Cush is short for cushioned drive, the "differential" if you will on shaft drive bikes. They work fine unless you have a leaker, when they run out of oil they tend to lock up. My 51 BMW locked its drive up at 50 mph, shaft broke, drive unit shattered, rear of transmission explode, which tore the frame in half. Not much a concern with newer bikes, much better metallurgy.

Lisa's bike runs a couple ounces of white lithium marine grade grease along with the gear oil. Much smoother, but not great for seals. Since her's has leaked since day one it shouldn't be a problem.

LA, some here over the years have thought I'm kinda strange, my first motorcycle was a 1936 HD Knucklehead chopper with apes and a foot clutch handshift (stock). And I always build my bikes for max performance, I had a 45 cubic inch (750cc) flathead Indian (Scout) that could just touch mid-90s mph. My Scout Jr (30.50 cubic inches)  could just touch 60 mph.

My Savage isn't THAT modded, high bars, cut down seat, taller shocks, thicker fork oil. The rest is just cosmetic (fender, gas tank, exhaust) or mild hop-up stuff (airbox mods, exhaust mods, rejetted, full tire pressure). Haven't touched the frame yet.  

PerrydaSavage wrote on 04/23/11 at 01:28:48:

don't you have a battery tender ?  Once you get out on that ninja you think you have died and gone to heaven.Expect great things.

Hope no one thinks that I am hijacking this Topic ... but have resolved the battery issues with my '07 EX250-H and have been out for a few scoots the past few weeks when the cold, wet Spring we're having relinquishes for the occassional hour or so! Yes mick my friend, I do have a Tender, but the batt that came with the Bike was toast ... and the brandy-new replacement was a dud also! ... brought that back, got another and Bike fired right up ... after I cleaned the plugs that had fouled from the previous attempts at starting! LOL!! Anyhoo, the wee pre-gen Ninjette is a fun Ride ... but my wrists, elbows and lower back are telling me that I may have to go back to another LS650 eventually ...
WD ... it sure is great to see you back on the Forms again pal! I think of you every time I wear my "Bent Bike" t-shirt! How're things since you moved from the Left Coast?

Back on topic ... the VS800/S50/Intruder could be a great Bike if only it did not have some of those "design quirks" that were engineered (and I use that word loosely) into it ... and if it had a more Sportster-like character similar to the LS650 ...