| Author | Message | ||
     Brad Gross |
Hello all, I need an honest opinion and I think that after reading some of these postings I've come to the right place. I getting married in November and so I am looking for a motorcycle that I know I will never be able to buy again. But more importantly I want a machine that I know will always but a smile on my face. My riding experience has been limited to goldwings and shadows primarily because my father is a wing-nut and while I was growing up, thats what we had. Now that I'm on my own I want to get away from that but I don't think that I want to have all that extra body work and severe position that most Japanese sportbikes seem to have. This will be my first entry into riding a motorcycle that moves and I want to do this right. I'm 6 ft. and 220 pounds. I want to feel that feeling of freedom again that only comes from riding along with the peace of riding on some roads that most people never travel and do it at an "elevated" pace. I was thinking of purchasing an M2. I took a 98 lightning out for a test ride and like it but I thought the saddle was a little thin. I sat on the 2000 cyclone and thought, "here is a bike that could work." what I would like to know is if what i'm doing is right? I will use this as a daily commuter when the weather is good but I also truly enjoy taking long rides and need something comfortable. Your help is greatly appreciated. Happy Riding, Brad | ||
| Anonymous |
Brad: Get yourself a Honda 929RR. You'll love it. It has plenty of power w/o modifications and its only 10K. I've got nearly 20K in my 100 HP Buell and while it is a sweet cycle it can never make 130 RWHP. | ||
| Vik (Eeeeek) |
Brad, A motorcycle purchase, in my opinion, is a deeply personal and emotional thing. The Buell is not for everyone; however, for your purposes I think it would be darn near perfect. I bought a '99X1 with the idea of daily commuting when the weather is nice and weekend romping when I could find some time. What happened next I could never have predicted. I fell in love with my Buell. I've always known that motorcyling was in my blood, but none had the effect of the Buell. I took a deep interest into all things Buell and hooked up with dozens of fellow Buell riders. I rode the bike up and down California and went to Homecoming. I met up with Buell riders in the middle of nowhere and spent hours shooting the breeze. Then there's aaronwilsonitis, or the intense desire to buy more Buells. I love my X1 and plan on keeping it until the end of time, something I've never felt for my Intereceptor or Ninja. The problem is, I've learned about the older Buells and I want them, too. Not just one model, all of them. One of each! The pre-harley Buells are truley works of art and have amazing personalities. I've ridden an S2 and although it didn't have the power of my X1, I didn't care. And then there's the RS1200... What I'm trying to get at is a Buell will get deep inside you. Even people who have gotten lemons have fallen in love with them. We, the Buell owners, are insane. We are more fiercley dedicated than the british car buffs and much more fun to party with ;) Aproach Buell ownership with caution. It's much more than a means of transportation. It's also not a Honda and you will have to respect it as a truly unique bike that needs a little attention. Treated well, it will be the best thing you've ever done for yourself. If you just jump on it, ride it and forget it, it will bite you in the •••. Vik "in one of those moods" eeeeek | ||
| Court Canfield |
Brad asked . . "what I would like to know is if what i'm doing is right?" Want me to address the Buell or the marriage first ? Seriously, CONGRATULATIONS on the marriage and you've done as good selecting a bike as yoiu did a bride. I am the same size as you and the M-2 will fit your needs better than any Buell, past or present. In fact, better than about ANY other bike made. Have fun and keep us posted ! Court | ||
| mikej (Mikej) |
Brad, Couple of things....sit down..... 1. You said: "what I would like to know is if what i'm doing is right?" It's your life, you have to live with the consequences, your soon to be wife has to possibly live with the results of your choices, I'm not about to advise you on what is "right" for you or your life. That one has to be your choice. 2. You said: "...I am looking for a motorcycle that I know I will never be able to buy again" Uh, why? Have you discussed this with your spouse to be, have you done some financial planning, is this your last singleness fling at an independant decision? Many if not most of us here on this site have owned several if not many bikes in the past or even currently. There have been very few years between when I was around 10 or 11 years old and now that I haven't had a motorcycle of some type to ride. Bikes are just a part of my life, and most likely always will be. The only things I'd ever say I'll never probably buy again is either something extreamly expensive that is functionally beyond my means at the time, or something that I don't think I'll like but want to try "just once". If this purchase is so critical, then perhaps you need to spend some time thinking about it. Just an opinion. 3. You said: "This will be my first entry into riding a motorcycle that moves and I want to do this right. ...(snip)... and do it at an "elevated" pace". Some people have spent a lifetime riding a bike and still don't do it right. Some people ride at an elevated pace and live a short lifetime. For most people there is a balance that gives them fulfillment at _their_ own pace, no matter what bike they ride. There are a whole lot of former and current road riders or professional racers who choose to ride 250cc class bikes. There are a whole lot of conservative public roadway riders who can't be touched when they hit the track or a closed course. A Buell is a bike, frustrating for some, perfect for some, unique to some, but those who like them seem to just like bikes in general and are somehow drawn specifically to the Buell. It is what it is, and each individual has to decide if what it is to them is what they want it to be. If you want my honest opinion, then here it is: You are planning on getting married in November, if your wife to be is not in on this decision then she should be, even if it's just to say to do what you want. If your relationship can not handle discussing this then that should lead you to another discussion. Some may say it's still your life and to do what you want. I say it's your life and what others say don't mean diddlysquat. I bought a '00 M2 in August '99, I'm single, my dog died a few weeks ago, I'm looking at a major career shift/change, still going to school part time, got no money to speak of, and all that don't mean nothin' to anybody else. Would I buy another Buell? Yep, in fact I'm currently working on a 4-step plan to indirectly do just that. Would I marry a woman who hated motorcycles? I doubt it very much. If I were getting married in November do I think I'd ever be able to ever buy another bike again? Without a doubt, yes. Bikes are a part of my life. My life doesn't revolve around them, but I'll probably always have a bike around someplace. Will I always have a Buell? Got no idea, catch me on my death bed whenever things come to that and ask me then. Maybe I mis-read what you wrote, but when I read it I foresaw some major marital arguments, and maybe a crash or two. I could be wrong and probably am. This is just an opinion, make your best choice based on what's right for your life. You're the only one that has to look at you in the mirror in the morning. An M2 is a good general purpose all around decent bike, and is fairly adaptable to all the things you mentioned. My M2 is my daily commuter except when I need the car, or when the roads get icy or too salty. But that's just my choice and opinion. And my comments here along with $3.95 just might buy you a cup of coffee or expresso, might also get you banned from some places. Think before you speak, and speak before you spend. A marriage can be a good thing, or it can be a nightmare, same with bikes, choose wisely and do what works for you. That's my opinion, and that's all it is. Have a nice day | ||
| Antonio Lemoncola (Flyguy123) |
To Roy Wright, You are my hero. How cool can it be but to go out and drag race with your son on a pair of Buells!!! I'm 47 and race snowmobiles, motorcycles, jet skis, slot cars,and street cars with my 59 year old best bud. Whenever we finish we are grinning ear to ear!! I hope we all never grow up! To Brad Re:Getting Married 1- Buy a bike 2- Start engine 3- Head for the hills 4- Don't stop until you reach water 5- Put floats on bike 6- Paddle like hell | ||
| Jasonl (Jasonl) |
Brad - At Mr. Canfields leisure I'd like to invade HIS area on the bbs to chip in some spare change...namely My Two Cents. I won't comment on your marriage or whatever. I've lived with a wonderful woman for 7 years and would marry her if I had the dough to do it right. Instead I go out and buy cycles and she understands. God I'm lucky. Now, about the bikes. Buell owners are cultists. Really. I'm not kidding. I liked the Buell because I test rode an S1 after taking the MSF course the weekend before. It felt right. It was powerful as hell but not intimidating. I liked it. I then went out and bought a used M2 that was as dependable as a blacksmith's anvil. I NEVER was stranded and I did my own maintenance. I'm not a pro-wrench by any means and my toolbox is pretty light. But I like that. I liked the idea of not being dependant on a dealer to adjust my valves, sync carbs, or anything. I also liked the fact that if things did break I didn't need a engineering degree to fix them. My point being: The Reasons I Like My Buell 1) Fun to ride 2) As intimidating as a pitbull. It looks mean but I know whats up. (see, I control the throttle) 3) I can work on it myself. But know this. If you don't take care of it it won't take care of you. Also some seem to be cursed. I can't promise your life will be all Roses and Beautiful sunrises after buying a new M2. But I've had some real fun on mine. Those cultists...they're great guys. I haven't met an a$$hole yet on a Buell. But I think I'm meeting Erik this weekend.... | ||
| Court Canfield |
Tell Erik Court said hello....see if he remembers me ? OK....buckets...someone wanted "buckets". Well, here is the picture and I'm going to urge you to scroll back, read the description and stare at the pictures. To keep the file size small, I've cropped it. IF you need a schnagle of these, let me know and I'll e-mail. BASICALLY.....you are using safety wire to anchor the jacket (sheath) of the throttle cables to a stationery object. QUESTONS?  Weekend comittment #1 - DONE Now for parts and pieces to mail to folks | ||
| Ken Lawson |
Well Court I am Duell Buelling these days Picked up a 98 S1 molten orange Its a twin tail soon to be Corbinized Looked at a 2000 S3T But couldnt part with my 99 M2. The S1 hasnt had any recalls done no mods a clean canvas to work with . What should i do first this is my first S1 | ||
| Hans Idzerda (Hans) |
Brad, Welcome aboard. You know you do`nt get an honest opinion because you can`t get honest opinions from people dedicated to a certain object. You must be a responsible man thinking out before that the marriage state will bring you other priorities and that you will take your responsabilities wich will left you without the means to buy a motorbike. You have it all thought out before asking your question. Eh... What was your question? If you made the right choise? Oh, no, after reading back you asked if, what you are doing, is right. Ah, that is another question. Being married is right. Buying a bike is right. The choise of the bike is right. Timing could be much better, but you can`t have everything right. Ride&Smile. Hans. | ||
| Court Canfield |
The first and most "efficient" (in terms of butt-boost per buck) thing you can do to that 1998 S1 is to change the airfilter. Snag either a Buell Race Air Cleaner or one of the WestTek Units. I'm gonna try another photo....I have hundreds of Buell pics and need to learn this. I expect to be heavily tutored next week. Let me know if this example is of any help...  | ||
| Brad Gross |
Hey all, Thanks for the news. The bride-to-be does not like motorcycles but she is not against me having one. So in terms of marriage-breakers I would say this fits low on the list. When you say that the M2 needs some maintenance, what exactly was needed. Although I can spin a wrench, if I don't know if I want to be spending the better part of my freetime working on this beautiful machine. I have to admit that I can understand the cultist feeling that these machines bring. I am having a problem with the dealer here in town. I live in Pittsburgh and local shop wants me to spend list minus $500 for the bike! There has to be a better way. I believe that this is not a good deal at all. Any hints on how to deal with this guy or somewhere else to go to make me the newest member of this Buell Brigade would be welcome. I'm addicted to this thing called Buell. I would hate for something as trivial as a dealer who cannot see the importance of making a great deal up front so that I come back for the aftermarket stuff to ruin this for me. I look forward to two things right now: my marriage to a truly wonderful woman and my stress relief called a motorcycle. if any of you want to email me directly with some ideas, please do at bradgross@hotmail.com Thanks again Brad | ||
| Brad Gross |
ps. the dealer will also not let me take their M2 for a test ride only the Lightning x1 and only on Oct 1. Is this normal behavior? Sorry to be a pest. I appreciate all the honest comments I've been receiving on this board. Thanks and may all your roads be twisty, Brad | ||
| Don Casto (Doncasto) |
Brad: Your experience at the local dealer is indicative of the "hit or miss" nature of the Buell dealer network. More than just a few Buellers have discovered the closest dealership may not be the best dealership. It may work to your advantage at this point to invest in a little more driving time. Finding a cooperative and committed Buell dealership is critical to your Buell experience. Most dealers have found that once someone rides a Buell, the bike explains much more to the prospective buyer than any salesperson ever could. For this reason, the better dealers usually have demonstration bikes available for all models. Buell encourages its dealers to maintain demos by providing financial incentives. My subjective opinion is that at present prices on '00 Buells are very fluid and there are great deals to be found. I have heard that "flooring" has been suspended until March on existing dealer inventory in order to reduce some of the pressure on dealers to sell off inventory in anticipation of '01 model arrivals. I have seen reports here of '00 M2s being sold for as little as $6700 in the last month. If you could find a dealer willing to sell at this price or near it, you would still be saving a huge chunk of change even after paying for shipping from as far away as California. I can speak from experience in that I saved over $1500 on the purchase on my S3T by purchasing it in Montana rather than paying what the Denver area dealers were asking. I have put together a collection of my ideas on The Success Buell Ownership Experience and believe you might find some answers to your concerns there. Hope this helps, Fidel | ||
| mikej (Mikej) |
Brad, In summary of my past year of '00 M2 ownership, personal maintenance consisted of: 1. Normal oil/filter/gear lube changes. 2. Speedometer sensor change: one bolt easily accessible and one connector disconnect not as easily reachable, but not hard if you have patience and are reasonably adept with your fingers. 3. Primary chain adjustment: straight foreward, not difficult nor involved if you can handle a wrench. 4. Air filter swap: replaced the breadbox with the oval race filter. Mostly did this for looks and for ease of filter cleaning/changing. 5. Rear rocker gasket leak: replaced gaskets for rocker cover. This is "normal" for any XL based V-Twin since mid-1980's, and changing to metal-type gaskets from the total-paper gaskets fixes the issue. I don't remember any other things I've done with it except adding the tach kit and an alarm system. I consider what I'd had or wanted to do to it so far as basic home-garage stuff. No special tools really required except for chopping down an allen wrench. Nothing really needed more than a few hours of work while working at a lazy pace. The rocker leak and speedo sensor change would have been covered by the first year's warranty, but I wanted to do it myself and the cost in parts was insignificant. My only real downtime was waiting for the SRP shock fix to arrive and be installed. And if you get an M2, have them swap out at least the low speed jet for one not-so-EPA-mandated-lean, probably a 45 jet. I just remembered I've also changed the spark plugs to the cooler ones, 10R12's I think. | ||
| Antonio Lemoncola (Flyguy123) |
Court, Last week you mentioned you know of an S2 owner on Long Island or in the vicinity. Can you forward his/her e-mail or something? Thanks. PS to Brad, Just bustin' them about getting marrried. I've got 19 years of marriage behind me and no end in site. When my wife wants to ride I rent a Road King and take her out to the North Fork of Long Island for lunch. This happens once a year. When I showed her the Buell brochure she chuckled and said ,"Where's the backrest"? | ||
| bradgross |
too funny. I have a feeling that if I showed the Buell brochure to my girl she look at me and say, "Where's the airbag?" :) | ||
| Brad Gross (Bradgross) |
Hey all, Just thought I would leave a quick update. First off I have never met a more honest group of people than the people on this board. Truly refreshing. To Tim Reiter about his ideas, thanks man you're wonderful. Now comes the bad news. I have to hold off on the purchase, probably till next spring. With the wedding coming up I just don't have the time and more importantly the money to buy it. I right now have about 3K towards the purchase and I thought that I would just use that to put my name on a bike. But instead I'm going to hold onto it, find a second job and work my tail off so that when spring comes that M2 will be mine. With that I am going to read on about Team Elves and hear all the good gossip on BadWeb. And spring/summer I will try to host myself a little ride around Pittsburgh if anyone is so inclined. My new place should have plenty of space for you guys and all are welcome. In fact I have a huge shed to hold all of our bikes! Thanks to everyone. Brad Gross | ||
| Ken Hageman |
Court: Thank you very much for your help. I received an Email from Bud at the factory yesterday. He called me today and the parts are on their way to the Chandler Buell dealership. When you come this way, any and all the Taco's you can eat are yours. Thanks again. Ken Hageman. | ||
| john macpherson (Jocklandjohn) |
Brad - go man go! Get that wedding sorted first - wwaaay more important! I am running in a new 00M2 at the moment - just turned 400 miles and 'saving' the other 100 miles for the run to my nearest dealer. First new bike in many many years - and great fun. Look forward to your own - you'll get there! Best wishes JOHN |
