Harley davidson buell s1 lightning?

Question

my wife is pregnant and due any day now i need to sell my bike and get a car problem is the starter is out and cost 500 to replace i cant fix it i dont have the money and without it running i cant sell it i have over 12k into the engine on it it is completely suped up has about 140hp and is in good condition other than the starter and a cracked header which is 150 to replace where can i sell it without fixing it first i hate to sell it for 1k just because i dont have cash to get it running if i could fix the starter and head i could get a lot more right before it broke down i was offered 9k for it i hate too lose so much selling it cheap because i cant fix the starter any suggestions will be greatly appreciated ty

Answer 1

There's no way that starter costs $500! What are you driving, a Hybrid? For that price, it ought to be a drive motor. You'll never get your money back on that pig. There must be  crashed Buell around with a starter for sale.  

Answer 2

IIRC to remove the starter you need to remove the primary cover on the left side of the engine. It's not a hard job but takes a couple hours. Are you sure it's the starter? I've seen the relays go out on these bikes more then I've seen the starter fail. You can make a jumper wire to bypass the relay by using a three inch piece of 14 gauge wire and two 1/4 inch male crimp terminals. It could also be the starter switch. Have you checked for voltage at the starter relay?

If you would like help on this let me know and I will try to give you as much help as I can. And since the Buell uses the same engine that the Sportsters have I would also check with http://www.sportster.org/ for a used starter if you really do need one. They have a lot of people on there that do all there own work and are very helpful to others that want to save money on repairs of their bikes.

Answer 3

there have got to be alternatives to that 500 bucks, havent had to deal with it personally, but i would imagine there must be repair parts available for the starter instead of just replacing it, also realise that the 500 may include a core charge, might only be half of that once you return the old one

Answer 4

Hate to tell you this..................

You DON"T have a Harley Davidson..................

you HAVE a Buell............and if it is a S1 then it is EVO powered.

Not downing you or anything like that!!!

Just trying to set you straight.

I own a 1998 Buell S1 White Lightning, it was a limited availability bike, that is the only bike that is a step above yours in the S1 class. Mine was rated 101hp in stock form, yours is rated at 86hp stock, you have way, WAy WAY to much money in it, you'll never see it back.

For Example:

I bought mine used at a Suzuki Dealer and paid all of $3800 including tax,tags, title and registration back in 2002. When I got it, it already had high performance heads, cams, carb, ignition, exhaust, had also been bored to 1250cc and is now rated at 138hp to the rear tire, all this done to it by the previous owner, but obviously the performance for him must have still been lacking because he traded it on some superduper rocket bike, But it came at the right price for me, I've ridden it for the past couple years and am now Chopping the Heck outta it and throwing it all into a Redneck Engineering Mutant Buell Kit. Besides that is more for my personnal enjoyment then what any one else thinks.

You have alot of work in yours, but realistically, you will probably be lucky to see $5000-6000 for it today, Buell has just released their new 1125R with a Rotax Vtwin rated at 149hp stock, the bike sells NEW for about $11000, its got Better brakes, better chassis design, is water cooled and basically an overall better design then the older Buells. That is one of the reasons you won't get much money for your bike. The other reason is, its an older bike and Buell resale values are terrible. If its not running, your really going to lose on the sale.

My suggestion, Fix the starter or replace it with a used one, If I am right and the bike, is in fact, an EVO powered Buell, the starter should be the same as any 883 or 1200 Sportster, You can find used starters on Ebay as low as $20-25 bucks. Get it running, take the exhaust to any competent exhaust/muffler shop and have the crack welded up, should be a stainless steel header so find someone who knows how to weld stainless, this shouldn't cost more than $50.

Personally, I'd fix the bike and ride the snot outta it. You should be able to find a decent used car cheaper then the money your going to lose by selling your Buell. Good Luck!!

Answer 5

I cant believe a starter is that much. its not that hard to install a starter motor. h**l you could remove the starter and have it rebuilt.then simply reinstall it.That would save you a bundle right there. Find a shop in the yellow pages that rebuilds starters and generators. you can getb it rebuilt for around 120 bucks. as for the header buy one and due it yourself.its just a matter of removing some plastic to get to the hardware.

Answer 6

Fix it, period.  Great planning by the way, also why did you soup up a slow air cooled, problematic bike when you could have spent that money more wisely.  You hardly guys make me laugh.