| Author | Message | ||
     Milar |
I love S1’s, this is my second. My first came from Crossroads Performance in Wisconsin. It was their catalogue bike and loaded with good stuff. One of the few bikes I regret selling. IMHO the S1 in Nuc Blue/Molten Orange is one of the most outrageous factory motorcycles ever made. The essence of riding, just 2 wheels and a big bad motor. A little over a year ago I got this S1 from Steve Ford. Steve had done a great job upgrading the mechanicals, but hadn’t been able to complete the details. After I got it I spent a few months ironing out the kinks and polishing the jewel. Thanks Steve, it leads a pampered life here in Arizona. It was in the 40’s when I fired up Sunday morning. The high was to be around 75, but nights are cold in the desert. We turn on our heated seats below 60, so my Vanson jacket was much appreciated. My destination was Motorcycle Mechanics Institute (MMI) in North Phoenix. The site of the antique motorcycle clubs annual Vintage Bike Show and Swap Meet. I planned a few stops along the way. My first stop is the Roosevelt Row Arts and Historic District in downtown Phoenix. Locals call it RoRo. There are some wonderful graffiti walls there and I wanted to shoot the S1 in front of one of them. I thought graffiti would compliment the S1’s bad boy/streetfighter nature. After dodging any number of vagrants waking up from their Saturday night benders, I found a couple of walls I liked. The result is below.  Leaving downtown I took the Black Canyon Freeway to MMI. I had two goals: the first was to visit the swap and see if I could find some parts or maybe even a new project bike. The second to was find out about their 6 week vintage/cafe course. There were plenty of barn finds and project bikes. But no Buell RR or RS or even some Eurocomponents bodywork. But the MMI course was interesting. A six week evening course teaching the basics of motorcycle restoration. How to make a wiring harness, MIG, TIG and acetylene welding, metal fabrication etc. Small classes of 6-8 students. A well equipped shop area and the $900 price seemed fair. Not having to buy a wiring harness would pay for part of it. https://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/mpd/d/6-week-vintage-cafe-course/6381521647.html By now it was after noon and I was getting hungary. Scottsdale used to bill itself as “the wests most western town.” Maybe 30 year ago. Today that slogan better applies to Cave Creek. A city on the northern edge of The Valley Of The Sun. It’s filled with cowboy bars (live bull riding on Friday night) and biker bars. It’s a popular destination for riders so I headed north for some lunch. How can you go wrong riding an S1 along Carefree Highway, thru Happy Valley and along Dynamite Road? The Grotto is a popular hangout for sportbike and euro bike riders. A nice patio and good food. I thought I might catch a few friends there. No luck, but a nice meal on the patio. Warm sun, charismatic bike, good food. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.  Time to start heading home. I’m in the northwest valley and I live in the south east valley. Phoenix is huge. The 5th largest city in America. (Can you name the top 4?) I’m told 10,000 people/month move here. I’m probably 2-3 hours away from home depending on how much I piddle. If I want to be home late afternoon I better leave. (FYI: the 5 largest cities in America are: New York - LA - Chicago - Houston - Phoenix.) On the way back the light begins to change and we are entering “The Golden Hour.” That time before sunset when the shadows lengthen and colors begin to pop. I pull over for one last shot.  I found out the S1 makes a great explorer bike. It’s light, quick steering and sits upright enough to let you look around. Thanks for creating it Erik. It made a good day just a bit more enjoyable. Mike | ||
| Upthemaiden |
That bike has all the good stuff on it, great looking bike! and definitely my favorite color combo. Enjoyed reading the story. Pittsburgh is very hilly, so we've got plenty of twisty roads and changes in elevation, but don't really have any iconic roads or highways worth writing a story about. Pictures came out great. | ||
| Ebutch |
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| Court |
Great read! . . .thanks for taking us along. Court | ||
| Dave |
That's a poster with photo. ...envious as it's 18° & 4-5" of new snow. DAve | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
Looking good and nice reading! I hope to get my S1 running this year. | ||
| Rex |
Neat story Mike. Thanks for sharing. I passed along to some others.... S1 Riders unite! ahaha. REX | ||
| Mike_lee |
I love it. Thank you. Such a beautiful bike. I used to live in Mesa.... when i was like 11  | ||
| Kc_zombie |
Yeah, it's 8 degrees here now. Nice blog. Thanks! | ||
| Lasbuell |
i've asked this question a millions times BUT what mirror do you have on there? Nice bike I'm missing riding here is northeast Ohio! | ||
| Huck_farley |
I only ride my S3 enough to keep it alive. When I do it always brings a smile to my face and I'm glad it's part of my collection. | ||
| Steveford |
It lives again! I always enjoyed riding that bike, it's a good one, it just does everything right. That's a Napoleon bar end. P.S. You're right, bombing around two lane back roads is exactly what that bike does best. (Message edited by SteveFord on January 17, 2018) | ||
| Kc_zombie |
Hey Huck! Ride it more and smile more! | ||
| Milar |
>S1 Riders unite! ahaha. REX Hey Rex, We need some "S1 Touring Society" tee shirts. Then do a couple of S1 tours. I put about 200 miles on the S1 round trip to the swap meet. A couple of 250 mile days would be easy peasy. I'm headed to Vegas and the Mecum auction next weekend. So far, about 16 Buells are consigned. But most are race bikes and I don't buy what I can't ride. Mike |
