Church Of MO – 1995 Buell S2 Thunderbolt
For this week’s CoM feature, we dig deep in the vaults for one of MO’s oldest stories. As Motorcycle Online (the former name of this very site, and where the MO reference comes from) was still relatively young, so too was the Buell Motor Company. When MO got to ride the Buell S2 Thunderbolt for the first time, we came back raving about its performance, but noted a few things we could improve on. Unfortunately, that original ride report has been lost to Father Time, but we do have editor Tom Fortune’s account of life with the T-Bolt and his attempt to add some pep to the S2’s step. In this, secondary review of the 1995 Buell S2 Thunderbolt, read on to see what Fortune thinks of the bike after 20,000 miles and a few upgrades.
1995 Buell S2 Thunderbolt
By Tom Fortune, Mar. 15, 1995
In late 1994 Buell Motorcycles unveiled their highly-anticipated S2 Thunderbolt to the world with a promise that it could become the most exciting, attention-grabbing, best-handling and possibly the most livable sportbike ever produced in the U.S. A pretty dramatic claim from a company that had never produced more than 120 expensive, and somewhat outlandish-appearing sportbikes in any given year since Erik Buell founded the company in the mid-eighties. It was the much-needed influx of capital that Harley-Davidson provided when they acquired a 49 percent share of Buell in 1993 that gave Buell the confidence to make such claims. Indeed, H-D president Jeff Bleustein was quoted as saying: “We’re not interested in selling a few hundred Buells a year — we want to sell thousands.
Needless to say, the S2 was an instant sales success. It was also one of the first ever test bikes to reside in the Motorcycle Online garage. We raved over the bike in our feature test of the Thunderbolt back in 1995: “This bike grunts out of corners with authority, its burly V-twin music straightening out the kinks in your favorite back road… Packed with tire-shredding torque and a well-sorted chassis, this bike screams. It’s a good attempt at fusing together opposite ends of the motorcycling spectrum.” And we declared we would never give it back. Riding the S2 is a grin-inducing experience that grows on you. It has an in-your-face persona that demands the rider’s attention. But we quickly found out horsepower isn’t a strong point with the S2’s Sportster-based engine
The negative ground lead fractured from vibration at the battery post once, leaving us stranded on the freeway after dark, and the starter relay quit around the 3000-mile mark. Repairs to both items cost us a grand total of about 17 bucks, and we’ve not experienced an electrical failure of any kind since. Our ignition key broke on us once because you need to oil them, and we never did. This was remedied by a new H-D barrel key mechanism, available from dealers for $86.95 plus tax. Indeed, our Thunderbolt has proven itself to be quite the low-maintenance stud — except for the rear tire wear problem, which is mostly a problem of lead-footed testers trying to lay black stripes down on corner exists. Of course we ride most sportbikes that way, but none seem to chew up tires as fast as the S2.
Troy's been riding motorcycles and writing about them since 2006, getting his start at Rider Magazine. From there, he moved to Sport Rider Magazine before finally landing at Motorcycle.com in 2011. A lifelong gearhead who didn't fully immerse himself in motorcycles until his teenage years, Troy's interests have always been in technology, performance, and going fast. Naturally, racing was the perfect avenue to combine all three. Troy has been racing nearly as long as he's been riding and has competed at the AMA national level. He's also won multiple club races throughout the country, culminating in a Utah Sport Bike Association championship in 2011. He has been invited as a guest instructor for the Yamaha Champions Riding School, and when he's not out riding, he's either wrenching on bikes or watching MotoGP.
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The blue Buell S2 in this story sat in the Motorcycle.com office/garage through three different locations over an ELEVEN year period. Through the years it was comprehensively cannibalized as it sat, by the end it was a motor-less, brake-less rolling chassis. Looking at this story brings back great old MO memories.
This was at least 96 or 97, as I worked there when this was published. Note the extensive apologia in the section on the brake failure, re-written by Brent (Ashley) after Tom wrote it. I remember this whole story (about a prominent advertiser) being a massive drama-fest. Ah, nostalgia.