Compact and Torquey! Surprisingly Fun Savage 650 Drive Belt Replacement and Neutral Lamp Check

「Thank you all for viewing our ads⟧Is the blog alive? Daily gratitude～(*´ω｀*)

There are so many people with multiple bikes.
One such bike! Let’s replace the belt on this rare Savage 650.

The Savage has really poor serviceability overall.

Uncharacteristic of Suzuki with its super tight clearances,
there’s a strong desire to hide the bolts from view.

When you hide bolts from the outside, serviceability is basically at its worst.
I often think, “Is that sleek look really necessary?” …

For a moment I thought “no way!”
but it turns out the chain case is designed to come off easily.
Glad, glad!

Somehow we managed to get the belt off.

It’s nice that the belt is still available.
That said, like the 400, a chain would be fine.

The drive pulley nut and washer are shared with the oil-cooled model.

Remove the existing microcapsule thread locker from the counter shaft and use the liquid type instead.
It’s reassuring to crimp the lock washer in two or more places.

We’ll check the belt tension with a rough tool.

We check the belt tension with a dedicated tool.
It’s pretty rough, so roughly good is fine.

Will I get yelled at for saying that?
Isn’t the bracket that holds this tool way too sloppy??
If this is bent, it defeats the whole purpose, doesn’t it?

Neutral lamp not lighting up.

It would be nice if it was just a blown bulb…
But unfortunately it wasn’t that simple.

In the case of Suzuki, the neutral switch is
typically built into the shift drum.

It’s on either the right or left, but unfortunately it’s on the right.
In other words, you can’t replace it without completely removing the clutch.
To be more precise, you have to remove the muffler and step area, making it a major job.

And the early model switch is discontinued. ←There’s deadstock available on Rakuten though.

The later model switch is still available.
With Suzuki, if it can be used, there’s a high possibility that part numbers will be consolidated, so
the later switch might not work???

The neutral lamp is primitive—it just grounds out.

To check if the lamp or wiring is faulty,
we connect this blue wire to ground and if the neutral lamp lights up,
the wiring is fine.
Unfortunately, it’s the neutral lamp itself.

HONDA M16-P1.5/Flanged Lock Nut/Price 260 yen 90305-ME5-003

This generation uses nylon-type lock nuts.
They don’t last forever, so
replacing them at the right time keeps the suspension looking nice.

That’s it for this temporary visit home.