should bump up effective compression ratio and may make the engine a bit more prone to detonation.  This cam is less desirable for increased compression ratios and increased displacement since increasing displacement generally increases compression ratio unless you enlarge the combustion chamber volume.

The DR cam opens the exhaust valve 12 degrees earlier.  This has to promote better blowdown, but the exhaust noise will probably increase a bit.

The DR cam closes the exhaust valve 12 degrees later.  This should improve cylinder evacuation at higher speeds.

The DR cam has 14 degrees of valve overlap (stock has zero).  This will promote better cylinder evacuation and fill due to the inertia of the gases.

The DR cam has .030" - .032" more lift.  I assume this is not a problem with spring coil bind since the DR uses the same springs as the LS and several members of the forum have reported that they are running the DR cam with the stock LS valve springs.  The additional lift should get the gases in & out a little quicker.

Here is a pic of the DR cam without oil holes.

BTW, regarding the indicator setups that don't work.  I was taking readings directly off the cam lobes, and then multiplying those values by 1.38 to get values equivalent to movement at the valve.  Since the rocker ratios are a moving target (constantly changing as the cam lifts the rocker) it just won't work.  Also, max lifts calculated using cam BC vs lobe height do not agree with the numbers gathered with a dial indicator.  Obviously, the indicator measures what is actually going on, so if you want actual lift at the lobe, use a dial indicator.  Maybe Stephen Hawkings could have figured it out but it was way past my limited grasp of mathematics.  Direct readings off the valve or rocker arm are the only way to go.

That was an excellent  report Mike.

I'm sure I can speak for most of us. Many thanks.

DBM , Another  job well done ! but I don't think the valve lift has as much to do with the increase in hp and torque ,as the fact that the DR cam has overlap and the stock cam doesn't, and their duration is longer. You stated that because of the increased lift the flow in and out is faster , that maybe true as the valves first open ,and the compression is higher,  but the velocity may also fall off faster as the valves open farther and the passages in the Savage head are still of poor design.

I had a first ride with the DR cam combined with a well tuned VM36 w. UFO yesterday. A complete blast to ride, lots and lots of torque. Then I noticed some oil bursting out from between my legs, the intake valve inspection cover had came loose and both bolts were just barely on their threads. Friend brought me some oil with his Triumph Scrambler and off we go. On our ride back I noticed that both bikes have quite similar performance on a straight line, but the Savage feels like it is trying to tear my arms off