| Author | Message | ||
     Rocket88 |
Hi all. As I do more research on the 2001 S-3 I want to buy, the reliability thing's spooking me. I assume being a 2001, it should be less buggy then early bikes. Not a novice at weird stuff, I've ridden Pantah based Ducati's for the last 20 yrs, with a Moto Guzzi, and occasional Airhead Beemer thrown in for variety. Done 9/10ths of the work on them myself. Drew the line after doing Desmo shims! Are the frame breakage and motor mount problems taken care of by '01, or is there a good way of checking on them? Also thinking original owner and 24k of sorting out are in my favor. He denies any recalls, tho. Thanks, Bill D. | ||
| Skntpig |
Frame breakage is a new one to me. Mounts are a maintenance item on this and many vehicles. Motor is solid as a rock as are electronics brakes and suspension. Hmmm that reminds me I need to order new motor mounts for my cadillac. | ||
| Hootowl |
Last bike I heard of with frame problems were the goldwings. The new rear isolators (motor mounts) are pretty tough. You should never have to replace those. I have a 12 year old X1 that still has the original front mount. Nothing wrong with it. The one on my S2 is torn though. Depends on the bike, and how hard you land wheelies. When you say he denies any recalls, do you mean he claims he has never had any recall work done? If you end up buying the bike, you should get those taken care of. If you can get the VIN there are folks here who can check on recall status. | ||
| Slaughter |
I have an 01 S3 about 40,000 miles. I don't thrash it, keep the revs low unless I need 'em. Let her warm up before riding off, change oil regularly, and ride it like I expect it to last (because I WANT IT TO) I can't check on recalls but I'm original owner and haven't received any recalls or advisories in the mail. | ||
| Hootowl |
There were NO recalls for 2001 S-3's? Not even rear shocks, or throttle cable clamps? | ||
| Court |
>>>>Are the frame breakage If there has EVER been a frame break on a Buell it was secret kept from me. Internet mouth spew. . . | ||
| Rocket88 |
I'd heard reports of frame cracks on early Buells. The no recalls on 2001 may be correct. I've tried to Google on them, and am coming up with none..... | ||
| Jramsey |
I'd bet you couldn't break a tuber frame if it was run over with a D11R CAT. | ||
| Ratbuell |
First I've heard of frame breakage too. Only thing close I can think of is *front fairing subFRAME support* cracking on the S2's. And all that did was let the front bodywork vibrate more, and eventually cracked fiberglass. Not "broken frame" by any stretch. And as noted above, motor mounts are wear items. Plan to replace them as part of regular maintenance...every 20,000 miles or so, depending on how you ride / wheelie / etc. Honestly though...if you're that worried about it, go buy a Buick. Or a Hyundai with a 10 year warranty. I just put 100 great miles on my '95 S2 on a short hop without a second thought, and the bike rewarded me in every turn. | ||
| Rocket88 |
No need to get touchy. Just trying to check out an unfamiliar bike. As I said, I've almost always had bikes that required something of a commitment and some "fettling". This is the last couple of rides....M750 and R60/5 And, both were great rides, given proper {owner done!} maintenance.   (Message edited by Rocket88 on May 18, 2011) (Message edited by Rocket88 on May 18, 2011) | ||
| Sanders |
I got a 2001 S3, runs well. No problems other than me tinkering with it. | ||
| Davegess |
I'd heard reports of frame cracks on early Buells. That would be incorrect. Some small number had the sub frame that holds the front fairing crack but that is an easy fix and not a danger. I have seen frames that had been crashed so hard the forks tore out of the triple trees and the frames were fine. The one I recall, and my memory is bad, the frame was actually still straight. These early bikes are as reliable as any Ducati from that period, maybe better. | ||
| Essmjay |
I have in house, '99 s3 and '02 s3, and they feel like two different models. Lots more refined on the '02, but I am replacing jugs and pistons due to factory piston being cracked and poor fitment on the pistons and cylinders overall. Expect to upgrade the top end at some point, easy job if you have the parts in hand. I had to redo the top end on the '99 as well, same sloppy fitment from the factory leading to early top end problems. After upgrade the '99 still felt a little crude, the '02 feels a lot more sorted out and I think the '01 should be the same. Still prefer my s2 though. Shane | ||
| Davegess |
Well those are technically H-D issues as they built all those motors to their specs. The quality of them was far better than it was in the 70's but still far from the Japanese. | ||
| Essmjay |
Yes Dave, I was not pointing at Buell on the possible engine reliability problems, and my problems may have been a aberration, but it is still 2 for 2. I know that HD built the engines and it is good to point that out. For me, the finer points of the s3's outweigh the problems. My only real gripe with the s3's is the difficulty of changing a belt when on a road trip. My s2 has had a Thunderstorm conversion with Wiseco pistons before I bought it, so I leave it out of the count. | ||
| Davegess |
The tube frame bikes, and the earlier they are the more this is true, are hand made works of engineering art. However mass produced items are usually more consistently put together. Robots don't get tired. Also the low volume means that the amount of money and time for testing are less than for a bike that has much higher production numbers. Sorta like Ferrari versus a Toyota. That Toyota is gonna have less issues than the Ferrari but on the down side you will be driving a Toyota. An S3 will require more TLC than a VFR Honda but it is well worth the small amount of effort needed. | ||
| Xl1200r |
I had a pile of issues with my 2002 S3 when I got it, but they were mostly all due to neglect and incompetence from the previous owner and not a fault of machine. I have it well sorted now and wouldn't think twice about riding it across the country (in fact I have). Aside from high oil usage on the highway (still not sure if this is a leak or it's burning) and having to check the bike over a lot to make sure things haven't fallen off, it's pretty solid. | ||
| Bernard |
I have a 2006 Ducati Multistrada 1100 and a 1995 Buell S2. The Ducati is the Ferrari and the Buell the Corvette. Last service on the Ducati was $1,600, and the last service on the Buell was about $35 for engine oil and filter. In fact, after sorting a 14 year-old used bike with 19K on the odometer, installing new tires, new fork seals, changing all fluids, updating the chain tensioner and fine-tuning the carb (something you don't have to do), I've done two years of riding with not a single hiccup. I ride year round here in SoCal, about 150 miles every other weekend on the Buell, on average, but all I do is check tire pressure, engine oil, lights, and make sure all bolts and nuts are tight. The Corvette may not be as exotic as the Ferrari, but it's every bit as entertaining and so much more affordable and durable! | ||
| Sspilotmi |
My 98 S3T has been reliable. There are usually little issues going on. Rear taillight bulbs going out, brake light switches fail, bolts vibrate loose. The bigger issues with the bike have been wheelie related. Leaking fork seals and a broken belt. Don't do wheelies anymore. Bike is now at 60,000 miles and running strong. It is the slowest bike in the garage, but the most fun to get on and ride. | ||
| Agusta74 |
Dave said... "The tube frame bikes, and the earlier they are the more this is true, are hand made works of engineering art." Well said Dave.  Regards Gavin | ||
| Dave_02_1200 |
My 2001 S3T is as reliable as any bike could be. It requires minimal maintenance and it does what I want it to do. Also, it is nice to ride a bike with character. I am very happy with my S3T! | ||
| Fahren |
The Craigslist post is gone, so the OP either bought it or lost out on a great bike. | ||
| Chauly |
My '97 S-3 "T" has been a love-hate relationship. As Dave Gess pointed out, engine problems such as the two motor rebuilds done on mine were H-D problems, but painted the bike with a very broad brush indeed (as far as my wife is concerned!). That being said, I just had the rear muffler mount fracture yesterday morning, and it's tied up with s/s welding rod (hi-tech baling wire) until I can get another bracket... | ||
| Lars243 |
Chauly, what caused your motor rebuilds? I had that happen twice as well with my 98 S3T. | ||
| Chauly |
The first time was crank pin failure:  Rebuilt by a local "reputable" shop. Evidently didn't find the problem, so 12K later it went again. This time did it myself (with friends), and found the front connecting rod was either machined wrong or bent, riding the edge of the rollers. (Another possibility that I wasn't able to check was that the front jug isn't perpendicular to the crank c/l, but the wear pattern in the cylinder wasn't abnormal.) Put it back together, and it had an oil leak around the front cylinder pushrod tubes! It never had leaked before, and the tubes, jugs, and heads were the same. We took the tubes over to Schaeffer's, and the service mgr. said "oh, I know what you need", and came out with two new tubes: the shoulders were 1/8" higher and a sharper angle. Same P/N. He said that sometimes they put two o-rings to get them to stop leaking... WTF??? Leak fixed, back on the road. | ||
| Lars243 |
1st time, the bushings spun in the case, grenaded the right side. 1K out of warranty, Buell/HD wouldn't stand by the bike. So a buddy who had a shop, rebuilt, sent the case out to have it line reamed. Apparently they didn't do it correctly and about 3K miles later it grenaded again, leaving me stranded in Holy Toledo, OH on a cross country trip. So I ended up building a new motor. S&S case for Buell. The S&S case addressed the brass bushings - replacing them with needle bearings. This case was "supposedly" the 1st one they did for Buells specifically. I added a knifed and lightened crank set, bored the jugs out .50 over, J&B pistons, Andrews N2 cams, bagged the CV carb, went with a Mikuni 42mm, along with the Kook's Header System, it is a formidable torque monster. Amazingly enough, my mpg went to hell LOL. That was about 7 yrs ago. The "Mule" has been in moth-balls for last five as my back required a bagger. Now thanks to the Chiro, back is fixed and am going to pull her out of moth balls and hit some twisties again. The engine is worth more than I could sell the bike for! So yah I've had the love/hate relationship too!  | ||
| Vecchio_lupo |
It appears that major component failure is rare but it happens, ask a new BMW owner about final drive issues. I can only speak for myself. I have a 99 S3T ( I know, the T was only an option for 99, not a real model) with 38k on the clock, it was well sorted when I purchased it a couple of years ago, thanks to a wonderful "Original Owner" who made very nice upgrades. I have ridden it all over Germany, Ireland, some of England and most of Northern Italy. All the autobahn work at around 90mph for long distances and then good 2nd and 3rd gear mountain work in between. I cracked the original front motor mount at 10 years, replaced with the very nice NHRS unit. I now need a starter relay and I've repacked the race exhaust once. I am pretty close to pulling the trigger on a Baker 6 speed cassette for it. Get the S3, they are great and I believe history will view them as the best of the touring tubers. | ||
| 46champ |
XR1200 if you are using oil and can't figure out why it is probably valve seals. | ||
| Xl1200r |
It's been a bit of a mystery. I noticed this for the first time on my cross-country trip. The bike hasn't used any measurable amount of oil before, but after spending a couple days blasting across the great plains, the oil light came on in the Black Hills and it took over 2 quarts. The bottom of the engine was covered in oil. I just added as needed for the rest of the trip and made it to CA just fine. When I got home, I took a closer look and couldn't see where the leak was coming from - it looked like oil lines, but there was just too much all over to really know, so I cleaned everything off and kept an eye on it to see where it's coming from. That was in June of last year. To this day, the underside is still dry and for all intents and purposes oil free. The tank is a little low, but not much and I haven't added any oil to it since it's last change. All that was different was riding out west, going to 75-80+mph for hours at a time, day after day. I don't ride like that here in the northeast, so I'm assuming that has something to do with it. I'm baffled. Are valve seals a big deal in this engine? I'll probably do them down the road when I upgrade to XB rockers. | ||
| Gomo |
I bought my 99 S3(T) as a leftover model in 2001. It ran good for a short bit but then was plagued with problems (most listed in my profile). It took a cpuple of years for all the problems to develop but between the support of Buell and help from folks on BadWeb, all the issues were resolved. Since then the bike has run smoothly without any problems, and after 10 years of owning it, the S3 is still fun to ride and just as comfortable for either zipping around or long hauls. | ||
| 1eyert |
I have a 2000 S3 with quite a few upgrades and one major engine rebuild, valve issue but I figured since it was apart why not? 1250 kit with ported/polished/flowbenched heads, mild cam, oversized valves. Forcewinder intake, D&D muffler, Jag oil cooler, banke controls, some carbon fiber bits, zero gravity screen, adjustable shorty levers... Lots of fun, power wheelies, 140mph+. No complaints, now has a couple of oil leaks and some cosmetic bodywork issues but starts every time and runs like greased lightning! No regrets, looking forward to the next 10 years at least. |
