yannow, seafoam would prolly treat that wood better.
just sayin.

That's OK Justin, all input is appreciated.   Sounds like you had a failure of the left hand (rear) normal moving adjuster guide piece during a second life (or was it third life?) after hand bending it strongly to take up the same slop I am taking up by gently single bending and reinforcing the right hand (front) guide.

You bustulated the other one, not the one I am messing wid.

Now, did you have any major damage to the inner gears, etc, or jest a bunch of noise when yours went?  

I'm asking because second (and third) life re-use of the cam chain guides is taking place a lot during these here hard hard recessionary times.

And that left hand large bottom sheet metal guide piece does jest hang out there in space with the cam tensioner spring telling it all the time to go that-a-way and the moving cam chain itself saying go this-a-way and it has a right rough row to hoe by the time it gets to the end of its second or third use life ....





And remember as you go through your various cognitive processes, there is 1/2" hardwood dowel stock, 5/8" hardwood dowel stock and 3/4" hardwood dowel stock all readily available at your local hardware or artsy craftsy store.

I used 1/2" diameter because I had it on hand and I was jest fiddlin' with the idea.  
5/8" would likely be about the ideal size with 3/4 being kinda too big diameter wise but a small flat could be put on each side to keep it properly centered with the guide.  

Length needs to get shorter as dowel diameter goes up -- larger diameters are stronger and less flexible (if that's what you think you want).

I think that the idea is a worthy attempt to solve both the chain stretch problem and the subsequent alteration of cam shaft timing.  As several people have indicated the tension side of the chain will always want to straingten out and will increase the wear on a guide that has been bowed.  How long will it last is, as you said, a matter of experimentation.

Long long ago when I was a kid I had a primary drive chain tensioner on a British twin wear through what appeared to be a neoprene wear surface and into the heavy cast tensioner.  I managed to get a peice of solid industrial grade nylon and I heated up the cast tensioner guide and melted it into the nylon.  It stayed put and I shaped the nylon down to the correct contour and the tensioner worked like a charm.  The heavy chain slid over that nylon like nothing was there and neither the chain links or the nylon showed any wear.

I got the title for my S40 today but because of the snow the bike hasn't been delivered yet, it might be a month before I see it again.  I am anxious to get my hands on some of these parts you guys talk about.  That chain looks adequate for the job and so it seems to stretch prematurely but I like to get my hands on things before making any judgements.

I would guess that the Suzuki designers didn't do a better job on the tensioner because they expected the chain to be replaced by the time it stretched enough that it changed the valve timing.  Thing is, it should last longer but I love these techniques you guys are perfecting to keep these machines running without spending a fortune on maintenance.  I look forward to getting involved in the effort and until then I enjoy reading about everyone's efforts and thoughts.