| Author | Message | ||
     S2t_bama |
Hi Everyone, I have a major problem with my S2T, it sheared off one of the isolator bracket to head bolts (left side) and this caused the right side of the head to crack. I was told it is a plain old Sportster head, so I've been looking for auctions. I have a question about the Sportster head. It looks like the stock 16682-87A has a stud in the left front side. Does anyone know if it is threaded, so I can just double nut and back it out? Thanks! P.S. Sorry if this double posts, I couldn't figure out how to bump it out of the archive. | ||
| 1313 |
Does anyone know if it is threaded, so I can just double nut and back it out? Yes, indeed, it is threaded. Double nutting the stud to remove it should work just fine. I was told it is a plain old Sportster head That's true, for the most part. A standard Sportster head can be made to work on a Buell tuber. When the S2 engines came into Buell the front head was EXACTLY the same as the Sportster. One of the mounting holes in the front head had to be enlarged (drilled to a larger diameter) and tapped to the thread size specified by Buell. There was a depth stop used on the drill, so you just can't drill it all the way to China, but it needs to be drilled deep enough to allow the bolt to be installed properly. This drilled hole was how we caught an S1 engine that came in with an 883 front head on it. S1 front heads (Lightning and Thunderstorm) had the proper bolt hole sizes already drilled and tapped into the head, and when Jerry (original owner of S2-T VIN 321) went for the drill to drill out the Lightning head I stopped him and investigated further to find an 883 head on the front and a Thunderstorm head on the rear cylinder. Needless to say, that engine went back to H-D. But enough about that. This si the first I have seen or heard of this failure on an S2. Sure, on other tubers it's not all uncommon, but I always thought due to the design of the S2 front isolator mount it was more robust than later front isolator mounts. I've got nearly 120,000 miles on my S2 and, even though I've had 3 different heads and front isolator mounts on it, I've never had any problem related to the front isolator mount/frount isolator mount bolts/head cracking. I think I might have my original S2 heads (and the front would still have it's original mount installed) laying around somewhere, 1313 | ||
| Two_seasons |
Brankin: Off topic, but can you share VIN 321 history with me as you know it? PM would work if you have some time. I now own S2-T VIN 321. I bought it a little over one year ago. Picked it up in Lees Summit, MO. Pretty sure Kevyn owned it prior to the owner I bought it from. See my profile for mods on this bike. Thanks. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Brankin - I suspect too many wheelies - S2, S3, S1, you name it - will snap a head. Given the blown fork seals and the snapped head on my Defender project...I'm guessing the PO loved himself some Buell torque-wheelies! | ||
| S2t_bama |
Rat, I never wheelied the bike. I guess I have lofted the front by an inch or 2 on an aggressive launch once or twice. That's about it. So, I can't really blame it on that. I hope it is a fluke, not to be repeated. | ||
| Ratbuell |
If you're the only owner then yes, that is likely not the issue. An improperly-installed bolt, or a worn/stretched/no-longer-torqued bolt, can also cause this issue. That bracket needs to be tight to the head. Any wobble-room turns into breakage very quickly. All my critical fasteners (such as these) are indexed with touchup paint, for a quick visual check. Paint lines up? Good to go. Paint out of alignment? Take another bike, and check torque before riding this one. |
