| Author | Message | ||
     Davefl |
Header looks stock to me.. I have one of those D&D's sitting on a shelf, it is a stretch to call it a muffler  | ||
| Cheese |
Thanks Davefl. My hope is the stock muffler will bolt up, sound fine, and that the bike will run fine. Igniting a stock header that gives me hope the prior owners just slapped a loud slip on on the bike and there are not many more intake mods | ||
| Ratbuell |
The photos are small, but I agree with Dave - stock header on there. Biggest thing is going to be your muffler hangars - if you need specs, I think I have a spare tab on a shelf I can measure for you and get you some photos of my install. I have a full-stock exhaust on my S2, and I love the peace and quiet  I have been reading and seen a push in several southern maine towns to curb motorcycle exhaust noise. But...but...I thought loud pipes saved lives??  | ||
| Cheese |
Ratbuell I could not agree with you more. I am a lifetime rider (35 years on a bike, 24 years on the road), and I am a fan of a well muffled bike. I have been primarily riding the same bike (a stock BMW r65) since I was 15. I had a ZRX for about 10 months until someone backed over it. Fun bike, but the exhaust was too loud for my taste (fully Muzzy with K&N pods). I was very happy to find a stock muffle for the S2. When I get the muffler I will take stock in what I have to mount it and will be looking for advice. Thanks, Cheese | ||
| Cheese |
 Here is a close up of the pipes And the safety wire  | ||
| Ratbuell |
Yep that's a stock header. It should polish up nicely for you, if you get the urge Safety wire is likely a reaction to a backed-out / snapped header stud. | ||
| Sportyeric |
The safety wire seems a reaction to not having the stock flange and circlip. I don't see how that allows a seal. There's no lateral pressure to contain the pipe in the port. | ||
| Cheese |
Mounted up the stock exhaust today. Idle decibels went from 96 to 84. Huge improvement. Peak decibels were 96. Big improvement. The next task is going to be some body work. I do not have any experience with this, so I will be seeking some advice. If anyone knows a good fabricator in southern Maine, I am all ears. | ||
| Lynrd |
Find a bodyshop that specializes in Corvettes and/or boats. Fiberglass is easy to work. | ||
| Cheese |
It's been a while, but I started in on this project again today. The front fairing mount is broken at the origin of the left turn signal/fairing bracket. I have the front end all apart, but before I bring the mount to a local fabricator to get repaired, I thought I would ask: Does anyone have a spare fairing mount they would be willing to part with? Are there any other mounts that are similar? The later mounts (s3, etc.) look significantly different. If it is going to take a while to get the fab work done I may ride it naked. Any advice on an easy naked conversion set up? This would be temporary and reversed when the parts are done, Cheers, CAW | ||
| Phelan |
That header is a stock header, but it was made by Supertrapp. This was a rolling change, as either earlier or later (cannot remember which) a marine company, whose name eludes me, made the stock headers, and they did not have the visible welds in the front pipe. I believe Supertrapp took duties later, because my '96 has the same header as yours. Both have the same collector exit and general shape/design. I do wonder though if a header change had something to do with my rear tire rubbing against the tip of the stock muffler. My rear tire is oversize (180 rear on Marchesini wheel, like that when I bought it), but the muffler could actually be from a bike that had a marine header. Who knows. So something for to watch out for when you put the muffler on. | ||
| Ratbuell |
A naked conversion can be done, but not "easy" since (IIRC) the gauges mount to the fairing mount, and the S2 is unique in that it does not use a clamp-style handlebar. All other Buells use gauges that mount to the handlebar clamp. I suppose you could change the whole front end - forks, triple trees, gauges, and light - but that's getting away from the "easy" part. If you were closer to MD, I could loan you a complete M2L front end...I took it off when I converted my L to an X1 front end. Headlight is relatively easy, though - get an X1 or S1 setup: headlight and bucket, and fork mount ears. Clamp the ears to the forks, stick the light between the ears, plug 'er in. | ||
| Cheese |
Phelan, Thanks for the header history. The muffler was very tight to get one secondary to what I believe is an oversized rear tire. I still have to do a little manipulating of the muffler to get it to truly sit well. Ratbuell, thanks for the info. I was thinking something like throwing a round headlight on it, maybe getting a universal gauge cup and putting the speedo/odo in it for temporary duty. I have another bike to ride while the work is done on this one, so it is not a big deal. It would be fun to start riding this one more regularly though. I have plenty of clean up work to do to the Buell, including mounting a catch can, so I may have the parts back before I am ready to ride it. Thanks again, More to come. Caw | ||
| Lynrd |
I am pretty sure the S2 fairing mount is unique to an S2 - at least none of the later models have anything like it - maybe one from a Westwind would fit, but that would be even rarer that the one from an S2. I do have a spare unbroken mount. I am up to my ass in alligators today in the middle of the moonshot, but we can work something out. I probably would take your broked one + cash. | ||
| Cheese |
Lynrd, I se,t you a PM. Thank you for the offer. | ||
| Cheese |
Progress. Welding is done. I just need to prime and paint part of the fairing mount, then start reassembly. | ||
| Cheese |
Wile the lighting is off, I was thinking of upgrading the headlight. I read the earlier posts, but I want a DOT legal lamp. Has anyone put these in? http://www.autobarn.net/helhigperhal.html Easy retrofit? | ||
| Gowindward |
Hella light is a direct plug in/fit. I put one of the Euro versions on my S2. I feel like it helped with lighting. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I use the Hella E-code light in mine. Better (MUCH better) beam spread, don't get flashed by oncoming traffic, and really...nobody's going to pull you over for your headlight. Make sure to get a "left-dip" beam so the tall part of the beam is to the right for road signs, and the low part is towards the oncoming traffic ("right-dip" is opposite). SAE/DOT has some of the worst nanny-code crap for headlight specs, and I take my lighting very seriously since I live in (and commute through) deer country. | ||
| Phelan |
I want one of these for my headlight  . http://bit.ly/RBoU9B | ||
| 1313 |
Truck-Lite. Very interesting... I'm not sure how early they started, but Truck-Lite headlights were used on some RS's and RSS's. Until Truck-Lite destroyed the tooling, that is... 1313 | ||
| Cheese |
I love the truck light. I too am in deer (and moose) country. Is this the e-spec light you describe? http://www.autobarn.net/heleurhal20h.html I didn't see an option for left dip. I am now starting to move through other parts of the bike. The air filter backing plate is dry, brittle, and a little bent. I found this one: http://americansportbike.com/newdir/index.php?app= ecom&ns=prodshow&ref=6184&sid=2sdw84447a7t7c4zmd0v q27ba08h422h Any others I should consider? Currently the bike ha the breather hoses for te heads routed to the drive belt. I have read numerous threads about routing breather hoses. This one does appear to leak a little oily residue as there is a film around the frame and transmission where the tube empties out. I was thinking of just booking the tubes back up to the air filter housing or using this: https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productdetails.a sp?RecID=4703 Any other recommendations? I have some photos to post, but need to resize them. Thanks again for all of the advice. | ||
| Jolly |
I just completely rebuilt an S2, I went with the XB rocker box covers from American Sport Bike, they breath or vent out the top and the kit is supplied with bolts for the heads to locate the carb mount brace and block the breather holes. I also used the catch can from American Sport Bike with the supplied t-fitting and line to capture the oil residue that is vented out the top instead of letting it just drip free somewhere on the bike. as far as your air filter backing plate, the factory ones were a little brittle, the kit from American Sport Bike is a billet backing plate with a very nice CF cover, very well made, worth the cost! | ||
| Cheese |
Cheers Jolly, I am hoping this bike will,be a daily rider when I am done, so I am definitely looking for reliable parts over bling. Nice to know the abs part is not billet for billet sake and is a nice part. I am not going to do the rocker box conversion, unless I run into problems with the stock set up, but the catch can looks nice. Next thing to sort out is the rear brake. Cheers | ||
| Jolly |
Cheese, there are folks that are more tuning inclined than I am and much more adept at what really pulls each HP gain from a Buell and they are well versed in their craft and I trust them... and some folks here may say I'm crazy, may argue the HP merits, and they may actually be right. what I hear in the motor after doing the rocker box conversion is that the motor seems to breath and rev more freely, I've done it to most of my tubers now and each one has responded positively, not measured on a dyno, just by ear and "feel". I really recommend it.... I have a few mandatory mods to each tuber I buy, oil pump drive gear, XB rocker box conversion, catch can, billet front motor mount...ok, I start with those as a known, my actual list is quite extensive.,,,,,, | ||
| Lynrd |
you mispolelled "expensive" | ||
| Jolly |
... that would be sad if it wasn't so funny (and true)...  | ||
| Cheese |
Anybody have some battery tie down advice? My s2 came with a much smaller battery than stock. It is a HD brand battery. The stock battery strap will not work as is. I am considering rubber straps. Any other ideas? | ||
| Ratbuell |
Cut some wood spacers (non conductive if they slip)...or get the right battery. | ||
| Cheese |
Latest issue: dragging rear brake to the point of high heat and smoke. While I appreciate the race look of smoking calipers, I am hoping to have this as a daily rider and this does not bode well for reliability. I've read several threads and I understand that the caliper is not rebuildable. I can push the piston back into the caliper and it appears to move in and out when the bike is stationary. I noticed the problem after a fairly short ride. I bled the brake and was able to manually push the piston back to make it home (once it cooled off). It did not get hot or stick on the way home, and on the work stand the wheel spun easily. I rebled the brake at home and the wheel spun great. I took it for a spin today and it got hot fast (and I was not using it). The disk is not warped. The pads are very worn, and I hope that will be the answer, but I am concerned that it is something more. The piston moves. Plan of attack: New pAds New line, clean piston, etc. Any other words of wisdom? If it comes to it, is there a replacement brake from another bike that works? Are new calipers available? Cheers |
