| Author | Message | ||
     Aaron |
 The English connection ... a genuine Barton ... Buell Motor Company's roots can apparently be found in this bike! I guess England isn't half bad after all  Photo courtesy of Rocket ... thanks! AW PS: I'll get some RS pictures & info up here when I can scrounge some stuff up ... | ||
| Dave |
Buell history questions ... Can someone elaborate on Erik's involvement with designing belt drive when he was with H-D? What other H-D projects did he have a hand in? DAve | ||
| Aaron |
I don't know about belt drive, but he had a big hand in the FXR rubber mount design. Our Buell system is a descendant of that system. I also heard he had a hand in the ACT active anti-dive system. AW | ||
| Buellme |
I don't check out the Buell site, but am I to believe that it none of this history? Well, on second thought... HD will probably try to spin the details over time into saying that they really had their hands in building Erik's babies. We know the truth Erik. | ||
| Tripper |
Buell used to leave all of their old web pages on the net, unlinked, but if you knew the specific URL you could go back to them for reference. It helped me decide to buy a 98 S1. Unfortunately HD removed all of these during the great web site fuckup. I guess they decided that if you aren't going to buy a current year bike, screw ya. Becoming part of their parts business and visiting the stores is of no value to them? | ||
| Eeeeek |
Someone has to have just about the whole website in their temp internet files. I have a good portion of it, but am missing bits. Vik | ||
| Jima4media |
Vik, I imagine that many people saved bits and pieces of the old Buell site, and have them sitting around somewhere. They need to archive these pieces onto CD-ROMs for posterity. Motorcycle.com used to do Buells website in Torrance California, and then it moved to Milwaukee where it is now. That is why there is nothing there of historical significance. I enjoyed the Finite Element Analysis pages and 3D drawings of the new swingarm and other parts, and the pdf files of the service manual that were there. We need a good spot to store all of these old historic pieces of web media. Jim X-2.5 | ||
| Peter |
Here's the 'movable' RW750. PPiA | ||
| Rocketman |
Here's the race bike that spawned the Barton\Phoenix 750 that in turn spawned the Buell RW 750. This is a Sparton 500, which is a 500cc triple 2 stroke, water cooled. It's based on the Suzuki GT380 bottom end. All the top end is Barton manufactured around 1975. Up until it was last raced a couple of years ago, it has won two "forgotten era" European titles. The pic was taken today, and apart from a service and prep it is ready to race now, and competitively so.  Rocket in England | ||
| Rocketman |
Barton 500cc motor. Who knows, if this engine was never built, maybe Buell's wouldn't exist !!!  Rocket in England | ||
| Eeeeek |
Hmmm...I wonder if that's where they got the orange/nuke blue idea.... Vik | ||
| Dave |
Reading the new first issue of Fuell I see the RW in RW 750 stands for Road Warrior. (cool) What does the rest of the bikes designations mean? RR1000 - Road Racer? RS, M, S, P, X? Alphabet Soup just no where near as bad as the HD designations. DAve | ||
| Fastback69 |
I found these images of Buell advertisements on an ftp server. It looks like they are from magazines.   | ||
| Fastback69 |
OK, here's the other one.  | ||
| Davegess |
Fastback, th etwo photos are Adslicks that we mailed out to dealers and individuals. Gave them out at shows etc.I shot that photo of the RS and wrote all the copy. | ||
| S2no1 |
Mr. Gess, Was the model a Buell Employee? Arvel | ||
| Turnagain |
 '92 RSS 1200 | ||
| S2no1 |
Hi All, Chip sent me these and I've resized them to fit.     Beautiful Bike!!! Arvel | ||
| Ocbueller |
Chip, Congrats on the new addition to the collection. I now have an urge to go out and line up my El Camino, S1,X1 and KLR and shoot some pics. Sorry I missed you in Daytona you must have been on the Harley or I would have noticed you.  SteveH. | ||
| Chuck |
Chip looks really "tall" in that first picture! | ||
| Jim_M |
Has there ever been any type of layout/schematic of the S2 tank made available? I've an idea, but would like to get nice, clear diagrams of the tank bodywork. | ||
| Court |
Jim: You let me know what you want and I shall get it to you. I have 3 spare tank covers in boxes if you need a model and...heck, I have one of the MODELS. The S-2 tank is SIGNIFICANT in the world of motorcycling and is something that Erik has always been very proud of. Father Gess, dare I tell the story of the S-2 Tank Cover? Let's start here......you guys with S-2's take a long hard. . I mean sit down as Pooh would in his "thinking place" and conteplate that thing. This is a bit like the cosmic procedure I reccomended to Chip with the RR1200. There are things you'll see that set the Buell S-2 apart from any motorcycle in the world. Remember for a moment, I am talking about no more than the TANK COVER at this point. Look Closely. Think harder. Leave for a minute....shake it off and come back. Ask yourself....."this is a gorgeous motorcycle. Why, after producing barely enough to get noticed wa the design so quickly ditched. Well, even Ron Dickey will leap up and scream "COST...they cost to frickin' much" Commend yourself on your keen grasp of the obvious and return to figure out WHY they cost so much. Run to your artsy fartsy books and do a word search for NEGATIVE GRAPH. More in the next session of the S-2 Tank Cover Chronicles...... Court For the benefit of those of you w/o an S-2 handy.....  | ||
| Peter |
Expensive molding for the bit near the knees? PPiA | ||
| Aaron |
Check out this nice RSS in Germany | ||
| Turnagain |
Interesting N.W. art on the M2 @ the HoH History page. To quote them, 'We took on the Buell line of motorcycles as soon as Eric Buell made them available to the public.' Don't know what year that was, but here's a shot from '95. Always a destination when I get up there. Mark, Hope things work out soon -- it's been looking great up there for the past few weeks. Steve(2) | ||
| Turnagain |
 recent history Steve(2) @ dcbrag | ||
| S2carl |
Info on S2 changes throughout production. Author unknown. 1. Different timing cover, dash plate, a spacer between the front caliper and front fork and early Buell style rear mono-shock with remote adjusters for both rebound and compression. These items were shown in Cycle World magazine 10/93 and I don't believe were on any of the production models. 2. Wiring routed through the handlebars. I have never seen this but it was mentioned extensively in the directions included with the touring handlebars. 3. CNC machined rather than cast front fork triple tree. I know that this ran through at least 1995 V.I.N. number 416, but I don't know how much higher. 4. Lower triple tree change with replacement of the bolt that secures the top triple tree. This can be identified by the hollow I.D. of the lower triple tree shaft. This took effect with 1995 V.I.N. 817. 5. Different style shifter lever. The early style lever was just about ninety degree angle, the later lever has a curved vertical leg. This took effect with 1995 V.I.N. 979. 6. Air grill screens. Both the front fairing and the rear seat fairing grills changed from galvanized twisted grills to smooth stainless grills. I know this took effect in 1995 but I don't know at what V.I.N.. 7. Frame change. A lug was added to the neck of the frame for the front fairing stabilizer mount. I believe this took effect in 1995 but I don't know at what V.I.N.. 8. Rear belt guard teflon wear strip. Purpose was to prevent wear between the belt guard and the right hand frame diagonal brace. Part number 47930-96Y. I know this went into effect around 9/95 but I don't know at what V.I.N.. 9. Front isolator washer change. The new style has beveled sides to prevent contact with the back of the frame neck under exuberant usage of the throttle. This took effect with 1995 models, V.I.N. 1242. 10. Seat lock tangs. There have been two changes both for better seat security. The first was just a longer tang, this was 1995 V.I.N. 1293. The second has a ninety degree bend on the end. This was 1996 V.I.N. 74 for S2 & 172 for S2T. 11. Seats. There has been three seat changes I am aware of. The first style is shown in Cycle World dated 10/93, where the seat looks a whole lot like a Corbin seat (they supplied the seats for the earlier Buells). The second had a fiberglass bottom pan and I know it went through 1995 V.I.N. 416. The third change was a plastic seat bottom with another securing point for the seat attached to the bottom which hooked to a bar attached to the rear seat fairing. This took effect in 1996 with V.I.N. 74 for S2 & 172 for S2T's. 12. Windshield change. The original windshield was acrylic manufactured by Gustafsson and was embossed with his logo. The second was not marked and was very wavy (Lexan) in appearance. I believe this took effect with the 1996 model year. 13. Rear fender assembly was changed with the 1996 models with a painted unit rather than carbon fiber showing the weave. 14. Front fender changes. There have been three front fender changes. The first change was the elimination of the speedometer cable clip mounting holes which initiated the use of a wire retainer part number 67368-95Y. This went into effect with 1995 V.I.N. 1337. The second change was a restyled front fender which eliminated the access holes for the lower mount screws, this fender is also quite a bit lighter because I understand it is made of plastic rather than fiberglass. I believe this came about with the 1996 models. 15. Front brake. The original style disc bolted against the carrier, the later disc bolted inline with the carrier. The parts of the units are not interchangeable and I believe they came about with the 1996 models. 16. Kickstand/frame/isolator/swingarm mount. The later style has a steel plug and sleeve for the kickstand to rest against when it is extended. This came about sometime in the 1996 model year. 17. Timing procedure. All 1996 Buells should be timed with the engine at idle (950-1050 RPM) and timing is done using the side by side double dots. The 1995 Buells are timed at 1650-1950 RPM and use the single dot as viewed in the timing plug hole. This came about because a different ignition module was fitted to the 95 California bikes and all 96 models. The connector is 7 pin on the 95 and uses the M curve, The 96 and Ca 95 is 8 pin connector with a Q curve. The connectors are not interchangeable. 18. Front exhaust pipe. The loop of the pipe was tightened for easier viewing of the timing plug hole. I believe this was initiated in 1996. 19. Mirror fastener spacers. They are to provide additional support through the fiberglass front fairing. This started in 1996 with V.I.N. 166 for S2 & 69 for the S2T. 20. Headlight adjuster. A nut was placed on the adjusting screw so that the headlight could be adjusted without front fairing removal. Part number 67323-94Y. This took effect in 1996 with V.I.N. 74 for the S2 & 167 with the S2T. 21. Carburetors. The California bikes used a Quik Silver Carburetor made by Edelbrock. S2 & S2T service bulletins and alerts 1. issued 12/94; Front brake braided hose, Problem; Cracks from over swaging of the end fittings. Fix; Replace hose, new hose identified by blue band near the caliper end. 2. issued 3/95; Mirror stabilizer, Problem; Cracking of the front fairing supports at the welds. Fix; Installation of a stabilizer bar i e third mounting point, located between the frame neck and dash support. Also check idle RPM per factory specs (below 1000 RPM with the enrichment knob in). 3. issued 3/95; Vehicle ID number goofs. Problem; The factory got a couple of 5's & S's mixed up in the tenth character of the V.I.N. Fix; A new ID plate was riveted in place. 4. issued 4/95; The PM wheels not properly labeled. Problem; no label as per D.O.T. Fix;Install sticker provided by the Buell factory. 5. issued 6/95; Fuel cell leakage. Problem; Fuel leaks or imploding tanks, either flawed manufacture or vent check valve assembled wrong. Fix; Dealer replacement with pressure tested unit for bikes manufactured prior to 5/95. 6. issued 8/95; A reissue of 2. Problem; Because so many dealers didn't take it seriously. Fix; installation of the stabilizer bar. 7. issued 11/95; Touring handlebar recall. Problem; Handlebar breakage, not just stock S2T bars but any touring bars sold to S2 owners. Fix; Replacement of the handlebars. Replacement bars can be identified by the lower several inches being crimped where it touches the collar. The original bars were notch cut and then welded to the collar. 8. issued 12/95; Reissue of 1. Problem; Dealer noncompliance. Fix; Replace brake line. 9. Handle bar replacement; Problem; Some S2T's were shipped from the factory with S2 instead of S2T touring handlebars due to shortage from 7. Fix; Install proper S2T touring handlebars. Also there were 2 service bulletins/ advisories on the CA only bikes; 1. issued 3/95 Ignition timing/starting procedures. Problem; Differences encountered because of the Quicksilver carbs. 2. issued 11/95 Quicksilver carb problems. Problem; Throttle shaft interference with the possibility of sticking throttle. Fix; Replace throttle shaft. There was one urgent bulletin dated 10/28/94; Misrouted oil lines for bikes numbered 300-434. Problem; Oil lines switched Fix; Check for proper hookup by disconnecting the line to the oil pump and making sure it would drain the oil tank. Also keep in mind with the latest recalls; 1. Rear shock replacement for corrosion problem with the forward end being aluminum with a steel bushing. 2. Rear swingarm replacement due to cracks at the welds. 3. Fuel tank retainer installation to keep the tank on the bike in a wreak. 4. Fuel vent replacement due to possible clogging problem. | ||
| Jeffb |
 I guess I was a little bored. These are numbers off the old Buell website and Harley yearly reports. Jeff | ||
| Blake |
Thanks Jeff! We hope you get bored more often.  | ||
| Jeffb |
Anyone know anything about his picture or Bike? I have never seen a Black RR1200 before.  Jeff |
