Hi all,
When I first start my s40 ( 2006, 16,900 miles ), I smell a burning oil smell. It goes away after a minute or two and I don't smell it again till the next day when I start it up.

Is this normal, or a symptom of some impending failure? I don't have any other problems with the bike.

Thanks,
Dave

You mean like an oil leak?
Nothing on the garage floor underneath the bike, but I suppose a drop or two of oil that dripped onto the the pipe could account for the smell.

No,
The exhaust looks normal, no bluish color that I have noticed,
but I am usually sitting on the bike when I start it, so exhaust is not in my line of sight.  I never see it in my mirrors when I am riding,
and don't see it if I get off the bike and let it idle.

I will try starting it up off the bike next time so I can observe the exhaust when it first starts.

There is no visible smoke in the exhaust, even when starting up.  I think I will just ignore the smell and see what happens.

I'm thinking maybe after the bike sits a while, oil seeps past the rings and gets into the combustion chamber. There is not enough seepage to produce the smell during normal operation, and in fact, it must sit overnight before enough seeps to produce the odor.
The oil level seems to stay constant, although its a little hard to tell, since oil indicator is so dependent on how level I hold the bike when looking.