| Author | Message | ||
     Citgo |
Hey everyone it took a while to get my account activated but I finally made it! Last year I picked up my first Buell, its a 1997 Buell S1 Lightning. I think I got it for a fair price ($2300) I bought it from the original owner and he only put 5,400 miles on it and with the original tires!. I sent it right off to my local mechanic to go through it and so far we've got new brakes lines, tires, air cleaner, and maybe an oil tank the old one is weeping.    | ||
| Victory |
Awesome S1 First thing I would do is remove the harley sticker. I would also replace the Intake seals with the new updated thicker ones. James Gaskets has a kit for these Carburetors too. This hot rod needs new intake seals every few years. The newer and thicker seals may do better. Clean off your oil tank and tighten/replace the drain hose. You dont need a new tank. this is a hot rod not a toyota. Good Luck!  (Message edited by victory on January 17, 2021) | ||
| Ebutch |
Welcome!  | ||
| Citgo |
Thanks for the tip Victory, my mechanic is putting a oval air filter on and that requires a different carb support bracket so hopefully he inspects the intake seals. When the weather warms up I'm going to have the carb gone through and possible rejetted so i will have them change the seal then. | ||
| Victory |
Dont rejet anything! The carb is set up to run already. Putting a new outside filter and bracket has nothing to do with critical intake seals. Change your way of thinking. Something need replaced due to age. Like Carb gaskets and intake seals. Here we have 23 years. Lets be smart! You have a little time and this mechanic doesnt have to be the one to do it. Get it to a dealership for the intake and carb seals. Have you ever melted a piston down the side of a cylinder? I HAVE and one of the root causes was....INTAKE LEAK! | ||
| Shoggin |
Very nice bike! These are low maintenance, very dependable fun machines  Even at a couple decades old, I don't hesitate swinging a leg over and heading a few states over | ||
| Ebutch |
Robert click on My profile then go to utube link then watch the Father of BUELL Tell The Story of Our Bikes.  | ||
| Mtjm2 |
Welcome to the madness ! This is the best place you will ever find to get information and help , and sarcasm . Now that you have a Buell , I hope your family will understand what is about to become of you . | ||
| Mnscrounger |
"This is the best place you will ever find to get information and help , and sarcasm" Mtjm2; don't forget all the insightful political commentary....  | ||
| Captainkirk |
Welcome to the madness! Nice S1, you got a good deal. Listen to the guys here, they know that of which they speak. | ||
| Kc_zombie |
Welcome. PM me for shop/parts manuals (a must have) and copies of Don Casto's Buell Knowledge and such. FYI, If you make modifications to items like swingarm fenders, exhaust etc. you may want to hang on to the stock stuff. This is the place for a wealth of knowledge for all things Buell as well as motorcycles in general. IMHO it is one of the most active forums around. Good luck! | ||
| Falloutnl |
Gorgeous S1 and a steal at that price. Stock fender alone is worth a couple hundred - so hang on to that (don't cut it down). Like others have said, some things will need to be replaced due to age. Pay special attention to intake seals. The fluid in the front fork and the fork seals could probably also do with replacement. I'd empty out the fuel tank if it's been sitting a while. See what's what with the carb (hopefully no fuel gunk in there). And yeah, if you plan to actually ride it, replace the tires  . Road 5 Michelin's are great. Bridgestone S22's are incredible, though that would mean fitting a 180 tire to a 5" rim with regards to the rear. | ||
| Citgo |
We went with the Dunlop Sprtmax Roadsmart 3. The intake seals are getting replaced now while it's still in the shop thanks for the heads up on the severity. The fork seals weeped when i brought the bike home and i told my mechanic about it and he said he'd check if they weeped on the 30 minute ride to his shop and they didn't, so i might have just had it strapped down to tight but i am going to keep and eye on them. I don't want to go way over my budget right now because next month I am picking up a 2009 Harley Davidson XR1200 and I still don't know the total cost of the Buell repairs. Rebuilding the forks are definitely on the to do list I'm having him inspect the rear suspension too. (Message edited by CITGO on January 18, 2021) | ||
| Ebutch |
Robert lighter fluid Softens old hard seals like New. Tape a rag to around seals then pore lighter fl. on rage.If it anent broke don't fix it. That vidio in last few minutes is berth of the Lightning.  (Message edited by ebutch on January 18, 2021) | ||
| Citgo |
that video was sick thanks for sharing! shout out upstate NY | ||
| Upthemaiden |
Welcome! gorgeous looking bike. I have the same bike in gray, but yours looks much nicer haha. Did you find an actual leak in the plastic of the oil tank, or is it leaking at one of the hose fittings? The little rubber fittings are sold as part of the tank, so you can't just buy the replacement pieces from HD, but they're the same part that gets used on Toro lawn mowers. If you look around the forum you can find the part number and get a set of 4-5 of them for a few dollars. Clean the tank well, put a little dab of superglue on the new piece and pop it in. As far as searching this site for information, it's easier using google than the actual search function on this site. just type in "site : badweatherbikers.com" with any words you search, it'll make your life a lot easier. When you search, don't enter any spaces for the part I put in the quotation marks. If I don't leave a space it does this.... site  adweatherbikers.com | ||
| Citgo |
Is americansportbike.com still up and running it seems more like a motoblog than a place to buy parts? | ||
| Citgo |
Can you still buy new rear isolators? | ||
| 89rs1200 |
That americansportbike.com is a new site using the old name. The old americansportbike.com was a California company selling and packaging parts for Buells. A loss to us all. Happy new year all!!! Yes, 20 Jan 2021 is the beginning of a new year. Rear Isolators, which fit all tubers from 1989 (Some fitting required) - 2002, are still available from many sellers: 47564-86 L0504.9 Rear Isolator L.H. 47564-86B 47564-86 L0505.9 Rear Isolator R.H. 47564-86B https://st-paul-harley-davidson-buell.myshopify.co m RS/RSS 1200 isolator replacement; http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/476 23/235244.html http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/476 23/837294.html | ||
| Upthemaiden |
Speaking of isolators... there's a few other things to check out too. You do have the most up to date rear suspension, so that's a big plus. Aside from that there's a few other things to check out. The primary chain tensioner was updated, the old ones were thin and could break. There's a spring plate in the clutch that is known to explode, it's good to replace that with 3 clutch plates in it's place. The oil pump drive gear wears prematurely, and it's good to inspect that and possibly replace it with the updated part. | ||
| Citgo |
Thanks I never knew about the clutch. How important is it that we use the james gaskets on the intake? | ||
| Victory |
https://www.jamesgaskets.com/product/jgi-27006-88/ I think the kit is optional but the the TWO intake seals are not. New seals are there are some updated seals that are thicker and can be colored Blue or Black. Take your time to find those. Listen to Upthemaiden. The Oil Pump pump gear should be changed ASAP. The Primary Chain Shoe upgrade is critical. You can let the clutch go until around 2ok. Mine made it to 30k but was about to let loose and explode. | ||
| Akbuell |
IIRC, the 6 pin front brake rotor was a recall item. I might be tempted to go aftermarket and hang the old one on the wall. Or save it. Since the bike is new to you, don' forget to change the brake fluid. And given the machine has not covered very many miles a year, on average, a careful brake inspection would be in order. I would look for stuck brake pistons. A congrats on your machine. Very nice! | ||
| Citgo |
Thanks for the link. All the fluids have been flushed and I had steel braided lines front and rear installed. (Message edited by CITGO on January 21, 2021) | ||
| Upthemaiden |
The front brake rotors were upgraded/updated, but I don't believe it was every any kind of safety issue. The washers on the 6 pin rotors just start to rattle over time, so if they're making more noise than you like you can swap it, otherwise you're fine. Every time I come here to read a new post and start to scroll down, I stop at that first picture and I've gotta say, I'm impressed that bike made it home with you still upright on that trailer haha. That front strap leaving the bars at a 45 degree angle, hitting the edge of what appears to be a very old piece of 3/8-1/2" plywood and then going down vertically to the rail on the trailer is making me a bit retroactively anxious! | ||
| Citgo |
I agree it was very shoddy how we strapped it down only had to drive 65+ miles like that  | ||
| Victory |
Aging HD motors. Really drives the prices down on these. So much to do for age and then we have to consider all the upgrades. Got to put in a new engine sprocket shaft seal too when the clutch is done. After all that is done start praying the base gaskets dont start leaking anytime soon. | ||
| Court |
The recall, for the front brake drive pins, was as a result of many techs not properly installing the c-clips. http://badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/3842/B0 13-263560.pdf | ||
| Falloutnl |
Aging HD motors. Really drives the prices down on these. So much to do for age and then we have to consider all the upgrades. Got to put in a new engine sprocket shaft seal too when the clutch is done. After all that is done start praying the base gaskets dont start leaking anytime soon. Any engine that is almost a quarter of a century old is going to need some work. Given how relatively easy it is to work on these, I'm not seeing many negatives here in that regard. Though I will admit, the pushrod cover gaskets have given me plenty of grief when replacing cylinders and pistons. | ||
| Upthemaiden |
"the pushrod cover gaskets have given me plenty of grief when replacing cylinders and pistons." Upgrading to the Hammer pushrod bases sounds like a good plan someday, but I've watched the video of Dan installing them on an engine, and considering even he had to fight with them a little, I'm sure it'll turn into a legitimate afternoon project for me just to get those on.} |
