1997 Buell S1 Lightning
Miles: 23,971
Clean Florida Title
Bid at post: $4,500
Listing ends: April 3rd, 2024
When Erik Buell set out to build a roadster, he included some very innovative thinking: a shock slung underneath the engine, along with the exhaust to help with mass centralization. A WP suspension that kept things under control and a single, massive, six-piston front caliper to provide stopping power and reduce unsprung weight. The three spoke Performance Machine wheels look very 90s trick and the entire package is tied together by a beautiful tubular frame. Later Buells got even wilder, with an aluminum beam frame that housed the fuel, but the powertrain remained fundamentally the same: a breathed-on, 1200cc version of Harley Davidson’s antediluvian 45° v-twin, five-speed gearbox, and belt final drive. The result was a claimed 101hp and 94ft-lbs of torque with a dry weight of 441lbs.
If you want a classic gorgeous Buell this is it. Tons of custom bits from silver paint to aluminum oil tank to Mikuni 45 carb, Carbon bits, custom foot controls, PM wheels, ready to go ride. Hate to sell but have way too many bikes and no time to ride. Let somebody else enjoy
This bike is a head turner wherever it is parked.
Any questions ask away. The bike is in NE Florida. You can pick up here or have your shipper pick up after payment is made
Comes with the original owners book and Bill of sale for $10,015
These were available in a variety of wild color combinations, including one with orange bodywork and a purple-blue frame! This one is a much more subdued silver, but there isn’t much bodywork to speak of, and a color change would be relatively simple. The listing mentions “custom paint” but I believe the bodywork is “Billet Metallic,” an original color. He may be referring to the paint-matched airbox that came in black plastic from the factory and was much, much uglier: many bikes now sport some sort of open filter element that may or may not increase power much, but definitely improves the looks. These are fun bikes and I believe hugely unappreciated amongst collectors. Parts to keep the engine running for the next 100,000 miles should be available at any Harley dealer and, while that engine does have some significant drawbacks, offers plenty of character and stump-pulling torque.
-tad
This looks to be a fantastic example of an S1 Lightning. It is exceptionally close to stock with upgrades done exactly where needed. This would be a fantastic daily rider provided you can keep ethanol laced fuel out of the tank.
The author alludes that the”engine does have some significant drawbacks” but fails to document what the potential issues might be. I’ve been following this site fairly frequently for close to seven years now and I know that anything Harley usually gets a hard time while anything Guzzi or Ducati generally gets a pass. I thought it might be interesting to compare the engines of three bikes that may or may not have been designed by Noah’s great grandfather.
The bikes I’ll use will be a ’95 Guzzi 1100 Sport, ’85 Ducati S2 Mille (the Mille is generally accepted as the best of the bevel engines produced) and a ’96 Buell S1 Lightning.
The Buell/Harley is going to be a shaker due to a common crankpin on an unbalanced 45 degree v-twin crank layout while the Guzzi and Ducati are in perfect primary balance with their 90 degree crank configuration.
None of these three engines are light, and I haven’t weighed each engine on its own (and have no intentions of removing them from the bikes to do so) but my estimate is that they are close to 10% of each other with transmission, clutch and starter motor included. My experience leads me to believe that the Ducati is the lightest with the Guzzi and Buell/Harley engine fighting it out for second. If someone does have the exact figures I would be happily corrected.
The Guzzi and Buell/Harley’s valve train is nearly identical with a two valve pushrod design, the major difference being that the Buell/Harley eliminates the need for valve adjustment via hydraulic lifters. The Ducati’s valve train as most will know is driven via bevel gears while the valves are mechanically opened and closed utilizing a system invented in the 1890’s named desmodromics.
Mean Piston Speed in ft/min at redline rpm. The Guzzi at 8200rpm works out to 4291 ft/min. The Ducati at 8300rpm works out to 4288 ft/min. The Buell/Harley at 7200rpm works out to 4572 ft/min. While various conclusions and debatable points can be made of the mean piston speeds, these results indicate that all three of these engines fall into the “old” category. As a comparison a 2020 GSXR 1000 at 13200 rpm’s mean piston speed is 4772 ft/min. It’s generally accepted that anything 4500 ft/min or under is an “old school” engine. As an aside NASCAR mean piston speeds exceed those of F1, and are reaching piston speeds over 9000 ft/min.
If we look at power output figures all three engines are fairly close and roughly within 10% of each other. I am going to “quote” some generally accepted internet figures but my goal here is not do declare an outright “winner” but merely to illustrate that the Buell/Harley engine isn’t as outclassed as it’s portrayed to be. There is also a chance that I may be able to provide dyno graphs for each of the three bikes within the next several months, all being completed by a respected tuner on the same dynamometer.
The Guzzi is generally stated at 90hp/70tq. The Ducati Mille is rated at 90hp/68tq. The Buell/Harley rated at 101hp/94tq. I would also like to suggest that all of these figures are measured at the crank and not the rear wheel.
Valve train geometry, intake angle, cylinder head and combustion chamber design place all three engines firmly in the relic category, however the Harley based Buell engine certainly has the most potential to be modified and produce a significant increase in hp/tq albeit through a massive engine displacement gain. It’s certainly possible to build an 88 or 90 ci engine out of a sportster platform that will reliably put out figures of 130hp/130tq at the rear wheel.
What the Harley sportster engine may suffer from in basic design and layout architecture is outweighed by huge hp/tq potential, parts availability and cost. A Harley based platform may not be everyone’s preferred engine and I get that, but I’m pretty bored after 50 years of flat plane 4 cylinder engines. Thank goodness for Yamaha’s cross plane design.
All three of the bikes that I have compared are amazing and beautiful machines in their own way. All suffer from shortcomings but this is more than offset by their character and uniqueness.
Unfortunately of the three bikes I only own the Buell. I’m currently assembling the Ducati for my father and have been actively trying to purchase the Guzzi from a friend unsuccessfully for a year now, but I may find him in a weak moment lol.
Riding season is almost here for us in the northern latitudes.
Cheers.
Holy hell, your comment is longer than my post! I used to write more, and I’d normally clarify my criticisms of a particular bike, but our new format is pretty short and sweet. Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to contribute to the discussion. I’d love to see some dyno results, as so many of the bikes we write about existed before dynos were commonly accessible, leading to wildly varying power claims. To be clear: I don’t give Guzzis or Ducatis a pass when I write about them. In fact, the more I like something, the more critical I tend to be. Or maybe I just really like flawed things: they’re more interesting. If you look at previous posts of mine about Guzzis in particular [or 90s Bimotas!] you’ll see what I’m talking about: I’m well aware of their limitations. As far as your comparison goes, I like the Guzzi [two-valve, pushrod, v-twin, air-cooled, 1100cc, 5-speed!] but I think the Ducati is off: that thing was designed in the 1960s! A better comparison would be a Pantah-engined bike like a 900 Monster. It’s just a shame they didn’t do an 1100 until 2011, which wouldn’t really be fair as they included much more modern technology. I have some limited experience on a Buell White Lightning, but rode it relatively carefully as it belonged to a friend. It was also my only experience riding something with a Harley powerplant. I’ve long held that Harley seriously missed the mark [and continues to miss the mark] by not offering a sporty naked bike.
Hope you get some good weather soon! It was a gorgeous day here in SoCal.
Hello Tad, thanks for taking the time to respond to my initial comment, it may have been a bit longer than I anticipated.
I should clarify that I was not implying that it was you specifically that was being particularly harsh on Buell/Harley but that there is usually a love them or hate them response to Buell or Harley and I think that this has been reflected in the comments over the years. While everyone is entitled to their own opinions and I do enjoy reading a short well placed barb or jab, most of the people commenting have little or no firsthand experience and are merely parroting something that they read online.
I had thought of including a Ducati 2 valve 900ss Pantah engine in my comparison however the Mille is sitting in my garage right now. As a point of interest even the 2 valve 900ss pantah with a big bore kit (just under 1000cc) and head work doesn’t produce much more than 90hp/70tq at the rear wheel. An excellent documentation of the amount of time and effort it takes to achieve this result can be read about on the Moto Rosso website, my “big bore kit and head work” comment is almost insulting when you see the work involved.
While I wouldn’t consider myself a Harley fanboy, they do hold an appeal, there is something in them that reminds me of a WWII radial engine growling along.
I would agree that Harley has dropped the ball on numerous occasions and is likely to face some significant challenges in the near future, but the MoCo always seems to pull a rabbit out of the hat and survive for another decade or two. Not bad for a t-shirt company that sells the odd motorcycle.
I think that this site is fantastic and appreciate the time and effort that the authors put in finding and articling the machines presented. I hope the readership continues to participate in commenting on the bikes and that the Buell barbs and insults are witty and many.
Cheers
had a 97 cycle;lone. the bike broke my heart. couldn’t go 300 miles without a part falling off.