Thanks for all the responses guys,

The pads are noisy but are not binding and give a different noise so expect that those are normal.

I have not yet measured actual belt force but I can definitely twist the belt to 45deg but not easily so I believe that all may be right with the tension.

It may be normal but my last softail was back in 05 and I can't remember such a noise with that bike and my other bike is the Shovel so no comparing with that.

Cheers, Mark.