Miles has never been a good way to judge things - but without an hour meter it's about all there is, other than the oil color - for instance my commute is 54 miles round trip - on a bad day this can mean a total of 3 hours running the bike in stop and go traffic on the good traffic days it's less than half of that time - toss in the summer heat pushing a 100f compared to now when it's 50 something in morning and 70 something in the afternoon,that's some pretty wide margins as to what the 54 miles means to engine wear and oil changes - so I change the oil when starts to look pretty dark (M1 V-Twin20/50 summer, M1 10/40 cycle oil winter) regardless of miles - the '95 has ~25k on it with the original chain and tensioner and have pretty much stopped running it until I can install a new harden chain and check-stop tensioner - not because it has broken I just don't want it to, flat runs too well to let it go into distruct mode.

Ha!  It looks like a stirred the pot with a hand granade!  Ive been gone for 2 weeks playing pool, not too successfully, but still had a good time. Not as good as time as if I had been on my bike tho! Been home 2 days and Im off again, this time, on my bike. Its not too far, maybe 150 miles, but tommorrow night when Im traveling, its supposed to be down to a low of maybe 25 degrees thru the mt range. Im more concerned about me breaking in pieces from the cold than my cam chain. Roads are clear tho, lucky me!
Well, I still dont know what to say, working on 33,000 miles now, and still not one problem. The drawback? I have nothing to do this winter as far as work goes on my bike, other than Greggg changing the cam chain. He said  that when I came over to have it replaced, all I did was sit in the lawn chair. Julie told  me that in that garage, only two things were of real importance to her. Her own bike and that lawn chair. So I did my job, and I did it well!
Ps, to the guy who said I was bull gregging about my rear brake pads after 32,000 miles, Greggg checked them and said they were still only half worn. I never use the front brake so I dont know why they needed replacing after 15,000 miles.
Good job on your bike greggg! One of the cleanest lookin savages in here!

stinger wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:10:

Stinger, learn to use the front brake. Could save yo ss some day! The rear brake is ONLY there to keep the rear of the bike from overtaking the front under braking. That's why all bikes (and vehicles) have larger front (or dual) than rear brakes. Did you ever notice that????

Take into consideration that most people hit this forum because they are having PROBLEMS with something on the bike.  It would therefore stand to reason that when you look at the posts, it seems like cam chain / tensioner is an issue based on number of posts.

It is an issue, but possibly not as BIG an issue overall (every single LS650 ever made).  Fact is though, it is enough of an issue to enough people right now that a better cam chain was proposed, and tensioner checks are recommended more often than the manual says.

If you have any questions about that handy dandy owners manual maintenance check chart, look at it once, then toss it over your shoulder. My front brakes (stock) were totally gone 1K before I was even supposed to INSPECT them, let alone replace. The same has happened little by little on other items on my stock 2006 model.

With that in mind I purchased the revised cam chain (hey, I paid for that and have yet to see it - ship date anyone?)
and plan to get the tension thingy from verslagen next.

Do I need them right now? No, but based on the feedback from here, I will. It seems I ride a bit harder than Stinger, so I would like to be prepared thank you very much!

Ride safe Stinger.  

skatnbnc wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:10:


Hey Stinker, check it out.  Seems that your image has been updated

stinger wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:10:

So, the only time that you post is when everyone else has gone to sleep? 2 AM PST to 5 AM EST?

Damm, you spelled my name right finally.  Thanks.  You must finally hate me now.

Oh, trust me, even without an actual photograph you definitely do have an image.  Not just in your own mind, but in everyone else's too

I thought that we were digging around in your oil with a magnet because you wanted to pour that used stuff in the oil pan back in your engine...oops, did I say that?

You forgot to mention that you offered to buy my rear belt because yours almost looks like Swiss cheese from all the rocks you've gotten in your belt drive.  My guess is that all the WD40 not only prevents squealing but also keeps that rubber nice and supple too

Oh, back to the image thing, how do you save people money when their tensioner has fallen apart?  I think that you're just frustrated because you can't explain your good luck, nor disprove the obvious facts that everyone has shown you.  And you know that your time is coming 8)

stinger wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:10:

That's fine.  I'll just sell my belt on eBay since you don't need it.

Your rant is not entirely true there, Stinky.  You're not relaying all of my voice mail message, are ya?

I'm staying in the garage, on a week day, because I have work to do!  You might remember that I worked on your bike on a week day as well.  The concept is called "work week" and it wouldn't matter if my bike ran or not.

It's good that you don't have to babysit today, though.  Ride safe