thank to everyone so far. I'm glad there's a place for info and to ask questions. I have lots of questions. First of all is break-in. Iknow somewhere here there must be a break-in thread ,but the site search came up nil. I tried to folow shift schedule frome the "using the transmission"section of the O.M. today . i.e. upshifting at 12and, 19 25 , and 31 m.p.h.  The vibration was terrible and  I  thought I  was going to wreck the engine . So I decided to shift by ear. I have a "99 ford ranger and wheni shift the bike like I would my truck it seems not to lug . Is this o.k. ? I also got caught in a snow squall today ,( it was supposed to not do that), and the bike was making a squeeling screeching sound. I assumed it was the water on the belt because it didn't make the noise when i drove it home. Any thoughts, thnx.

vargas wrote on 03/22/08 at 22:41:28:


What I do Vargas, is shift at 15, 25, 35, 45, except when I am turning onto a highway, then I shift a little higher.  Purs real nice at these speeds.

  I shift pretty much like the book says,but I'm an old guy. To me you miss that low speed power when you shift at higher speeds.Thats what the s40 is about. Torque .

Welcome.  There is a ton of info and debate here.  There has been a couple threads about shifting; and the answers are all of the speedometer.
I think it is more important to be aware of downshifting.  It's kinda shocking to hit 3rd waaaay to early and it feels like the rear is locking up..which in my case made my rear lock up.