Rare limited production 1997 Erik Buell S3T Thunderbolt Sport Touring Edition

This is a limited production "Tuber", ne of the last hand assembled by a few of Eric Buell's expert team in East Troy Wisconsin, ack in the early days, nly 384 were made the first year of the S3T in 1997. American Muscle, ade in USA. Very light but strong hand laid fiberglass fender, airing, as tank, nd rear tail section. Once Harley took over Buell in 1998, he expensive to make fiberglass components all went to cheap ABS plastic. Chromoly perimeter frame, rembo brakes, nd inverted WP forks like a Ducati race bike. Leather Corbin seat ($500), D&D Racing carbon fiber exhaust cannister ($500), ightweight quick release lockable luggage ($1500 ), ew sport touring tires front and rear; front IRC ProTech SP-11, ear Metzeler RoadTech Z6 ($400), ewer AGM battery ($100, ewer front brakes, ew rear brakes. That's already $3000 without mentioning the rest of the bike, o the opening bid is very reasonable. No reserve, id to win, SA only. Zero feedback or suspicious bidders will be cancelled.
MODEL YEARS PRODUCED 97-98, 0-02 APPROX. NUMBER BUILT 1,779
1997 = 384 1998 = 630 1999 = NIL 2000 = 349 2001 = 164 2002 = 252
Displacement: 1203cc 91HP@5800RPM
Torque: 87 ft.lbs @ 5,200 rpm
Bought it in September 2012 with 14665 miles, s a third bike that I always wanted, nd have only put on a thousand miles in three years. Originally I was going to completely refreshen the bike to showroom condition...someday...well guess time for a new owner. Another "Bueller" enthusiast would be perfect. Starts and runs excellent, t is jetted and piped for 100HP like the later Thunderstorm motor but without the troublesome head and cylinder gasket issues of the 1998 and later models. Has always been run on Mobil One synthetic 15w50. Primary chain and belt drive tension adjusted, alves are maintenance free hydraulic pushrods, elf adjusting. Carburetor has been jetted and tuned. Rear end lowered two inches for better comfort, an easily be redone to original. Handles incredible, pright sitting position and pretty comfortable in the saddle overall. I added rubber gel grips to smooth out some hand vibration. Bike is very light, nly around 450lbs, op speed around 130 in under a minute for those adrenaline junkies. The luggage black tubing frame is one piece and removes in minutes for a very sport bike look, ail fender was also clipped by previous owner for a very clean modern look.

Its imperfect, f it was showroom the opening bid would be $5,000, ot $3,125. It was almost $14,000 new in 1997. This rare Thunderbolt ST3 needs some small cosmetic details finished; gas tank ovals were going to be airbrushed with the new Pegasus Buell symbols, ome small paint bubbles on gas tank, eft foot peg rubber end is broken off, ickstand rubber tip missing, hifter end was welded sometime in the past, ome scratches on saddle bags. Fairing leg lowers are missing, wners routinely removed them because motor runs cooler without them. Upper plastic belt drive cover is missing, wners removed them also, ot needed. Bike has been stored inside most of its life but an outdoor fabric cover is included if needed. I have many other photos if you request, pologies for the poor quality.

Keep in mind Ebay charges $125 to the seller (me), o if you can come see it in person, ash in pocket will get a better deal. I am near the Pittsburgh Airport, ly in, will pick you up, ide home. Its reliable enough to ride cross country on any given day. Everything works as it should. It's listed for sale local so I reserve the right to end the auction at any time. Also I am open to trading my Buell Thunderbolt plus cash to anyone who has a 2006-2010 Buell Ulysses.

Unlike most motorcycles, onsider this one an investment rather than an expense. The value goes up slightly every year instead of down, nd in 2017, t twenty years, ill appreciate even faster as a classic.

(nice unedited article below for those curious about Buells. Here in Pittsburgh, here Erik Buell grew up, orked as a motorcycle mechanic, nd attended the University of Pittsburgh; Buells are LEGEND.)

Thunderbolt! That is the only way to understand this motorcycle. I had looked at Buell motorcycles, specially the top of the line S3 Thunderbolt, lmost every time I visited my local Harley-Davidson dealer, ut I never understood these motorcycles until I finally took a test ride.

That is what the Buell motorcycles are all about: the ride. There are fancier, lainer, ostlier, heaper, rettier, omelier, aster, lower, ighter, eavier, igger, nd smaller motorcycles available, but in all my years of riding I have never ridden anything like a Buell. That also seems to be the opinion of the Buell owners I have talked to, ncluding those who have owned a variety of expensive (read Italian) sport bikes.

Speaking of which, arley's investment in Buell appears to be paying off. Last year (1998), uell outsold all of the other "specialty sport bikes" (a term which, believe, xcludes the regular production of the Japanese Big Four) in the U.S. except Ducati, who managed to stay in first place by the slimmest of margins. This year, uell expects to outsell Ducati and take over the number one spot.

As I write this, n 1999, he Buell line of Vee-twin sport bikes consists of three models. There is the surprisingly economical M2 Cyclone, he X1 Lightning street fighter, nd the sport or sport-touring oriented S3 Thunderbolt. All exhibit similar, ut not identical, tyling and performance, nd all three are powered by a modified Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 motor. All three are sporty motorcycles designed to get you off the line and down the road quickly, ith the maximum amount of fun. Real world performance is the forte' of these bikes, nd not much can catch them on the road.

Like all Buells, ut unlike most other sport and sport-touring bikes, he engine of the S3 is left open to view. There is no bodywork to hide that big powerplant. The visible V-twin motor is probably the easiest way to identify a Buell American Motorcycle. In a world of look-alike sport bikes, othing else looks like a Buell.

Because I am a fan of the sport-touring concept, he Thunderbolt S3T is the Buell for me. All Thunderbolts feature a frame mounted sport fairing designed to protect the rider and gas tank (without obscuring the motor), ou get to pick from a variety of color combinations for the Thunderbolt. My favorite color scheme for 1999 is the "Molten Orange" (fairing,tank, nd tail section) with "Nuclear Blue" (frame and wheels) color scheme. Hey, here's safety in conspicuity!

I recommend the S3T touring package. This includes touring handlebars, airing lowers, wo fitted soft storage bags for the fairing, n underseat tote bag (perfect for a toolkit, nd not much else), and the newly improved, olor coordinated, etachable, ard saddlebags, which come with fitted removable liners. The saddle bags come with your choice of deep (read bulky) or narrow (read trim) covers. Although the deep covers will swallow a full face helmet, prefer the sleeker and more attractive narrow covers, triumph of form over function. The other covers can be ordered separately later, f it becomes necessary.

I don't have much use for the color matched fairing lowers, included in the S3T touring package, ecause they trap even more of the already excessive heat generated by the big 74 cubic inch engine throbbing within inches of the rider's legs, nd detract from the bike's appearance. Also, hey are fairly flimsy (the body parts of these bikes are designed to be light in weight) and stick out to the sides, nd are therefore liable to damage if the bike falls over in a parking lot mishap (or something similar). Fortunately, hey are designed to be easily removed.

Two options available only from the aftermarket (as I write this) are a taller "touring" windshield, nd thicker, ofter, el handgrips (is anybody at Buell taking notes?). Buell does offer an excellent tank bag, hich I recommend. The result is a sport-touring bike from the sporty end of the spectrum.

Other neat features of the Thunderbolt include a chrome-moly tubular perimeter frame, digital electronic fuel injection (which eliminates the hassle of a fuel tank petcock, as well as a choke), hydraulic self-adjusting valve lifters, electronic ignition, elt drive, tainless steel header pipes, fully adjustable suspension with inverted front forks and a rear mono shock which operates in extension, aluminum arc swingarm, ollow 3-spoke cast wheels, Z" rated radial tubeless tires, uperb brakes, ompletely sealed maintenance-free battery, halogen headlight with an adjustment knob in the fairing, excellent fairing mounted mirrors (you actually see the traffic behind you, nstead of your arms), European passing lamp flasher (a little trigger on the left handlebar controls that flashes the high beam), nd folding footpegs. About all that is missing is self-canceling turn signals (Dear Buell representative: please note).

All 1999 Buells come with a much improved dual seat, nd I am happy to report that the new, ide, hunderbolt seat is adequately comfortable for solo commuting and Sunday rides. I have not taken any long trips, o I cannot comment on its suitability for serious touring. A drawback to the wider seat is that it is a longer reach to the ground than it used to be from the old, ncomfortable but narrower, ersion. The factory specification says the seat height is 29.5 inches, ut they must have measured it with the suspension at both ends set to the lowest possible setting, nd the tires flat. It feels higher than that. The Thunderbolt would not be my first choice, iven my 30 inch inseam, for a lot of complicated parking lot maneuvers. Nor is it a particularly good bike for riding with a passenger. The bike is somewhat top heavy to start with, nd this top heavy feeling is aggrivated by a seat that puts the passenger too high and too far back. If you ride two up a lot, Buell may not be the bike for you.

After mentioning the new seat, should mention that I find the rider's seating position quite comfortable. An average size rider is postioned in a relaxed position with a slight froward lean. It is better, n my opinion, han the seating position on a BMW R 1100RS sport-tourer, r a Triumph Thunderbird Sport (bikes with which it might reasonably be compared). The location of the rider's footpegs, n particular, s very good. So is the height and reach of the touring handlebar. The layout of the handlebar controls and switches is conventional, nd easy to learn.

Mounted in the dash are a large tach and speedo, lus a surprisingly useful quartz clock. Also on the dash are a variety of idiot lights, ncluding a handy low fuel warning light which illuminates when .4 gallon of petrol remains. The large 5.4 gallon fuel tank means 225-265 miles (on average) before the low fuel warning light comes on. This is outstanding range, reater than that offered by most luxury touring bikes. On a recent 205 mile Saturday ride from Eugene to Sisters and back, nvolving both the old and new Mckenzie Highways over Oregon's Cascade Mountains, actually averaged 59.94 miles per gallon. That would mean approximately 300 miles from a full tank of gas before the low fuel light comes on! More complete technical specifications for all of the Buells, nd many other top sport bikes, an be found in the "Sport Motorcycle Comparison Chart," on my Travel page.

The only area that needs improvement, o make the Thunderbolt a decent touring bike, s rider protection. The factory supplied windshield is pure sport bike. Combined with the smallish fairing, t offers good protection for the torso, one for the hands, nd directs the slipstream coming over the windshield about at the chinbar of the rider's helmet. This is tolerable on a Sunday sport ride, ut fatiguing on a long freeway ride.

I fitted a Rifle brand replacement windshield 17 inches tall (the only aftermarket replacement I could find) and while this represents a marginal improvement, t is far from ideal. The factory windshield is very short, bout 13 inches, nd angled at what appears to be less than 45 degrees above the horizontal. The Rifle replacement is angled almost bolt upright, nd still too low. The wind collapses behind and around this windshield, nd hits the rider in the face and shoulders. It is marginally better than the factory windshield, n that you are being hit in the face by broken air (I believe the aerodynamic term is "burble"), rather than the almost laminar airflow off the factory windshield. Faint praise, o be sure, ince at speed the rider's head is still continually buffeted by the wind. If I lay over the tank, he Rifle windshield provides excellent protection--but who wants to ride a long distance laying over the tank?

What is needed is a windshield taller than the Rifle version by about 5 inches, nd angled back at about 60 degrees. This would put it somewhere between the excessively upright stance of the Rifle windshield, nd the very swept-back angle of the factory windshield, and hopefully it would send the slipstream over the rider's head. Certainly a competent designer, ith a little practice, ould produce a satisfactory touring windshield for the Thunderbolt fairing. It has been done for plenty of other motorcycles.

It is no secret that Buell motorcycles have had something of a "kit bike" reputation. After all, ric Buell originally started building them in his garage. (Bill Harley and the Davidson brothers started the same way, ack in 1903.) Everyone agreed that they were a blast to ride, ut niggling problems like cracks in ultra light body parts, xcessive heat radiating from the engine and exhaust pipes, broken engine mounts, ncomfortable seats, addle bag latches that didn't work, nd similar problems have drawn criticism, nd rightly so.

The 1999 models are the first since Harley-Davidson acquired 98% of Buell American Motorcycles. Eric Buell remains in charge, nd still owns 2% of the stock. Harley had previously owned half of the company, ith Buell owning the other half. The changes allowed by Harley's deep pockets are apparent. Everything has been improved, ncluding the frame, ngine mounts, uel injection, ront forks, wingarm, ear monoshock, eat, andlebar controls, he S-3 fairing, he S3 saddlebags, nd more. Unfortunately, ork remains to be done to eliminate the small, iggling problems to which the bikes are still prone.

Judging by my experience with the S3, uild quality still does not appear to be as good as a Harley-Davidson. In fact, t is probably below that of an average Japanese motorcycle, ot really bad, ut not perfect. There is no assembly line at the Buell factory. Each motorcycle is built individually, y a small team of workers, ho work only on that particular bike until it is finished. This system yields great job satisfaction, igh employee morale, lot of promise for the future, and motorcycles that are maybe a little less uniform than they might otherwise be.

Before founding Buell American Motorcycles, ric Buell worked as an engineer for Harley-Davidson. Based on what I have read about Eric Buell, he most basic ingredients of his design philosophy seem to be centralization of mass, ow unsprung weight, nd frame rigidity. Let's take a quick look at these concepts, ecause they are central to why a Buell is so much fun to ride.

I am no engineer, ut as a sailor I am familiar with the benefits of mass centralization. A boat designed with the weight concentrated in the center, nstead of out at the ends, ill respond more quickly. It will tend to ride over, ather than plow through, he waves. Two people with access to a small skiff, inghy, r rowboat can experiment with this concept. First, ave one person sit in the very bow, nd the other at the stern. Note how the boat feels sluggish and responds slowly to the waves. Now move both people (the mass) to the middle of the boat. Suddenly it feels more lively, nd responds faster, ow that the mass is centralized. The same basic principle also holds true for motorcycles. This is why Buell concentrates the weight of the heavy components of the motorcycle, he engine/transmission, uffler, as tank, ear monoshock, and battery near the center of the motorcycle. Everything is basically placed above or below the engine/transmission unit, he heaviest single component of the motorcycle. The result is that Buell motorcycles feel exceptionally lively, nd a lively motorcycle is more fun to ride.

Unsprung weight is the weight of the components not supported by the suspension, rincipally the wheels, ires, ower fork legs, nd brakes. Lower unsprung weight allows the tires to maintain better contact with the uneven surface of the road, hus making for a safer, etter controlled, nd more enjoyable ride. Buell uses hollow 3-spoke alloy wheels of the lightest and most rigid type for all of their models. For the Thunderbolt, uell uses expensive Showa inverted front forks. Inverted forks put the smaller diameter fork section on the bottom, hich lowers unsprung weight. They are also extremely strong, nd more rigid than conventional telescopic forks. Going further to eliminate as much unsprung weight as possible, he Thunderbolt has a single stainless steel floating front brake disc, rather than the dual discs found on almost all other specialty sport bikes. Brake discs and their associated calipers are very heavy. To ensure adequate swept area, hat single disc is the largest found on any production bike, 40mm in diameter. To make it lightweight while retaining the necessary thickness in cross section, t is extremely narrow in profile, nd to ensure an excess of stopping power, the Thunderbolt comes with a 6-piston front brake caliper. "Stoppies" are easy on a Buell. Other premium motorcycle manufacturers can and do take some of these same steps to lower unsprung weight, ut none combine all of these strategies as Buell does.

Almost everyone agrees that a rigid frame is crucial to precise handling and control. Buell selected the expensive but effective method of using chrome-moly alloy steel tubing to build a perimeter frame with triangulated sections. Buell calls it a "geodesic perimeter frame." In the best modern fashion, he engine serves as a stressed member of the frame. The result is an exceptionally light and stiff frame, hich improves handling and control. A bike that handles precisely and delivers exceptional control is more fun to ride.

The centralized mass, ow unsprung weigh, tiff frame, nd premium suspension, hen combined with a rather short 55 inch wheelbase and only 24.5 degrees of front-end rake, should result in a light and quick handling motorcycle, nd indeed it does. You might think the same combination would also make for a twitchy feeling motorcycle, ut it doesn't. I expected, nd found, fast handling bike, ut what I found most surprising was the Thunderbolt's excellent static stability. Static stability means that left to its own devices, t will run straight. This is a bike that will run straight as a die with the rider's hands off the handlebar. I guess the 3.8 inches of trail has something to do with that. Whatever the reason, he bike responds quickly, andles superbly, nd runs true.

Of course, ore than trick engineering is necessary to build a complete motorcycle. The motor is the key to performance, nd all Buells use a highly modified Harley-Davidson Sportster V-twin engine. The hot-rodded 1203cc "Thunderstorm" power plant used in the Thunderbolt produces an ample 101 horsepower at the crankshaft, nd a gut wrenching 90 ft. lbs. of torque. This translates to about 71-78 ft. lbs. of torque and 85-90 hp. at the rear wheel, epending on whose dyno you read. Remember that horsepower is a measurement of work performed over time, nd torque is the turning force at the crankshaft (or rear wheel). This is why torque is more important in everyday riding. Torque is what is responsible for that slingshot feeling when you roll the throttle on, ot to mention those "power" wheelies.

The vibration produced by the compact 45 degree V-twin motor is isolated from the frame, nd the rider, y Buell's proprietary "Uniplanar" mounting system. This system works. It is amazing to ride a bike, owered by what is basically a Sportster 1200 engine, hat is so smooth. At idle it feels about like a Sportster, ut as the RPM increases, ibration diminishes. By the time the tach has moved past 3000 RPM, ibration is almost completely absent. The Sportster, s I wrote in my article "The Harley-Davidson Sportster," is quite pleasant to ride below about 60 MPH (in 5th gear). But vibration intrudes as speeds increase, nd becomes uncomfortable (to me) by about 70 MPH. But on its cousin, he Buell Thunderbolt, he faster you go the smoother it gets. At 70 MPH and above, t is uncannily smooth. It is hard to believe it is powered by a Sportster 1200 motor, et alone one producing about a third more power.

It seems to me that the Thunderbolt is a pretty good sport-touring bike, y which I mean a great sport bike for Sunday rides, ith its power and razor sharp handling, that still has the capability of making overnight and longer trips. It has the range, peed, moothness, tability, omfortable seating position, and available luggage to serve as a solo touring bike, lus the benefit of a very extensive dealer network should something go wrong while on the road (a good point to consider before purchasing some exotic brand sport-touring bike). Rider protection is the primary deficiency at present, ut all it needs is a properly designed touring windshield to bring it up to snuff in that area. I hope that someone, ither at Buell or in the aftermarket, ill eventually respond to fill this need.

If you want a sporty looking motorcycle for cheap transportation, here are more economical alternatives. But if you're leaning toward a sport or sport-touring bike, nd ride for the pleasure of the experience, ou owe it to yourself to at least test ride a Buell Thunderbolt.

Also published at eBay.com