A friend of mine was talking about the 48/72 Sportsters and the motors in them (1200). I chimed in asking that with the new FI motors, can you tune up the 883 to be comparable to the 1200 in the Sportster models. He and I are old school carb guy's and don't know anything about the FI motors/the how well the PC can tune them or how far you can take the computerized motors etc.


So we started looking at some engine specs and here is what I found on-line. Not sure if they are correct. ??


883:
Bore-3"
Stroke-3.81
Comp-9.01
H.P-53/48ftlbs torque


1200:
Bore-3.5"
Stroke- 3.81
Comp-10.1
H.P.-65/72ftlbs torque


Then the question(s) came up:
1. "Is there a difference in the cam profile/lobes/duration etc between the 883/1200 or just the heads/cylinders/pistons."


2. "Can the jugs (cylinders)/cam/heads/pistons be changed out to a 1200 series w/the FI motors and is it worth it."


3. "Or, can the 883 actually be tuned (pipes/tuners/air intake etc) with-in reason to the 1200's H.P/torque range without changing out the jugs, cam etc?"


We said we didn't know and would ask.


Reason this conversation took place is I was looking at the 48/72 on-line from the HD site and then the Iron caught my eye, but it has the 883.


So, we went to HD dealer looking at a few bikes and I looked at/sat on all three and liking them all.


Thanks for the help, hope this makes since,
Jim

 

Found some answers, so I thought I would post them in case any are looking into this.

1) Cams are identical.

2) Cylinders and Pistons are interchangeable, or you can do a bolt on 1250cc
NRHS - High Performance for your Harley Twin Cam, Evolution, Sportster or Buell!

A set of heads from a 1200 would be worth it as well.

3) No

Cylinders and pistons are interchangeable. 1200 heads will breathe better. You can tune the 883's horse power to match an un-tuned 1200, but that power will be at a higher rpm. The torque peak will be at a higher rpm. ( less torque at higher rpm = same horse power).

 

You have several options when increasing the size of an 883:

1. use the H-D conversion kit, which comes with all the bone stock 1200 parts, is expensive and simply gives you a factory 1200,
2. use the SE 1200 kit, which uses your 883 heads and comes with SE tuner, cams and higher CR pistons,
3. use a Hammer or NRHS 1250 kit (S&S makes a 1200 kit), which comes with higher CR pistons. Hammer and NRHS both offer a wide range of other tuning options.

Simply use Search for '1250' to find recent threads on converting and tuning 883s, as this subject comes up often!

 

Thank you,

 

You might look for a Nightster, very close to a 1200 Iron. They stopped making them 2 years ago with the 48 & 72 coming out.

 

Thanks, I'll check it out.


Jim

 

Here is what the Nightsters look like...

 

Thank you.

I have looked up a few Nightsters and most are wanting $7500.00-$8500.00.
Might as well get a new Iron with warranty and do a 1200 kit later on after I get use to it/first bike.

Still researching a few things, still torn between the 48/72 but I like the 3.3 gal tank on the Iron and w/some mods the bike (Iron) does look sweet.
I also like the red spooked rim upgrade for the street bob. I like the spooked rims you have in the pic and the bars-good looking bikes.

Thanks again for the pics and info guy's, bookmarked it.

Jim