I had a 96 Tenere 660 which was mercilessly hammered all its life.

The chain broke one miserable evening in the far north of SA at an indicated 130km/h. It broke the left side of the carrier, the chainguard and ripped the helmet holder off, then bunched up in front of the countershaft sprocket, which stopped the engine dead in an instant from about 5000rpm.

It survived with a tiny oil weep from the cases which wasn't worth fixing.. Nothing else. Made in Japan? Good quality and quality control? Who knows.

Than again, I had a Husky TE610E which broke a gear dog for reasons unknown, apart from the fact that my dealer said there were some issues with quality control, which in essence meant that there was only one dog carrying all the load, and they then fail.

I agree that in hebbo's instance the impact certainly didn't help, but I do think changing the stopper lever might be good insurance... But if it's the same issue as the Husky one, it won't do a damn thing. Hmm.

I hope hebbo's bike gets sorted fast and he's on his way soon. All the best, mate.