Home of the New Buell Owner's FAQ!
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| My Buelldom began in 1997 as follows:
Not long after purchasing my 2nd bike, I wondered if there were any
American made sportbikes - I didn't recall having ever seen one. Searching
online revealed only Buell Motorcycle Company. All of their offerings
were 1203cc, Harley Davidson engined streetfighter type bikes. I hadn't
been riding very long, and 1200ccs seemed like it was way too much.
Still, I fell in love with the 97
M2 Cyclone reviewed at Motorcycle
Online.
My first experiences were not the most positive. This bike not only looked strange, but it felt strange as well. I had the opportunity to sit on the 98 M2 during the International Motorcycle Show in NYC. The bike did not feel like I expected it to, and the folks I went to the show with even made fun of the S1WL. When Harley-Davidson of Edison started selling Buells several months later, I renewed my determination to like this bike - I just had to; it was such a weird bike, that I, being an afficinado of the weird, was obligated to like it. So I thew a leg over the 98 Buell S1Twintail demo bike, and took a lap around the block.....once. This bike was entirely a different level of strange, in fact, riding the S1was much stranger than anything I have ever ridden - motorcycle, bicycle, horse, skateboard, anything. The steering and balance of this bike was quite alien to a guy who had
ridden a Kawasaki
EX500 for only a couple of months. I became nervous that I would drop
this $10,000 piece of machinery. I gingerly parked it in front of the store,
thanked the salesman, and went home disappointed....again.
It was the third experience that changed my mind (they also say that about marijuana, BTW) about the Buell. Motorcycle Online had just written the article on the 99 Buells, and I thought I'd try one out one more time. In person, the 99 models were a bit of a letdown, the Cyclone lost it's slim purposeful look and the swingarm did not seem to fit with the kit-bike, built-in-a-garage-down-the-street look that I liked so much. The seat on the 99 was way too wide - no doubt Eric Buell got flack about previous models, and sarcasticly responded with a disproportionately wide seat. The equally wide tail section flapped like the wings of a bat at idle. The ride, hovever, was a much better ride than with the S1. As large as the seat was, it was quite comfortable, and the ergonomics were just about perfect. I took a demo ride for a good 45min before I decided that this was the bike for me.
I had so much fun on the demo ride that I came back with my wife Lisa.
We rode for about a half hour before returning to the store and parked
right next to a used 97 Cyclone for sale. Just for shits and giggles,
I had to find out how much it was. Despite not being employed at the
time, the price was so good that Lisa said I had to get it....who am
I to argue?
Herer's a list of performance/comfort mods that have been done/tried:
List of cosmetic changes:
Regular maintenence, repair & recall stuff done
The following is from the 1997 Buell motorcycle brochure: |
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RIP Andy Spiegel - I miss you.
Buell Links and ResourcesBuell - Of course!
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