| Author | Message | ||
     Muskrat |
Hello everyone, I am new to this forum! (Hope it is still fairly alive?? otherwise please let me know...) I currently ride a XL1200S and am very tempted to switch to a nice yellow 2001 M2 Cyclone in good condition with 10000 miles. I am seeking some advice here to help me decide as it is not an easy choice. I'll be very happy to hear about your experience on frame Buells, how they are compared to Sportsters, and any important topic I would miss. My riding: * 80% commuting to work on a very short trip. I love commuting on the bike. Also I have to, as wife is using our only car; it is really only when it snows that I don't ride. * Occasionally, 1 hour driving in the countryside. * Once in a year or 2, 2000 miles trip. Why a Buell / frame / M2? * Buells look great; and within Buells, the M2 is the one I love! * I have a lot of respect and interest for E. Buell thinking way, what he achieved with those bikes. * ergonomics: if I'm correct M2 is the less racing, most basic rider position in the range, therefore the one that fits most my needs * engine: same as for ergonomics: it is more tuned for middle range than maximum power, which fits my needs. Also, considering the very sad end of the brand, I appreciate the high interchangeability of engine parts with HD standard XL's, which is less the case for later models. * why not an XB? because of the fear not to find parts... Also because I like narrow bikes. Even if the XB looks fantastic, I was very disappointed by its width around the knees, it felt like sitting on a 4 in line... * As a summary i would say I'd love a basic, good looking, mildly tuned bike with a similar engine as my current ride and 50kg less (not that the xl is hard to drive, it's very good - but I am sure 50kg less in a Buell chassis would feel great both in city and countryside). now, the con's: * I love my Sportster, very much. With a bit more space and cash I would definitely have both. But in current condition it would have to go to make some space for the Buell * price: I see very attractive prices in US... That's not the case here in Europe where they trade for twice more. Still cheaper than a Sportster but... * My XL is an "S", 100th anniversary, it will hardly loose any value, whereas Buells prices are dropping very quick. * Would that bike fit my everyday riding needs in a similar way as the xl? Should I be worried about missing basic parts (brake pads....?) It's pretty all I had to say, thank you for your time and for your comments in advance. Take care! Muskrat | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Johan, The M2 excels in all areas you mention. I have taken my M2 on many trips of 2000+ miles. I have done 800+ miles in a day multiple times. Long days but totally doable. It also served as my commuter bike for many 10's of thousands of miles. As far as parts, no worries. As you mentioned most of the motor parts are interchangeable with the Sportster. The other items like brake pads and such have a robust aftermarket so no issues there. I quite anxious to get mine back up and running. I killed the crank in my 2000 at around 48,000 miles. It was my fault, the oil filter backed off and I didn't catch it in time. I've replaced the crank and just need to get it the rest of the way. I'm quite certain I will have to make a choice each day as to take the Uly or the M2. I can almost guarantee if you get a chance to ride it you will take it home. It will have a very noticeable increase in HP and torque over your XL. It is a grin machine. You can throw on a tank back and soft saddle bags if you need the room, a tail bag is also an option. I ride mine with a tank bag all them time. I use a backpack for the laptop and such. The M2 is basically the Swiss Army knife of the old tubers. My vote? Go for it! How much are they asking? Brad | ||
| Oberon |
You choice is a right way! | ||
| Muskrat |
Thank you for the very valuable feedback. Around here it goes for 4000E or 5200$  Below this price range there are only very poor condition bikes. Now I believe I am not worried to get the Buell, I am worried to loose the Sport. Because it is this version (S), it's good and rare, plus 100th anniversary special... | ||
| Andersonhdj |
Did you actually ride the XB? There are enough aftermarket suppliers to keep it going so spares are not really an issue. Cept if you're in the sticks like me and even then..!! | ||
| Reepicheep |
It's a shame they are so pricey there. Here in the US you could pick up pretty nice M2's all day long for $3000 USD. I'd say the M2 is the best Sportster ever built... Lighter, more powerful, better handling, better brakes, more comfortable, better 2 up, etc. I don't think parts will be a problem for a long time. Most of the wear parts will cross over from a sportster (motor parts) or other bikes (bearings, levers, etc). | ||
| Muskrat |
Thanks everyone. Looks like I need to try it a least. It may take a bit of time as I am busy with family right now (not to mention I should also hide my growing envy for a new toy!) but I'll definitely keep you informed. Yes Buells are expensive here. But sportsters also, you won't find any evo below 5000E (6500$), even an early 90's 883. Muskrat | ||
| Kilroy |
I have been riding for 34 years. I have ridden and owned everything imaginable. I usually got a new bike every 3 years or so. I bought my M2 new back in 1999, and it has been my only bike ever since. Still don't see anything out there I would rather have. I might one day get a second bike, but I doubt I will ever sell the ol'M2. | ||
| Muskrat |
-> Kilroy Wow, you could hardly think of a better advertisement for the bike! Guys, I'll try to see this one as soon as possible. Can I ask you to help me with a check list? As a Sportster owner I'll be used to check the usual flaws of the engine (gaskets leaking, noises) but I'll appreciate your help for Buell specific topics. Thank you in advance | ||
| Muskrat |
Hello all, I just bought the M2. In a few days it will be home. | ||
| Kilroy |
congrats - i think you made the right choice | ||
| Muskrat |
Thanks. I hope it will be so much fun to ride that parting with the sportster will be easy. | ||
| Reepicheep |
There is no such thing as a bad bike these days, and the Sportster is a fine Harley. The M2 can do so much more and do so much better though. | ||
| Muskrat |
Reepicheep, I found this old post from you about the M2: 1) Run belt scary loose. 2) Rejet pilot and get access to air fuel mix screw. 3) Replace stock paper rocker box gaskets with metal (perhaps done already). 4) Update front exhaust hanger. -> is that the correct part?  5) Put a voltage spike filter on the speedo sensor. 6) Replace primary tensioner with new updated unit. ->I believe 2001 M2 already has the upgraded part, isn'it? Should I check anyway? (10000 miles) 7) Replace bow shifter with new updated unit, or some nice American Sport Bike parts.}  -> this is what I have on my bike and I believe it is the "new updated unit", isn'it? Nevertheless I find it very hard to put in neutral compared to sportster with mid controls. Is there anything to do about it? Thank you in advance | ||
| Reepicheep |
Exactly! That is the new hanger, and that is the updated shifter. I think the new shifter was stock in 01, but not in 2000 (my year). Also, since that post, there was a real fix to the speedo sensor issue, so if your speedo is working now you probably don't need to mess with it (some bikes eat them, some don't). For better shifting, use a good synthetic primary lube (the Harley full syn primary stuff replacement for the sport trans is very good, I think it is called formula plus). Also make sure the belt is loose, the primary is on the loose side of "by the book", and the clutch is adjusted by the book. All those help shifting, but it's still a little "stone age" on a tuber. You can also pop off the primary cover, take out the clutch/stator/primary chain as a unit, and make sure the shifter pawl is really dialed in well, but that is probably overkill unless you are in there for some other reason (like a leaky crank seal, which you will probably get soon enough anyway  ). Same with the gaskets, at this age, they have probably already been sorted. I think 01 did also have the new tensioner, but it might have been half way through 2001. Maybe somebody else remembers... I don't know any way to check besides taking off the primary cover. | ||
| Muskrat |
Thank you very much. I'm sure I'll be back with questions. | ||
| Muskrat |
I just brought the '01 M2 back tonight. What a machine! It is much more different than I had imagined. I thought I would get some kind of Sportster in a Ducatish frame, actually I feel it's 90% Ducati / 10% sportster (10% for the very low end grunt). And it is yellow like some Ducatis. Not that I like or know Ducati, I just tried a 900SSie once, found it amazing, beautiful, very sporty, noisy (clutch), and lacking power below 4500rpm. Absolute good value but not what I needed for my daily commuting. My first first impression is... I'll take it easy - this bike capability exceeds by far my driving skills and probably it'll stay so. I could more or less use the sporty to the maximum of its capabilities when they are usable (which means straight and dry...) but that's definitely not the case with the M2. When the sporty is a rail on straight and a (nice) wobbling machine in turns, the M2 is just a rail whatever angle it is tilted to. I'm definitely not a skilled rider but that's very impressive. So I'll go step by step and try to learn it. I drove 60miles home on a nice road tonight but barely exceeded 3000rpm... (Excepted when I caught a fake neutral between 4th and 5th) The engine was very surprising for me. I cannot imagine how having the same structure and almost same parts as my '03 1200S it can behave so nicely. Not only from the lack of vibration from 2500rpm, the speedy revving, the just OK sound (V&H on the M2, cycle shacks on the sporty), but because my biggest fear was to have something being less powerful than my sporty until 4000rpm and much more above, while I nearly never go to such rpm. Actually I find it even more torquey at low rpms than the sporty, I don't know why as it is not supposed to be so - maybe because I have a bad reversion on the sporty around 2500rpm, maybe because the engine is just breathing so much more that the sportier cams do not penalize much low rpms (in Europe we have SE cams in the M2), or maybe because it's just much lighter. So far the only thing I dislike is the shift feel = there is no shift feel at all. Just push or pull and hope that the information was transmitted til the tranny. Same feel as when I tried a sportster with forward controls. That will count as an excuse for finding the neutral between 4th and 5th... Gears which I found were not of much use as well, 1 2 3 are enough in most occasions (In EU we also have small rear sprocket... Some people change it to the US style but I won't, I found it comfortable to cruise at 3000rpm / 75mph on the highway. Is there anything that can be done about shift feel, such as lubrication or changing the angle of the connecting links...? Also I noticed the famous creamy winter mix of oil and moisture spitting out from the breather hose (on my previously immaculate shock ) but checking in the tank oil was perfect colour and fresh, so I believe that could be down to some condensation in engine (heads?) that just went out and I shouldn't worry about it (should I?) Apart from that the bike is in excellent condition - I am bad at taking care of bikes as I use them everyday so can't bother cleaning a lot, but the PO was definitely having a lot of care and aversion for rain / snow/ salt. Looks basically new. By the way the PO was also a very, very nice guy. Nice bikes come from nice guys it seems. Ok I'm happy now, I just feel sad to be unfaithful to the sporty which I will definitely have to part with. There is the space concern, but moreover those are so different bikes that I don't consider myself able to drive seriously and safely both of them (brakes, ergonomy,...) I don't want to have this strange feeling of riding a new bike every time I swap. Final point is that I realized just yesterday night that as a resident of Belgium, I am just 60 miles away from the famous Twin Motorcycle shop in Netherlands (the one that designed a brand new shock for tubers and stocks any possible Buell part). Wandered a bit on their website yesterday, they have special sale price on their last remaining black & yellow M2 seat... I guess I'm probably their only potential customer till I part from this bike which is not likely to happen. Sometimes life is beautiful. Thank you for the good advices received on this site and thank you in advance for all the help I'll receive from now on... I have difficulty to calm down right now but I'm sure I'll come back soon with many questions such as .... Should I be scared to death about oil pump drive gear failure? Inspect and replace immediately? That will be for another day, now I'm just stuck with a big smile on my face and can't sleep.   | ||
| Buell_lee |
Congratulations Muskrat it looks like a great M2 I'm sure you will be very happy with it. I have 2 Cyclones both gear boxes seem a lot better after I switched to synthetic oil (I use Motul)hope this helps. | ||
| Reepicheep |
M2's are lovely bikes, aren't they? They really let that Evo motor shine. An M2 will make more power everywhere relative to a sporty. The sportster intake and exhaust is designed based on styling concerns first. The M2 intake and exhaust are designed with performance concerns first. Looks like you got a nice carbon fiber air filter assembly as well, a nice upgrade over the stock airbox. If the spitting is from the transmission vent, then it is probably a bad crank seal. Shame on the seller for not disclosing the issue, but not a big deal at the end of the day as it let you pry a nice bike out of his hands and get it in your garage. We can give you great tips to fix it, with or without special tools. If the spitting is from the crankcase vents, then you may just need to add a catch can, or route the vents back into the intake. | ||
| Muskrat |
Thanks Buell_lee I'll try synthetic oil in the tranny at next change. In the meantime I checked the linkage arms today, it looked very dry, I'll put grease to see if it gets better. Reepicheep thanks as well, the spitting is from crankcase vents. Couldn't see the need for a catch can but then yes obviously I realized it could go straight to the rear tire. | ||
| Muskrat |
Rode both today. Best of both worlds. They are both great, great machines. I couldn't get this feeling like "it's definitely this one I keep". I must find a way to keep both. Actually after having ridden the M2 for an hour or so, when I was back on the Sporty I rode it faster and with more rev than usual and found that is was also a great machine in the fields of power and handling. Just a very different style, far less crisp, but I felt very safe to ride it fast in curves as well.  | ||
| Kilroy |
Don't forget your sporty weighs at least 200 lb more than the M2. That alone makes for a significant performance improvement. Add in the more powerful engine, frame and chassis design and the differences become obvious. |
