| Author | Message | ||
     Gnomad |
The wife and I agree-the S2 is all that and a bag o'chips, but the ergos are just a bit outside of what we find really comfortable. Made my first longish ride yesterday and it wasn't bad, but the funny thing is that I rode to the local Buell emporium to score a sling bag and the XB12S I rode actually fit me better than the S2! So let me tell you experts what I'm thinking and you can maybe tell me how to get there. Handlebars. They are kind of unique, like upside-down clipons. Are there any bars that come up and back just a bit? A conversion kit for different bars? Can I scoot them up on the fork tubes some and get a litte reach that way? Footpegs-if they were just a bit lower I think they would be better. I realize that I would lose some cornering clearance but fer heaven's sake how much clearance does a guy need on a Buell? The S2 corners like a cat without having to hang off in the sport bike fashion, I just push the bars down and over she goes, and I haven't come anywhere near the pegs, judging by the chicken strips. If I really wanted to ride like that, I'm on the wrong bike anyway. The bike I'm looking for is more along the lines of Old Mil's Frankenbuell, a sport touring type bike. I'm not trying to make an Electra Glide out of it, but overnight touring would be nice. Ideas? | ||
| Gnomad |
 Or since I'm a dual sport guy maybe this could be the next direction for Buell? | ||
| Leftcoastal |
I'll be the first, likely of many, to recommend that you convert to the S2T bars and footpeg mounts. I assume your bike is the S2 unit. The "T" bars are about 1 1/2 inch taller (is that dimension right, guys?) and the footpeg mounts drop the pegs about an inch. AL IMHO, that 2nd post, though a nice job of computer aided design, would be a heavy over powered and underhandling POS bike with no accepting market of interested buyers | ||
| Court |
>>>>IMHO, that 2nd post, though a nice job of computer aided design, would be a heavy over powered and underhandling POS bike with no accepting market of interested buyers Man, you nailed that one Al! It's a GREAT picture but it'd suck as a motorcycle. Ituitively it appears that the front end would collapse while the bike was standing still. The VROD is a HOG in it's current form, it'd be a PIG as a dirt bike. The VROD, like myself, is about 40# overweight for what it is expected/touted to do. Just glad the folks that made me didn't loose their jobs over doing it.  | ||
| Court |
Oh yes...you had a question....sorry "water on the brain" there for a moment. Your idea might work. Check out THESE HANDLEBARS from Tim at West-Tek and score yourself a set of lowered Buell touring pegs. You can find the pegs on e-Bay of have someone here make a set for you. Warn us before you stick that watercan in a dual sport frame again. http://www.cjnetworks.com/~westtek/S2BarsBroc.htm | ||
| Gnomad |
"Warn us before you stick that watercan in a dual sport frame again. " Well I figure it's easier to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission.... The VRDS picture came up from a discussion I'd had on another website. A local rider has a BMW K75 that he decided to sell on ebay a part at a time until he had a change of heart, and offered me the rolling and running chassis bereft of bodywork. I had the idea to make a dual sport K75 out of it. It couldn't be much worse an idea than the R1150GS, which I've ridden with on DS rides, and he waited very patiently for us back where the trail got ugly....but I digress. I'm going to check out the bars, just what I'm looking for. Pegs might be a bit harder but I have been scanning ebay pretty faithfully. Thanks for the heads up on that!! | ||
| 1313 |
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| Leftcoastal |
I take back everything I said! Jeez! I tend to hang around those that are - well - "inclined toward customization" which is another term for having the propensity to F-@# up perfectly good motorcycles cause it's "cool". Man, they got NOTHING on these dirt bike guys! I had no idea such things were occurring right under our street bike noses! I guess the idea of 'Way too much horsepower is almost enough' exists in all worlds! AL | ||
| Jim_sb |
Court, are those West-tek bars taller than the Buell issue Touring bars for the S2? Are they for 1" or 7/8" grips? If they're not shorter than my current Buell issue touring bars I'd get them just to be able to switch to 7/8" grips. Jim in SB | ||
| Devdawg |
Jim, I have a set of custom touring S2 handlebars that I have laying around. They are a taller than regular S2 touring bars. I'll send you pic if you're interested. | ||
| Jim_sb |
Not sure if these will work, but they might... http://www.mgcycle.com/bars.html | ||
| Jim_sb |
Sure, send the pic. Jim_SB@hotmail.com Jim | ||
| Firemanjim |
Get a top clamp from an S-1,X-1 etc and run any bars you want.Just gotta change over ALL the electrical,cables,throttle,clutch and brake mounting and levers,---no sweat.And of course you loose the great S-2 throttle lock. What are you thinking??? | ||
| Jim_sb |
Hello FMJ, I'm thinking 1) I prefer 7/8" controls for comfort and 2) I'd like perhaps 1" or so more rise than my S2T style bars provide. If I had 7/8" bars I could use the stock controls and just sleeve the area where they mount using pvc. Toss on some XB grips and voila! While we're chatting, do you recall what # needle you liked best with your Qwiksilver II when your bike was stock? I think I'm running a #12 in there now out about 25 clicks. I just tossed on a Supertrapp (got it from Ferris) and not sure if I should tweak it or not. Mileage seems to be down a bit - perhaps around 40mpg - I was getting around 45mpg with the former V&H c/f SS2R... FYI I have both the optional adjustment knobs you recommended years ago... | ||
| Doughnut |
And of course you loose the great S-2 throttle lock. What? ? ? My S2 has a throttle lock? Where?  | ||
| Doughnut |
Hot damn! It does, though I'm missing the screw, anyone with a spare or know the part number and cost? | ||
| Aaomy |
harley shop, cost like 7 dollars for the kit and plastic shoe.. just ask the parts guy for one for a 95 sportster... that way he dosent give you the confused look,, harley controls changed in 96 but the 96 buells use 95 and earlier harley controls.. hope this helps. dont have the # but any harley shop part guy should be able to give you what you need. | ||
| Doughnut |
$2 for the screw and wheel, or $6 for "the kit". Kit comes with screw and a spring and a lock clip or some such. Would the screw do the job well enough, or shake loose. Probably going to get the kit just to be safe. Have had the bike almost 1.5 years and it never dawned on me that the S2 had a throttle lock.  | ||
| Rex |
fireman jim...there is a throttle lock..you never mentioned it to me....rex | ||
| Jim_sb |
You guys are funny. I've had the throttle locks for years on first the Sportster, then the S2, never used 'em. I guess I'm haulin' all the extra weight around needlessly.  Jim | ||
| Phillyblast |
Ya know FMJ ya coulda mentioned this at Aaron's place a few years ago - it took me three days to get feeling back in my right hand after the trip back. | ||
| S2pengy |
Kit #56397-74c from my receipt dated 9/96 number might have changed... | ||
| Doughnut |
Good to see I'm not the only one who was oblivious. | ||
| Aaomy |
get the kit, the screw alone will vibrate out, you need the clip to keep it from falling out!! and you'll have to buy the shoe extra i think, a small plastic piece that keep the pressure spread evenly over a larger area, keeps it from chewing up your throttle sleeve. pay the extra couple bucks and do it right. youll be glad you did if you ride very far, have thanked god for that little addition may a time.. | ||
| Aaomy |
another thought,, will the 7/8 grip sleeve mount into the 1" bar housing? that might be a dampener on your 1" bar with 7/8 grips idea, thats what always kept me form trying it, no problem on brake side just that sleeve issue, if their even is one,, | ||
| Leftcoastal |
Instead of the 7/8" sleeve idea, the new model sportsters (2005) have a "reduced size" grip, which would likely fit the stock 1" bar on the S2. It should fit the housing on the pre-1996 style controls, but that would need to be researched further to verify. All my bikes have the throttle lock - my hand falls asleep alot and if I can't release the grip and "shake it out" I'm in trouble! Try stopping a hurtling turbo charged RS with a 'soft' (read: useless) rear brake and a numb right hand! | ||
| Henrik |
My beef with the 1" bars is mostly that I can't get a quality front master cylinder of the bore I want that'll fit 1" bars. If it wasn't because I'd need to do quite a bit of electrical magic to the bar harness to make it work with late model Buell switches, I'd have changed bars a long time ago. Henrik | ||
| Jim_sb |
Aaomy, my idea is to go with 7/8" bars and grips, and just sleeve the 1" HD switch gear on. It works, some of the Cafe Sportster folks have done it. The new reduced size grip is worth considering in the meantime. As for rear brakes, if you're really braking hard aren't they all pretty useless? It's not like there's much weight on the rear tire at that point. Jim | ||
| Jim_sb |
Henrik, how hard can it be? Solder and shrink-wrap? I think the toughest part would be figuring out how to re-wire the automatic canceling turn signal... Fools rush in... Jim | ||
| Henrik |
how hard can it be? Ahhh, the famous last words  Awhile back I started looking over the wiring diagrams (I hate wiring ...) and you're correct, the turn signals had me confused. If I can I got as far as realizing there are some plugs behind the fairing, so I should be able to pull the original bar wiring harness and replace it with whatever I make up for the new switch gear. "Should be able to" being the operative phrase here. I may get some time to do this come winter ... Now if I were to go with 7/8" bars, the Guzzi bars look nice. The trouble with finding options is that we need 54 mm clamps and the bars rising completely different from most other bikes. I had a set of Cycle Cat bars home for testing, and it *almost* worked. Their largest clamp is 53mm, but they could machine a 54mm clamp for me. Their tallest S-style riser flipped so the rise faced backwards was an almost perfect match for the stock S2T bars in bar position. However, the riser interfered with the banjo bolt of the master cylinder, so it was a no go. However, if you took an S-style riser set-up and had the bar clamping section machined in reverse and mounted the risers so the rise was towards the center of the bike and pointing back (I know, I'm not sure what I mean either ) ... then it would work with slightly longer bars. Alot of expensive custom fabrication for something that ought to work... Henrik |
