verslagen1 wrote on 12/04/08 at 17:00:39:"The clutch plates look normal" so you have the clutch cover off and all the gears are intact, nothing out of place?
Does it feel like it shifting at all?
I would concider removing the external shifter.
But 1st check the front pulley, if the nut isn't torqued down the pulley can work back and forth eventually eating the teeth right off.
Thanks for the responses. Here are the answers: Yes, it is clicking into gear. You can feel the shift from neutral to 1st and to second gear quite distinctly. It feels normal. For reference, I have been repair/restoring big GS suzukis for a while now, and have ridden something by Suzuki for over 30 years. It's the first time I've seen anything like this. I was hoping it was unique to the S40 and someone might have seen it before.
Also, yes, I have the clutch cover off and everything inside there looks very normal.
Another clue: my son added that it bogged down before it 'released' as if something were binding. It was slowing down, he added gas. That helped. He rode like that for a few miles...binding, releasing, binding again. When he got to school it was done.
I'm not thinking this is good.