Does anyone know if the jugs and Pistons off a 2012 model 1200 will work on a 1995 883 ?

 

Doubt it. The dividing year for most parts is 2003

 

Thanks fir your reply Iarecobra, you are probably right but I'm just thinking out loud here but I can't see HD changing the bolt up spacing or deminsion from year to year but I might be totally wrong

 

Kinda sorta.

It'll bolt up, if you get a new front motor mount, the one that attaches the front head to the steering neck area. That mount is only like 15 bucks.

There's one other issue though. The manifold mating surfaces on all 07+ heads are milled down .0625" (1/16") from the 86-06 heads. Meaning your carb intake manifold is 1/8" too narrow and it creates a bigger gap there.

Some guys have made it work with careful centering of the manifold. Others have had issues with the seals being sucked in when chopping the throttle from high rpm.

Wider manifolds are available from a couple companies, that will solve the problem nicely. But of course, that adds to the expense, so factor that into your decision.

Also be aware that all 04+ heads and cylinders have bigger fins. So you'll be changing the appearance of your motor. The bigger fins enhance cooling, which is why HD went to them in '04. They definitely give the motor a bigger, more filled-out look.

And finally, be aware that 04+ 1200 heads are .020" shorter than your stock heads. That's not normally enough to cause any issues. But if you install them in combination with thin gaskets (commonly used to promote a better squish clearance), you could be knocking on the door of needing shorter pushrods.

 

I should point out, too, that everything else fits. The head/cylinder bolt pattern is the same, the cylinder height is the same, the dowel locations are all the same, they use the same head and base and rocker box and exhaust gaskets, the exhaust is in the same place, and even the older rocker boxes will bolt right up to the new heads and work fine. Lots and lots of people have done it. The only issues you need to be aware of are the ones I mentioned above.

 

Thanks aswracing, very good information let me ask you this .... Could I use my 883 heads on the 1200 jugs? Or is that just a bad performance idea?

 

Yes, but ...

04+ 1200's have 62cc chambers.

'95 883's have 49cc chambers.

Put a 49cc chamber head over a 600cc cylinder, with flat top pistons, and your compression ratio will be north of 11.5:1. Unless a bunch of other stuff is also done to deal with that much compression, the motor will detonate itself to death in short order.

Normally when doing a 1200 conversion with 883 heads, you used a dished conversion piston. In other words, the piston has a dish in the middle of it, instead of just a flat top. This brings the compression ratio down to something manageable.

Some guys hog out the chambers in 883 heads to make it work with flat top 1200 pistons. But that's generally not a good idea. The problem with doing it that way is that you generally lose some or all of the "squish" band that you would otherwise gain with the 883 heads. The squish band is the area where the piston comes real close to the head as it passes through TDC. Fuel trapped in the squish band gets, well, squished, which causes it to squirt out into the chamber. It promotes good mixing which means more power, better efficiency, and less detonation. So it's a good thing. Hogging out the chamber, if it's done in such a way that it removes the squish band, is a bad thing to do.

Hogging out the 883 chambers was the way it was commonly done until the advent of the dished conversion pistons back in the 90's. So you see a lot of older conversions done that way. Hardly anyone does it that way anymore, though, the dished dome conversion piston is the better way to do it.

So anyway, if you're talking about transplanting the cylinders and pistons from a 1200 over to your 883, well, it'll have flat top pistons, and the CR will be too high.

 

To boost your '95 the simplest way is probably with a 1250 conversion, which will come with suitable pistons and get around the CR problem. That will require other work, detailed in several threads in here, if the idea is attractive!

 

As far as the possible push rod length issue I have the 1200 pushrods as well would it be better to use them? And I have the 1200 manifold as well actually the complete engine

 

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