I'd like to take my first post and make it a big "Thank you" to everyone on this forum.  I've been mulling over buying myself a new motorcycle for the past few years and finally took the chance on a used 2005 S40, after lurking as a guest on this forum for the past year or so.  The S40 first really came to my attention after reading about the Ryca CS-1.  A crusier style bike has never been my sort of thing, but so far this one is very comfortable and I'm really digging the big single.

After purchasing the bike and getting it out on the highway, I was noticing a really annoying sound from the final drive, which had me a little concerned that it might be bearings or something.  I had noticed a bit of a squeak while test driving the bike, but wrote it off to the belt drive.  I've owned several bikes over the past 20 years and have borrowed several more, but this is the first time I've ever dealt with a belt drive and wasn't exactly sure what to expect.  After reading several posts about how to solve issues with the belt drive I sat down today and put together a wooden bike lift made out of a couple of 3' long pieces of 2x8, adjusted the belt using the 90° trick, ignored the swingarm marks and centered the rear wheel using a metal yardstick with pencils tightly rubber banded to it (cribbed from someone's great idea of using a bar compass), and beveled the edge of the belt using a small orbital sander.

After taking it out for a spin today, there's no noise at all... and every piece of knowledge to correct the issue came from this site.

I also did the #7 rubber stopper mod to the front seat mount, but I don't know whether or not it's made a difference yet, will have to wait for a less rainy day for that.

Next up is an oil and filter change, and before too long I think I'm going to crack open the side of the engine so I can take a look at the chain tensioner and probably order myself a Verslavy.  I just figured I would check to see what's in there before I put myself on the list.

Anyway, thanks a bunch everyone.

Wheres the other mirror?
How many miles?

Looks good on this side,,

You otta call & ask if the cam chain has been replaced, if not, I wouldnt start it again till I looked in there,, BUt, at 23,000, Id bet its been done,

Always pumped to see a pic of an S40/LS650...l then realize I own the bike and just like how much it looks. Love that 19' front tire.

This site does wonders... I'm with you. The bike comes with this community and that is NEVER factored into the asking price. Yet it saves 100's maybe even more of dollars, and adds for some serious entertainment!

Ride on.

well it looks like you are well on your way. That seems like a lot of miles for an '05. My 2000 only has 9K on the clock, but I baby her. I wouldnt worry about those miles though because you seem like you know what you are doing, and finding this site gets you 90% of the way there.

My verslavy showed up in the mail today, the first thing I noticed (aside from the obvious quality of the mod, of course) was that it's now monogrammed with my initials... nice touch.  The first thing I did was sneak out of work early so that I could head home and put the bike back together.  So far so good.

I still have a little bit of noise that sounds unusual to me, might be valve noise (might be normal, from what I've read), so I'm probably going take a look at that next.

yep, that there is a perty one.
black case really sets it off.