| Author | Message | ||
     Sooner |
Hey there folks. I just want to say this is a great forum. Many of you have saved me much headache and heartache with your terrific knowledge . Thanks. I am new to this so I will just let you know what I did, and would appreciate any input. I have a 98 thunderbolt. I love it. I finally purchased a chin spoiler to put on it, and thought " this is gonna be a piece of cake". Well all was great until I removed the bolt on the shock to attach the support bracket to the spoiler. BAM!!! suddenly I have a muh ha jorrr problem. LOL. I am sure you are already picturing it. Bike drops, fluid sprays everywhere, and my brain is sparking thoughts like " uhh what happened?" Well I got everything back together, and the spoiler looks great, but now I have a question. First. Where do I get the fluid for the shock, and second how do I put it back inside where it belongs. I am a very proficient auto mech, but this is the first bike I have worked on. Boy did I pick a doosie. Nothing is like other bikes. I guess that explains the grin on my face whizzing around town. | ||
| Cyclonemick |
A bottle jack under the cases works for a temporaty lift. Sorry to hear about that though! I'm not sure why you would loose oil in your shock though unless it's broke? Some on here will probably chime in before you know it. | ||
| Rick_a |
Uhh...how much fluid did you lose? The shock should't leak due to something like that. It didn't hit the cases hard, did it? Anyway...if the shock did somehow blow...it's basically time for a new one...or an aftermarket rebuild. | ||
| Sooner |
Rick, the fluid was clear, like brake fluid. Maybe that is what it is. I lost about a cup maybe two. I haven't really looked at it today, since the Oklahoma Texas game is on. I will try to check the brake fluid level. Thanks guys for the help. | ||
| Rick_a |
Most likely...fluid on the ground always appears to be more than fluid in a container. | ||
| Whodom |
Sooner- Have you figured out where the fluid came from yet? Are you sure you didn't just cut or damage the line from the shock to the external reservoir? Seems like that would be fairly easy to do. That should be much easier to fix than having the whole shock rebuilt. Surely someone else here has run into this problem before. You should also verify that you have the correct (updated) shock installed on your bike. Your local dealer can run the VIN on the bike and tell if the recall was ever installed on it. If it was never installed, you should be able to get a new (FREE) shock installed at the dealer. | ||
| Rick_a |
He did say "spray"... | ||
| Firemanjim |
Sounds like hydraulic shock oil under pressure---check your line to shock reservoir.This one you cannot do yourself.Need suspension shop to refill and pressurize.I use Aftershocks in Palo Alto--they can give it a tune-up to match your style of riding also. | ||
| Josh_ |
Sounds like the undid the banjo bolt for the reservouir... | ||
| Sooner |
Thanks for all the help gents. After looking at my handy dandy service manual, I can now identify the parts with words that make more sense than " that funky bolt with the hole in it that goes through the bracket thing, that held up the shock. From everything that I can tell, this is a different shock from the original. According to the manual, the original shock has a spring on the outside called " a spring". I was hoping for a more technical term, but Mr. Buell's wisdom shines through on this one. Any way, I believe that the fluid came from the remote reservoir through the banjo bolt. I checked the hose and found it to be in perfect,(no holes or breaks) order. Sounds like both Fireman jim and Josh Both nailed it. Fireman, I live in nor cal. In Brentwood. If I can find a local shop, what should I expect, ball park to pay for the re pressurizing. Also how dangerous would it be to ride the bike to them, seeing that there doesn't seem to be any change in the way the bike rides. At least not in the fifty yards I have tested it. Again, thanks for all the help.  this is what my first reaction must have looked like . lol | ||
| Devdawg |
Sooner, Your post was eerie.... I did the EXACT SAME THING Thursday afternoon. I mistakenly supported the front mount and not the back when removing the front bolt as was evident once I decided to open the manual to try to figure out what the hell just happened and why. What happened when you pulled that front bolt out...(it took some work to get it out, didn't it??)...was, as the shock extended the slack was taken out of the oil line to the front of the reservoir and the front seal was pulled out or off enough to let the pressurized oil squirt out. The seal probably popped back in place and stopped the oil from leaking once you got the rear mount supported enough to give some slack back in the oil line to put the front bolt back in, but by then the damage was done. The remaining question is if the reservoir is salvageable and if so can we do it ourselves or if not, what's the cost and do we have to remove the whole assembly to get it done? I was mounting a chin spoiler on a '99 M2 when the same oil explosion happened and have noticed, now that the bracket is in place it doesn’t line up with the hole in the spoiler...anyone have any insights on other bracket locations or will I have to drill another hole in the spoiler?? Carl | ||
| 1313 |
Carl, Properly orienting the chin fairing bracket is not the easiest task. There have been 3 iterations of the chin fairing bracket and if I remember correctly the style I have on my S2 never made it into production (or maybe it was the real early '99 X1's that had this bracket...), so that should really only make 2 variations of this part existing. One is for the long (i.e. original X1 style) shock, and the second is for the short shock (different front shock mount - the one that the front shock mount point is moved rearward on the bike to compensate for the shorter shock length). It is possible either: a) The chin fairing bracket you have is correct, but just needs to be rotated about the shock mount bolt in order to line it up properly. OR b) You have the bracket for the short shock and have a long shock or vice versa (long shock chin fairing bracket and short shock and shock mount). Even if you do have the proper combination of parts, you may still need to play around with the alignment (rotating the chin fairing bracket around the front shock mount bolt) in order to get a perfect fit. 1313 | ||
| 1313 |
Oh yeah, to help in identifying the proper chin fairing bracket, the long shock version should be a straight bracket (when looking down from the top) with just the 90 degree bend off the shock mount and the awkward angle to mate up with the chin fairing, and the short shock version should look something like a Z (again when looking down from the top). This is because the front shock mount point moved rearward and the chin fairing mount hole stayed in the same place. I couldn't find any pictures of chin fairing brackets by searching badweb to demonstrate the differences (but I didn't spend too much time trying to find them). 1313 | ||
| Devdawg |
1313, You hit the bracket dead on...I have the long shock version and need the short one. Thanks, I was seriously considering drilling the spoiler. Anyone got an extra bracket before I'm forced to get in touch with the only...and less than desirable...dealer on the island?? | ||
| Firemanjim |
Sooner,not any "local" shops that I know of.Lindemanns is in Campbell,Aftershocks is in Palo Alto.Never just had one repressurized so no estimate.Total redo was about 300-350.I just send it UPS.I am in Vacaville,work In Vallejo and hang out at Vallejo Buell(right down from firehouse and one of my sponsors)You should head down at an American Sport Bike Night sometime,1st monday night of the month in San Leandro. | ||
| Firemanjim |
Hey Brankin,tell me about the 4th tie bar you mention in your profile. | ||
| 1313 |
FMJ, Here are 2 pics I took of the little known about 4th tie bar for the S2.   As you can tell, it goes exactly where the ground strap goes. Ever wonder what the clevis on the frame was for (other than for the upper ground strap mount)? Erik once told me that this 4th tie bar was popular with those racing S2's. It does transmit more vibration to the rider. It was not just a bolt on operation as far as I can remember. But I can't remember what all I had to do to install it (drill and tap swingarm mount block for larger bolt, drill out clevis in frame for larger bolt, or drill out the ends of the ground cable to accept a larger bolt). Maybe all of the above or the right combination...or maybe not. I'm sure that with your experience with S2's that you will know exaclty what you need to do now that you know where it goes. 1313 | ||
| Sooner |
Roger that firmeanjim. Thanks for all the info. As soon as I get ole besty up and running I will be there. It's only about an hour and a half from me on heavy 680 traffic days. | ||
| Rex |
who won? okla or texas..california okla fan..grew up in miami okla....rex | ||
| Road_thing |
Rex: OU shutout UT 12-0. rt |
