| Author | Message | ||
     Ed_ucation |
Dear badwebers, let me introduce myself. My name Paul from Germany and I am the new owner of this red snap 1995 S2. It's from the first batch and it's marked #191. Thanks to Basti I was able track it down in a shed close to the Dutch border where it had sat for many years. I saw it and had to have it. It was brought over in the late 90s and unfortunately wasn’t cared for too much . It’s a poor neglected girl with lots of scuffs and dings not so much on the bodywork but rather on the frame and engine (Brankin said it's not that bad). The bodywork itself is in fairly good shape although not perfect at all and will require some minor epoxy fixing. I can tell that it was never dropped as I cannot find any evidence of that nor left, nor right. It is a pre-recall bike so none of the recalls has been performed on this one as it left the US probably too early. Somebody in the past did a top end rebuild on the engine and did a very poor job (base gasket is showing and it is leaking from every possible spot). The fins are not broken but somebody definitely treated them with a multi-tool grinder or something of that nature. It's not catastrophic but it's definitely a multi-hour job for me to make it look perfect again. The clock shows 9.977mls and the original front brake rotor indicates that the millage might actually be correct as it doesn’t show too much of wear. Thanks to Basti but also to Brankin I have already learned a great deal about the bike. Thanks to both of you!! As the S2 was never imported to Europe officially by HD there are close to none to choose from. This one wasn’t for sale, either but I explained to the owner that he would not need it anymore and that he would do himself a big favor by selling it to me. So he did. I do not intend to ride the bike until it looks the way I want it, again. The goal is to fix everything necessary starting front to back whilst keeping it as original as possible. There is a guy here in Germany that had bought all of the old stock of White Power service components before WP was acquired by KTM. So he will refurbish the front legs as well as the underslung shock for me. Engine work I will do myself. I will also contact a paint shop to check out, if they could apply some spot repair without ruining the original paint. This S2 comes with plastic saddlebags that originally stem from an S2T, I believe. They are black but the coating consists of foliatec that can easily be peeled off. Underneath I detected a beatufill red color that matches the bike. I belief you all have lots of experience with the S2 so I hope it is OK to bother you with questions as they arise. I have allready gathered some knowledge as I have read alot about it and also already own a M2 Cyclone and an Ulysses XT.    | ||
| Ebutch |
NICE  | ||
| Ebutch |
Handy wise information www.doncasto.net/DonCastosS2ConventionalWisdom.htm l | ||
| Ebutch |
Easy low cost way to get rid of that S2 kickstand lean. www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/47623/7286 02.html?1444400344 | ||
| Ed_ucation |
Thanks Ebutch, all of this I have already discovered and sucked in. I appreciate your advice!! | ||
| Ebutch |
That rear shock is original I 've had great luck with them 140,000 miles no trouble but they did have a recall on them.Some broke but I and others use them.You can renew shock seals with lighter fluid it softens them.  | ||
| Ed_ucation |
Yes, thank you. But the guy has new ones. So I will have him to replace everything that is necessary. Done is done…. | ||
| Williamscottrobertson |
Nice find! Glad you rescued it! I rescued and restored my s2 I’ve the past year or so. I’m a bit of a purist on the S2 so i restored it to stock. I’ve got lots of experience through the process, so if you have questions I’ll try to help. The parts that I found not to be easy are: the original turn signals (I ended up having to make them, documented in this forum), the rubber bottom out bushing on the WP rear shock /WP fork seals (sounds like you may have a source for these - that’s great!), decals, and of course the paint (it’s sikkens which is no longer in production and the PPG crosses aren’t a good match, I ended up doing an entire respray yellow pearl which isn’t as nice as original). There are other things that are buell specific that are a pain if you need them but, luckily the motor is mostly stock XL1200 Sportster. Before:  After:  | ||
| Williamscottrobertson |
Oh and do the updated primary tensioner, updated detent plate, new style crank seal, updated exhaust hanger, “bronze” oil pump gear (mine was in poor condition at 15k miles on the clock). I’m sure you’ll do the updated one piece rocker box gasket while your in there. Intake gaskets, CVP carb kit, I even did the late style isolators with the ears on the rear (you have to remove some rubber), new style iso up front goes under the frame on the s2, make sure it has f911 front isolator bolts torqued correctly to new specs, I replaced the front rotor rattler with a late model nissin rotor. I also had the base gasket leak and put in the pig tails kit with James silicone bead base gaskets. I recently put in a shorai battery and probably some other stuff I’m forgetting. But that’s the important stuff, haha !! (Message edited by Williamscottrobertson on March 12, 2019) | ||
| Jolly |
That yellow sure looks good on an S2! | ||
| Ed_ucation |
@William, thank you. About the blinkers: Mine also doesn't come with original blinkers, at least not in the front. But the way they look to me they seem to be the same as on a 1994-96 Triumph Daytona 1000. Correct? They are available new as well as used. You can find them on eBay probably also at your local Triumph dealer (that is if they have a dealer Network in the U.S.  | ||
| Williamscottrobertson |
Ed, the old triumph ones have stems that are too long to fit in the recess of the S2 saddlebags. The front doesn’t matter I suppose, however I think short stems all around are correct. The new replacement triumph signals for the old tiger are similar to the “newer” Tuber signals. I ordered some and posted them on the turn signals thread. I ended up ordering signals like those above from a European seller on eBay (you may Have better luck), the stems from MG cycle to cut shorter, and the new hardware from alibaba. All that is on the turn signal stem thread. | ||
| Williamscottrobertson |
The problem with buying old on eBay is the stem rubber is still brittle with age. Someone even made a stem from a mold and re drilled a hole in it. Came out fairly nice as I recall. | ||
| Tigermann |
Triumph on the left, S2 on the right  I've spent a lot of time hunting down a few good turn signals on eBay over the years - but regardless, the stalks become too brittle to keep on the bike regularly, so they sit on the shelf for safe keeping and both by S2s run XB turn signals I used smoked XB units - I believe the part numbers for L & R are Y0526.K and Y0527.K | ||
| Ed_ucation |
I see. So the problem lies not with the blinkers itself but with the stem. I will look for that thread. Thank you! | ||
| Jolly |
I was never a fan of the stock turn signals... to blocky, and the bike doesn’t have a straight line anywhere! The XB turn signals “fit” the lines of the bike so much better.... IMHO..... | ||
| Gmaple |
I agree with jolly on using xb signals | ||
| Dave |
Nice S2. Congratulations! I have a Red Snap '95 as well. There's no side stand "problem". It's a feature. :-) The S2 just assumes its normal position of quiescence even whilst parked. DAve | ||
| Firemanjim |
Nice, even has the billet top triple! | ||
| K12pilot |
Welcome to the asylum. | ||
| Basti |
the bike went to the right home + right new owner. Glad we did the trip near the Dutch border :-) Have fun with it Paul | ||
| Bsanorton |
Thanks to the link to Don Castro's site. I was wondering if the S2 needed the upgraded Y bracket for the exhaust | ||
| Screamer |
Paul, I might have new turn signals and mirrors- I’ll look tomorrow. Sending you a PM. BSA.... Though not as critical on the S2 as some of the other models, the Y exhaust bracket is a good upgrade for any Tubeframe. | ||
| Ed_ucation |
Hi guys, its been an while and since this thread was revived I figured there was room for an update. Well, since the S2 is in pretty rough condition I am trying to bring it back to its original beauty without compromising on its originality too much. I found a new pair of blinkers in a motorcycle store in Italy of which I think that they are correct (please judge and let me know if am not correct). All the aluminum parts I took off and had them reworked and I believe they turned out pretty well. I just unwrapped 2-3 parts to give you an idea. The rest is is still in the box as it came from the polishing shop…Due to the lack of the support bracket kit the front fairing bracket was broken. I had it rewelded and gave it a new paint lob. The guy at the painting shop measured the color by some spectrograph computer to perfectly match the "sky white". He did a very good job and it even turned out to be a European RAL-Code. A major issue war the bearing hub of the rear Marchesini wheel. When I first got the bike I checked for the belt tension and immediately relaxed it, but the damage was already done. Finding a shop to rework the bearing hub was not that easy but I am getting the wheel back next week, hopefully. I have a Cometic gasket kit, new isolators, a European spec headlight ( I already have the HELLA headlight) and other parts on order so I hope they will be in the mail by next week...It`s rather the minor parts that I have difficulties with like some small grommets and rubber washers (see pic) that need to be replaced, but I will find a solution. I am waiting for weather conditions to cheer up so I can get back to work. All suspension components are already rebuilt. My plan is to bring it through the technical inspection and registration process this summer. I am confident… :-)       | ||
| Bsanorton |
Looks like Christmas morning with all those parts spread out! Good luck on your reassembly! | ||
| Falloutnl |
Very happy to see a European S2 is being cared for like this. | ||
| Firemanjim |
2 items I found necessary to carry with me over my S-2 ownership--(maybe getting one back??!!)are a couple of the circuit breakers behind the battery, common automotive part but can get weathered back there and cause erratic running. And the timing cup, cheap part as a spare. I went through 3 of them on 2 different S-2's. It will leave you stranded. The aftermarket used to offer a billet replacement. | ||
| Hawgford |
I've done hundreds of electronic ignition change overs in sporties, and big twins,always use the dynatek 2Ki and the gold tinted timing cup. Never had a problem,ever,so whatever is makin it fail,must be operator error,lol.Theres no need to " go gorilla" on the cup bolt and with a washer in the wrong place the cup is flexing and not spinning in true circle pattern or whatever you want to call it.You could check it buy marking it with a sharpie and see if its hittin anywhere.The bolt also has to be specific to this as well,so that might be the problem.I have a bone stock early factory Harley ignition on a 1980 FLT road boat[for sale,seat and bars sanitized,lol] and it has never failed and the cup is in perfect condition..Aftermarket or Harley never had a problem.... | ||
| Firemanjim |
As I understand it more than a couple of the S-2 fellows had the issue. And several Sportster folks I talked with over the years carried a spare as I did.Learned of the billet one from Aaron Wilson as he ran one on the Team Elves bike. Not exactly a newbie with these bikes--- and the first break was on the completely stock untouched motor on the side of the Blue Ridge Parkway at 30K. The second one on another stock, untouched S-2 with similar miles. | ||
| Screamer |
There were multiple timing cup failures during the mid/late 90s. Although it wasn’t widespread, it occurred across multiple XL/Buell models. At the time, a stamping issue at the supplier was suspected. |
