250 wide tire Mutant About a month ago Alan sent in some photos of his 250 tire, Redneck Mutant rolling chassis. Now, about a month and change later, he has transformed his Redneck roller in to one badass looking hotrod Mutant Buell

Here’s the before picture of Alan’s 250 Mutant roller.

The one thing I don’t like about Buell and Sporter engines is the big dorky looking cam cover. As you can see, Alan has taken care of that by giving the one on his Mutant a trim job. Looks much better if you ask me.

A little while back I sold my Mutant Buell to a really good guy named Marc. While he really dug the look of the Mutant I built, his girlfriend wasn’t too happy with the fact that she couldn’t ride on the back. The stock Redneck fender is just too short for carrying a passenger . To make a long story short, Marc bought the Mutant from me with the promise that he would extend the fender so there was enough room for the little woman.
Marc being a man of his word, made good on his promise  and sent me the pictures to prove it.
Check the before and after pictures….

Before the Mutant Fender Modification

After the Mutant Fender Modification

Lots of guys write asking what year and model of Buell makes the best donor bike for a Mutant or any other custom. Here’s the basics to get you going. Most manufactures of custom Buell frames are made to mate with Evo style Buells 1991-2003. Some do carry frames that will work with 2003 and newer XB models, but they are less common and usually a little more expensive.

Should I go Fuel injected or carburated?
Buell tube frame models from 1996 to 1998, 1999-2002 M2 Cyclones
were equipped with carburetors and standard dual fire ignition systems.
1999-2002 X1 Lightning and the S3 Thunderbolt models were fuel injected. One of the biggest issues when building a custom chopper of any kind is hiding the wiring. Given that, you’ll want to minimize the amount of doodads on the bike that require power, switches as fuses. Fuel injection systems require a fair amount of wiring which is the reason why most guys opt for a good old fashion carburetor. If your donor is fuel injected have no fear…It’s pretty easy switch it over. All you need is a carburetor, a manifold, an ignition module and some fittings.

Which models have the best engines?
If horsepower is important to you, you’ll want a Buell donor with a Thunderstorm engine. The Thunderstorm engine made it’s debut in the 1998 limited production S1 White lightning. The high flow heads, 10:1 pistons, hi-performance cam, and hotter ignition had the Thunderstorm engine producing 100 plus horsepower right out of the box.
The Thunderstorm engine became standard in the 1999-2002 in all three models ( X1,S3,M2 ). So how do you know if the Buell your looking at has a Thunderstorm engine? The first thing to look at is the heads. All factory Thunderstorm engines came with black powder coated heads.

Front Ends
All 1996-1998 S1 and S2 as well as 1999-2002 X1 and S3 models came with the Showa inverted front ends. while all 1997-2003 M2 Buells came with the regular tube and slider forks you see on a stock Harley.
Both will work fine. It’s a matter of choice. Some like the modern aggressive sport bike look of inverted forks, while others like the old school look of a regular front end. Either way, both will work fine.

Wheels
All Buell models from 1996-2002 came with cast aluminium wheels. While most were powder coated to match the color scheme of the bike, some models like the 1997 S3 had polished aluminium instead. Not a big deal but something to consider.

Alan was kind enough to send in some early shots of his Mutant Buell project. Alan opted for the 250 rear tire with the sprocket/brake assembly on the same side leaving the left side open. He’s using a solid wheel in “brushed aluminum” to give the bike a hotrod look. [singlepic=49,320,240,,]
Here’s a shot of the donor Buell Alan used for his build. It’s a 1998 s1 Cyclone. It was a super clean one says Alan. He had a hard time butchering it…but he got over it.

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Here’s Alan’s project from last winter. A 1975 XS 650 Yamaha bobber. …Very cool.

You can check out all Alan’s bike pictures in the gallery below.
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Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve no doubt heard about Eric Buell’s latest release for the 2008 model year, the 1125R. And if you’ve had a chance to check out the spec sheet you’ll know that unlike previous versions, the Sportster based engine has been replace by a fire-breathing 146HP @10,500 Rpm Rotax engine. Now I know there’s a lot of you purists out there are saying ….”But it aint a Harley”. Well, I was a little squeamish on that too but….146HP…10500 Rpm….F@#K around…. How can you not want to chop that? Unforskinatley, with the first ones just hitting the showroom floors, it may be a while before any bent ones start finding their way onto Ebay. I for one will be keeping an eye out though. I haven’t had a chance to see one in the flesh yet, but all that will change next week when I go to the Vancouver Motorcycle show. I’ll be posting full review when I return.

Check out the 1125 Gallery
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1125 Promo Video