| Author | Message | ||
     Sbaugz |
A little about me. I am 44 years old. Live near Milwaukee. Always had a fascination with Buells growing up, and I always wanted one. Maybe it was the unique looks, maybe it was the exclusivity, or maybe it was because I have always lived no more than 30 miles from the factory. So, after 25 years and dozens of motorcycles owned, I finally Picked up this 1999 S3 with factory touring package last week. Here's A little history on the bike, according to previous owner. I am supposedly the third owner. The guy whom I purchased from claims that the original owner was one of the Hyatt's (as in, hotel people). He evidently spent some time in Sheboygan, Wisconsin because one of his kids was dating one of the Kohler kids (as in, faucet and toilet people). They had this bike for cruising around while visiting but it really never got used. They only put about 2500 miles on bike between 1999-2007. The second owner (the guy whom I purchased from), picked it up in 2007 with around 2500 miles on it. It still had original tires. He then proceeded to put about 600 miles on it over the past decade. The past five years it basically sat in the garage. He hauled it out to sell because his wife made him. He took it to Retro Speed and had the oil changed, new battery, etc. I purchased it last week. Things I have done/ discovered: 1) original Dunlop tires were rotten. Picked up some Metzeler Z6's and had them mounted yesterday 2) discovered the exhaust was a borla with missing front mount and no upgraded exhaust mount kit installed. 3) I dropped the bike while changing front tire (due to carelessness), and subsequently broke throttle tube and bent the handlebars 4) I ordered NOS tall handlebars, Buell exhaust upgrade kit, and found a used throttle tube at a local salvage yard. 5) I decided to pick up a stock, near mint condition muffler from David Uden on ebay for $260. Things I need to do/ plan on doing: 1) install the parts mentioned above 2) change brake fluids 3) ride the bike! What are your thoughts on this Borla exhaust? Keep it? Sell it? If I sell it, what would it go for? And because we all like pics- here are a couple. Notice the Buell does not have any handlebars. I removed them last night in preparation for the new ones. The buell looks good next to my XR1200. In the background is my 2000 Kawasaki ZRX1100 and my Suzuki T500 cafe racer that i built a few years ago.   | ||
| Pontlee77 |
My zs3 has a moto guzzi handle bar I think is a bit taller but it feels fine, I bought it like that. | ||
| Frs1 |
Hi, Great combo : S3 + XR1200 ! I'm currently the owner of a Buell S1 WL and I had an XR1200 same as yours, great bike and nice souvenirs except when it got stolen ! I really like the color of your S3 and it looks to be in great original conditions ! What kind of exhaust did you get ? just curious... Cheers, Richard | ||
| Sbaugz |
I just ordered a stock S3 take-off exhaust from a guy on ebay. It looks to be brand new condition. I considered going with supertrapp but ultimately decided that I wanted to have a completely stock S3. If you are referring to the XR1200, that exhaust is a Tsukigi out of Japan. Its a stainless steel work of art! | ||
| Ebutch |
Keep Borla S3 runs way better and sounds better ! Hook up rear Borla directly to z bracket throw a middle piece home made piece.Borla should be horisontale under engine .new wishbone in front you need race shoe.Then get race ignition to make that eng pure!!!  | ||
| Sbaugz |
I may end up keeping Borla as a backup. I already ordered the stock silencer this morning, and I will probably run it with stock exhaust for a while. My other three bikes pictured above are all pretty loud so I actually want this Buell to be pretty quiet. Half the time I don't ride my bikes to work because I am worried about pissing the neighbors off at 7am. Also- With this bike being nearly 20 years old, only having 3200 miles on it, and it basically looking brand new- I wanted a stock setup to have for future value. (Message edited by sbaugz on July 07, 2017) | ||
| Ebutch |
Borla is deep mellow sound not loud.Stock muffler very quiet power Robber and Ugly !  (Message edited by ebutch on July 07, 2017) | ||
| Sbaugz |
I won't argue that one with you but I have my reasons for going back to stock. | ||
| Upthemaiden |
Quiet bikes are nice for good neighbor relations. I want to pick up a stock exhaust for my S1 eventually. Nice looking bike collection, I've always loved the ZRX1100/1200s. Other things to look into... 1. Upgraded oil pump drive gear 2. Upgraded primary chain tensioner 3. Replace church spring plate with 3 normal clutch plates Those are the three usual things known to cause potential problems. (Message edited by upthemaiden on July 10, 2017) | ||
| Sbaugz |
Thanks upthemaiden- I will start researching those things. I spent a bunch of time last night printing out all the recalls on this bike- there sure are a lot of them! The previous (second) owner gave me paperwork on two recalls that for sure were done- 0818 (rear brake line) and 0827 (throttle control system). This second owner purchased from the original owner in 2006. I have no paperwork between 1999-2006. Is there any way I can check to see what recall work was done by the first owner? The only service that came with the bike was from 2006. This talked about doing the two recalls mentioned above and there was also a tech note that says "rear shock has lost most of its dampening" but I cannot see that anything was done about this. (Message edited by sbaugz on July 09, 2017) (Message edited by sbaugz on July 09, 2017) | ||
| Odd |
If you give suburban your vin numbers the can tell you which recalls were done | ||
| Sbaugz |
update: I called harbor town HD (formerly Stocks HD) in Manitowoc, WI. They had done some work on this bike previously. They ran the VIN and gave me the following recalls: - Swingarm completed - sidestand completed - fuel tank completed - fuel cap vent completed - Brake line (open, not completed) - Throttle control (open, not completed) The confusing thing to me is that there is no mention of the shock recall. The shock is the specific reason that I am pursuing this. I figure if anything is going to kill me on this bike, it would be the rear shock blowing up. I thought all S3 models had a shock recall? I even specifically asked him about it and he said there wasn't a shock recall listed on my VIN. If it helps, my production date was July 1998. (Message edited by sbaugz on July 10, 2017) | ||
| Ebutch |
on my 1999 S3 at 63,000 mls throttle-body butterfly-post broke and it would only idle.Got replacement throttle-body and new 1 was updated with larger butterfly post at my expense.  | ||
| Upthemaiden |
Can you post a picture of your shock for us? You might already have the newest one that came with the final recall. | ||
| Sbaugz |
just because I am anal retentive. I stopped by the local dealer - Hal's in New berlin, WI. They ran it and gave me some more detailed info regarding the recalls on this bike. 7 recalls total. 0809 Swingarm - done 0813 Sidestand- done 0814 Fuel tank latch- done 0815 Fuel tank vent- done 0818 S3 rear brake- not done 0819 Fuel Filter- done 0827 Throttle control linkage- not done. regarding the shock- If you look at the recall 0820 for the rear shock, it says "all 2000 S3 and S3T thunderbolt manufactured between January 1998 and May 31st 2000". my bike is a 1999, which is not listed in recall, but it was produced during the date range that was listed in recall. (Message edited by sbaugz on July 10, 2017) | ||
| Sbaugz |
here are the pics of the shock. I am pretty sure these are not the new shocks, but I would love to hear your input.      | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
That shock looks like the flavor that came with my 2000 X1. Mine failed under warranty before 4000 miles! The newer ones don't have the tapered "wrist" looking part in the rear. I think they are shorter too. Get the weight off of the rear and measure center to center to know for sure. | ||
| Ebutch |
Came with my 1999 S3 is 16 1/2" they are leakers and replaced under good-will program H-D FOR $100 with new shorter much improved showa 14 1/2"  | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
If you swap out the shock to the newer length, you would need to replace the front mounting plate. Does the bike have the updated front muffler hanger? (looks like an upside down Y with two rubber dinguses) | ||
| Sbaugz |
uncompressed eye to eye on the shock is 16.5" I have the updated muffler hanger on order from surdyke. So, it would appear that I have the older shock? What would you all do about this? Just leave it alone and drive it? Try to source an updated shock somewhere (I see some NOS ones on ebay but they are pretty expensive). I don't think Twin Cycles in the netherlands makes shocks for this bike anymore. Are there any other aftermarket companies that make shocks for this bike? The strange thing to me is : why doesn't it show up as a recall item when the VIN is run thru? Are there any dealers out there still offering the "good will" shock upgrade program? I doubt it. (Message edited by sbaugz on July 10, 2017) | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
Twin Cycles in the netherlands makes shocks for this bike anymore Yes they still do! https://www.twinmotorcycles.nl/webshop/artikel.asp ?mc=1&guid=YXHFSC&aid=4323&cid=10458&s=&a=&aname=B uell_M2X1S1S2S3_rear_shock_42cm=1654_inch https://www.twinmotorcycles.nl/webshop/artikel.asp ?mc=1&guid=YXHFSC&aid=3788&cid=10458&s=&a=&aname=B uell_M2X1S1S2S3_rear_shock_38cm_=_149_inch | ||
| Ebutch |
It was though H-D good will try dlr to contact H-D But must leak.then you must pay 100 | ||
| Scott_in_nh |
I have owned my '99 S3 since '05 and went down the shock recall road and came to the below conclusions: 1) there is no 1999 S3 shock recall. While the date range is covered, there was no S3T in 99, they were all S3's with touring options. odd I know, but that is the way it is. 2) it's a waste of time pursuing a new factory shock anyway - they all suck! 3) if you love the bike and are going to keep it, going to a high quality aftermarket shock is not cheap, but is well worth it. | ||
| 89rs1200 |
Works still makes shocks for these Buells. Have 40,000 miles on my Works shock and no problems. These have a far better feel than the stock and are rebuild-able by most anyone. Last listed at $999.00. Contact them directly to have one built. They were just on EBay as http://www.ebay.com/usr/worksoutlet?_trksid=p20603 53.m1438.l2754 http://www.worksperformance.com/ , Canoga Park, California The Penskey shocks are awesome. Have two, one on the trike and another on the S3. These have a beefier build and better parts, more adjustable, and ride better than the Works by a noticeable amount. They do cost more. Again contact them to see if they will build you one. http://www.penskeshocks.com/contact/ Reading, PA | ||
| Ebutch |
Well never had a $800 after-market shock can say 14 1/2" is better than the 1 you have.And I made mine look like $800 SHOCK. (Message edited by ebutch on July 10, 2017) | ||
| Ebutch |
ail & IM http://s144.photobucket.com/user/ebutch/media/100_ 0002.jpg.html Direct http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r200/ebutch/100 _0002.jpg HTML <img> IMG  OP | ||
| Williamscottrobertson |
Littlebuggles on here has some 14.5" shocks and front mounts for about $250 of I remember right. His sales ad is in the parts classified., I got one from him, it leaked out of the box. He refunded me and I sent it to racetech for $180 plus shipping to cali and back, and its more than good unless you race or do a lot of 2 up riding IMO. You'll need longer bolts and nuts for the shock mount. The 16.5 mount the bolts thread into, the 14.5 you'll use nuts. I'll see if I can find the ad link and post it. | ||
| Williamscottrobertson |
Here ya go: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/21/ 802801.html?1487203308 Some discussion on the different shocks too. My 00 S3 had the 16.5" with SRP clamshell recall noted completed, I assume by the SRP. Nothing wrong with it, just wanted piece of mind. sold it and mount on eBay for $175. End of the day, I got the latest shock, freshly rebuilt for about $100 | ||
| Sbaugz |
Thanks for all the info. I just sent a PM to littlebuggies about a short shock and new front shock mount. Sounds like it will be somewhat over $300 to have these shipped to me, if he still has any. By the time I have racetech rebuild them, I am looking at around $500. Now the question would be whether I just drop another hundred bucks or so and get the Twin Motorcycles shock. Its about 500 euro, which equates to somewhere under $600 US. Does anyone have experience with the TM shocks? Any good? I would love to get a WP or Penske, but its really hard to justify dropping over a grand on a shock when I only paid $2500 for the bike. It would be different if there were any foreseeable appreciation in value happening with these old Buell bikes. (Message edited by sbaugz on July 10, 2017) | ||
| Sbaugz |
Did some more research and discovered the twin motorcycles shocks are actually TFX shocks. See link below. They sell without reservoir for 500 euro and with remote reservoir for 750 euro. https://tfxsuspension.com/?year_id=3795&make=4081& model=4969&engine=4970&post_type=product&action=vp f-ymm-search |
