| Author | Message | ||
     Hawaiianbrian |
Hi everyone I'm new to this forum. I recently bought a 96 s1 lightning and the rear shock is blown out along with front forks needing to be rebuilt or possibly swapped out with forks from another year/model buell. I've seen some people that have replaced the rear swing arm with a polished aluminum one and they seem to look much better than the steel one that is on my bike now. Does anyone know what years/models swing arm I have the option of fitting to this 1996 s1 and also do I have any options to fit a rear shock from a different year/model onto this bike along with the swing arm? Also if anyone knows, what years/model of forks can I mount to this bike? Is there any advantage to swapping out the forks to a newer model vs just rebuilding the stock ones? Thanks for your help guys! If anyone knows where I can get a stock rear that still functions properly I'd be interested... | ||
| Captainkirk |
First of all, welcome to the forum, and to classic Buells! I "think" I know the answers to your questions, but I'm not positive on any of them so I'll defer to those who know positively. | ||
| Upthemaiden |
You've got plenty of options. As far as the tubers, there's really only 2 versions(not counting previous recalled swingarms)... the steel swingarm you've got and the aluminum version on the newer models. If you track down any aluminum swinger off of an X1/M2/S3, it'll fit on your bike without a problem. Saturday afternoon with normal tools, and a homemade isolator compressor. If your bike still has the old style isolators, I'd recommend upgrading to the new ones while you're in there, just to save yourself from doing that work twice. They're not polished from the factory, more of a matte finish, so you'd have to do that part yourself. You will also need some extra parts to make it work aside from the main swingarm. You need the axle(or some washers to use your current axle), the adjusters for belt tension, and either the engine mounting block, or you can use your current mounting block but you'll have to grind it down a little. Plenty of pictures of that on the forum. For the shock... there are 2 lengths. There is a 14" shock and a 16" shock, and they span a few different versions, some of which were recalled. In general though, either one will fit on any bike, but they do have different front mounts, so if you switch from one length to the other, you'll need to ebay the proper mount to go with it. If you look up the front shock mounts on ebay, you'll notice the difference from the pictures. One is curved(14"), the other is straight(16"). Doubtful you'll find a new shock. You can find used ones on the forum and ebay, but most of them need rebuilt as well. If you can afford it, Twin Motorcycles sells an aftermarket shock for $500-600 shipped that's a huge improvement over the oem shocks, then there's also some $1000 options that are wonderful, but probably overkill for a 25 year old bike... Front forks.... all the front ends are pretty similar, aside from the M2 with has standard forks instead of the USD versions on all the other bikes. S2s had the best shocks. The ones on the X1 are probably a tiny bit better than the ones on the S1, but honestly I'd just rebuild the S1 shocks and move on with life, unless you find a great deal on newer ones. Seals can be hard to come by, a lot of KTMs used similar forks in the 90's though so if you browse the forum you can find seals that'll work that are cheaper than buying the actual Buell part. All of the information you need is available on this forum, pretty much all with pictures to show you too, so you've got some researching to do this weekend. If you can't find anything or have specific questions, feel free to ask. I probably have most of it already saved somewhere, but finding it yourself is half the fun, plus I'm at work at the moment, so I'll let you try first! Hope you're enjoying the S1! I've got a 97 with the newer swingarm. Favorite bike I've ever owned. | ||
| Hawaiianbrian |
Thank you @upthemaiden! I found a swing arm off of a cyclone which is an m2 I believe for $75 on offer up so I guess I'll start there and get to buffing. I did take a look at the twin cycles page and found a rear shock but they wanted 1k and I feel like that's just a bit much, I guess I'll take another look for that $500-$600 version. Theres a stock on e on ebay but is $300 plus shipping and has 20k miles on it so who knows how long it will be before I end up needing to rebuild or replace that one, I'd rather buy a nice Dutch part that will last  | ||
| 34nineteen |
Holy informative response upthemaiden! Thank you! I just ordered the Twin shock for my S1, and while I have not received it yet, I am looking forward to it. Martin at Twin is very helpful, knowledgeable and friendly. Concerning the price, bear in mind this is a very unique shock for a motorcycle and unfortunately you cannot just buy a used GSXR shock from eBay and bolt it up. Even if the factory was still offering the stock shock, I feel certain that it would exceed the price of the Twin shock and probably not perform as well. I will re-state that I have not received mine yet, but the old shock on my M2, while it still worked, was nothing to write home about. | ||
| Falloutnl |
Martin at Twin is very helpful, knowledgeable and friendly. Yeah, Martin is the best. <3 He's helped me out a ton of times during the various rebuilds I've embarked upon. re: the Twin Motorcycles shock, I've heard nothing but good things. This is the reasonably priced version. https://www.twinmotorcycles.nl/webshop/artikel.asp ?mc=1&aid=4323&cid=10456&s=&a= If the stock shock on my X1 ever blows up, that's what I'm getting. (I seem to recall they have a version with reservoir as well, but I can't find it right now.) On the subject of the swing arm: coincidentally I am also considering changing out the stock swing arm on my S1 to one of the upgraded aluminium ones from the later models. Am kinda hesitant because I wanted to keep it as original as possible, however the stock swing arm does kinda compromise handling. I've already sourced an X1 unit, just have to figure out how to get it polished and what I have to do to the original S1 mounting block. (Message edited by falloutnl on May 11, 2020) | ||
| Upthemaiden |
Hope it helps! $75 is a great deal, especially if it comes with the axle and adjuster blocks. As far as the mounting block, take a look here to see what the differences are between the two. I started going at mine with a file, but got really bored of filing really quick, so I just ended up swapping the 2. I'm sure it would've been quick had I pulled out the Dremel. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/476 23/823721.html?1520341139 I've heard nothing but good things about the shock. I definitely hope to get one someday, but currently my shock is still hanging in there, nor do I have $500 to spend on a shock, so it's staying as is for now. Most rebuilds on the stock shocks sound like they're $200+, and considered to be temporary anyway, so unless you're really trying to keep your bike original, you're better off just paying the money for the better one from the start. |
