| Author | Message | ||
     General_ulysses |
I've been looking for a decent S1 for quite a while now and finally found what I felt was a good candidate. Yesterday I picked up this '97 with 6000 miles and a bunch of spare parts. The sellers were not knowledgeable about the history of the bike, as it was not theirs originally. The previous owner of this bike passed away and I bought it from his heirs. So if anyone recognizes it or actually knew the PO, please be discreet/respectful with your comments. With that said, I would like to know if there was any work done to the engine (internally). This is my first tuber and I'm still a relative Buell neophyte all around. I'm hoping some of you expert guys can take a look at the pics I've uploaded and maybe give some hints to what may have been done to this bike. I know he's replaced the stock exhaust with a Vance and Hines and the carb has been replaced with a Mikuni. Otherwise, I can't tell what else has been done. I'd like to know if he upgraded the heads, but I wouldn't know how to tell. The bike is real clean as you can see and I see no obvious evidence of the cylinders having been off. All of the pics can be seen in this directory, and I'll post just a few here. http://s289.photobucket.com/user/my-pics-are-here/ library/Buell%20S1?sort=3&page=1     | ||
| Pash |
That's a nice 97 model! My spots - Fast Company air filter (I read a test from back in the day and apparently it came out tops for flow), Corbin seat (I have one on both my S1s and find them far comfier than either Buell seat) and what looks like a White Power shock (which were subject to a recall)... The heads look standard. Thunderstorm heads would be black and XB heads have bigger fins. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Bar ends. Levers. Mirrors? Pegs. Taillight. Plate mount. Chopped/accessory hugger. Turn signals. Polished header. Carbon fiber heat shield for your right thigh (factory was black plastic). Nice clean S1. I concur, externally anyway, they look like stock lightning heads. Could they be ported? Only a dyno (or a teardown) will tell. You're missing the rubber bumpers at the front of the frame, where the forks are designed to bump as steering limits. And...I wouldn't plan on much riding on those D208 tires. Lord knows how old and dry they are... Nice low mile S1 though. Good score. Get the manuals so you're prepared if something needs fixed - with the mileage, keep an eye out for rockerbox leaks and base gasket leaks...like, now. | ||
| S1owner |
Nice find looks well cared for. Also included many original parts and some extras! The manta tank ( larger green one) is a nice tank for longer rides. Would you ever sell the small red tank? | ||
| General_ulysses |
Thanks for the responses and helpful info guys. So, other than all the bolt on farkles that's been mentioned, it's sounding like the engine is probably untouched internally. Rat, I'll definitely keep an eye on the gaskets. Kinda sad that the gaskets can go bad that soon after only 6000 miles or so. That's not something that can be helped with retorquing the rocker/head bolts? Just wondering if the head/rocker bolts stretch a bit after break in and maybe that's why they leak. Does anyone have pictures of the front rubber bumpers for the steering stops? Would like to get a set of those and put them back on. So does it look like I have a White Bros shock that needs to be recalled? What is the nature of the defect? I'm guessing it leaks oil or?? Hopefully it won't snap while I'm riding. How do I get it fixed? Can I just take the shock to an HD dealer and they'll fix it or swap it out? Is there a way to tell if it's already been corrected? S1owner I'm going to hang on to the tanks for now. My plan is to get an alternate set of tank + body work painted up in gloss black. I decided black was my favorite S1 color after seeing pics of your bike actually. I want to have black slim tank and black manta tank to go with the black tail section. I think with the polished PM's that'll look pretty sweet. A few other questions: 1. The spare swingarm shown in the extra parts - is that the recall version that may have been swapped out with the revised one? Any way to tell what's what? 2. The stock muffler appears to have a dent in the upper middle part of it, but it's position suggests it might be a factory indentation put there to make clearance for the shifter or kickstand or something. Is that right? 3. What was the stock hp's for this bike? Any sense of what the hp's might be with a Mikuni and the V&H pipe? Kinda wondering how close I am to an S1W at this point. Thanks again for the replies! | ||
| Ratbuell |
The muffler dent is stock, it lines up with the primary drain plug. There is a way to ID the swingarms...but I don't remember it offhand. Maybe someone can chime in. The gaskets can't be "retorqued" - they're paper. They dry out, plain and simple. Sitting makes it worse than actually using the motorcycle would - regular use keeps them pliable and moisturized. I want to say HP was low 90s for a Lightning motor. A very good motor, but not "close" to an S1W in anything other than cc's. Thunderstorm motors had different pistons, different compression, different heads, different cams, a larger header collector, and a recurved ignition. As for the mods on your bike...neither is a big HP maker. The V&H is loud, will need repacking (pay close attention to those rivets!), and it's going to make you lose midrange compared to stock. I personally can't stand Mikuni carbs - they're too much "on-off" for my tastes for a street bike. A properly tuned CV gets my nod every single time, just for rideability. But...some folks like to change stuff just to change stuff. If your throttle control is an all-or-nothing style...the Mik will fit just fine  | ||
| Lynrd |
As far as the swing arms - I wrote a spotters guide a while ago: http://4mbikes.com/blog/?p=88 | ||
| Purpony |
looks good.. im on the look out for a clean S1 or M2 I can put an S1 tail on. | ||
| Littlebuggles |
Regarding the shock, with the original that you have there was a concern about the front eye being weak, I believe there was one that may have snapped and since Buell has always been exceptionally proactive with their recalls they swapped them out with the physically stronger Showa with a lot beefier front eye. New gaskets will be much better than the paper ones that will prolly give up as Rat's mentioned already. I may have a 97 brochure with factory stated HP numbers. There's also some articles from old magazine test's of the V&H on the pre Thunderstorm engine bikes in the knowledge vault with HP numbers and torque curves and such from a few different aftermarket mufflers. |
