| Author | Message | ||
     Whodom |
My wife and I took my S3 on a ~300 mile ride this weekend to the northwest portion of SC. We zig-zagged eastward hitting several good roads from SC into NC and back (SC 28, 107, 178, and 276 and NC 64). The bike did great all weekend but after I got out of the mountains about 1 PM Monday, headed towards Greenville, SC I noticed what seemed to be a big increase in vibration on the bike. I had spent a lot of time going downhill with the bike in lower gears (following a slow cager about 5 miles on the last leg on 276), and my first thought was I'd worn the primary chain adjustment shoe and the primary chain was too loose. Since I had limited tools and was trying to get home, I tightened it 1/4 turn in a parking lot and that seemed to improve things slightly so I got back on the road. I got home Monday night without a hitch, but the bike was really buzzing on the way back. The mirrors were almost useless, even at 70-80 MPH where the bike is normally smooth as glass. Yesterday afternoon, I checked the primary chain and found it to be a little out of spec, but not much. As I was adjusting it I happened to look up and notice that my nearly-new (~2000 miles and 6 months old) front isolator was torn to shreds! Yikes!  I had ridden about 170 miles with the bike that way. I still had the old isolator at home (which I found to be fine when I'd replaced it late last year) so I reinstalled it this morning. Here's the BIG footnote: A few months ago, while trying to figure out if I could reduce the vibration getting to the handlebars on my bike, I ran across this post at BadWeb: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/3842/55219.html#POST245420 José_quiñones relates how he removed the 4th engine/frame link from his S3 (the one adjacent to the front isolator) and found that it noticeably reduced the vibration at the handlebars. I had taken this link off of my bike a few weeks ago and it seemed to work. Since this link isn't used on M2's which rely on the other 3 links) and evidently wasn't used on early S3's I didn't see where removing it could hurt anything. I guess I was wrong. Luckily the isolator is designed so even when the rubber fails, it stays together to hold the engine in place. After having this happen, I reinstalled the top/front link and I intend to leave it that way. José notes in his post that he's only had problems when he "overloads" his bike with a passenger. Maybe the 4th link isn't needed riding one up, but I'm convinced it's necessary for 2 up riding. So, if any of you have done this mod or are considering it, be warned. I'll try and post a pic of the toasted isolator tonight. BTW, in ~300 miles I bet I saw 100 other bikes and not ONE Buell.  | ||
| Djkaplan |
I didn't know S3s had the extra link, I thought only X1s did. I added the extra link to my M2 and didn't notice anything different at all - vibration and handling were exactly the same. | ||
| Whodom |
You know, the thing about vibration is it's really hard to judge it objectively. You change something to try to reduce it, and sure enough you convince yourself it's reduced. The handlebar vibrations on my bike seemed to be noticeably reduced with the link removed. With the link installed, my hands would get "achey" after ~150 miles. With the link removed, I went ~225 miles with no problem. Now that the link's back, I'll have to wait until another ~300+ mile weekend and see what I think then. I'm not totally convinced that removal of the link caused the failure (after all M2's don't have the link and they're intended to be ridden 2-up) but it seems awfully coincidental that the mount failed after I took it out. | ||
| Cerbero |
it might be a good idea to triple-check your front hanger assembly. my front isolator wore out last summer. i didn't notice it for a week (or so)... but when i did, i stopped riding it and had it replaced. everything seemed ok. less than a month later one of the hanger bolts sheared off, destroying my front cylinder head in the process! in hindsight, i should have had the entire assembly checked for excess wear. but what could go wrong? it was just a few days...  | ||
| Whodom |
Cerbero, Thanks for the tip. I looked over everything pretty thoroughly when I was replacing the isolator, but I'll be sure and keep an eye on it. | ||
| José_quiñones |
Thanks for the update. For general riding I have not had issues with the isolator, however.... my isolator is torn at the moment but I think it was my fault. I recently replaced my belt and I should have unbolted the front isolator too along with the rear ones instead of rotating the frame up and putting stress on the front isolator. I have a new one in the garage, hopefully it is not one of those 'bad batch' ones. | ||
| Whodom |
José, See the new thread on the quick board; apparently there may have been a bad batch of isolators made last year. I just posted photos of mine. It is pretty well shredded, but this may be due to the distance I rode it this way. | ||
| Tstewart |
I have a 2005 Blast and my front isolator snapped in two pieces. I'm concerned that less experienced riders might have an accident from this happening. |
