So, after listening to my brother sing the praises of his Nightster for over a year now, I decided to stop buy the dealership and have a look at one. (Evidently his rides on water, cures the common cold, and gets him free ice cream...but he's a strange kid - so go figure.)

While talking options and add-ons with the sales rep, I mentioned that I liked the styling on the Iron more then the Nightster, but wasn't sold on the 883. To which he suggested getting the Iron with a 1200 conversion. It took me all of about .02 seconds to decide that that was a pretty damn good idea. Now, I have questions - because 1) my dealership was packed due to the holiday sale, and 2) my rep was not a tech guy, and the tech guys were swamped.

Any help would be appreciated on -

1) Is the 883/1200 engine an apples to apples comparison to the stock 1200. Do I gain or loose anything significant choosing the 883/1200 over the stock 1200?

2) So, the Iron 883 and 1200 Nightster are geared differently. (Even though my sales rep swore they were the same.) I'm a conservative rider. Never going to try to beat anybody off the line. Never going to see "just how fast she'll go". In the realm of "legal things to do with my new bike" - what do I gain or loose with a 883 geared 1200 vs. the stock 1200?? Is there a deal breaker in there anywhere?

3) If I decide on the Iron 883/1200, I'll also add the SE slip ons and heavy breather at the time of purchase. How can I expect the bike to perform vs. my brother's stock Nightster?? Because, as we all know, it's all about having better toys then your siblings.

4) Finally, What is a reasonable price range to expect the 1200 conversion to cost in conjunction with a bike purchase?? I figure I'm going to save some labor on tuning by doing all the performance mods at the same time. But, I see quotes on after initial purchase conversions fluctuating by $8-900, or more. All my other add-ons will be fairly simple, so I'd like a ballpark to negotiate around. Plus, should I expect a trade up credit going from the SE a/c included in the 1200 conversion price, to the heavy breather?



Thanks for the help.

 

The only thing I can help with is that my local dealer said that a 1200 kit on an 883 will run right about $1500... Hope that helps some.

 

iron to1200 is a fine idea check out if you used a revperf 1250 or nrhs 1250 kit will void yer warranty. you'll probably have to have the dealer install it. the factory screaming eagle heads are way better than stock but cant be souped up much.oh if you get the screaming eagle 1200 kit its OK if only for the heads an cylinders but factory cylinders are NEVER precision bored so you lose power, longevity and mpg. thats why you really wanna go revperf 1250 or nrhs 1250 kit. i believe the iron comes with stock .536 cams so them are awesome. to raise yer speed limit ask HD about a 30 tooth front pulley bro, it allows u reuse the stock belt the 55 tooth rear pulley don't allow 4 that. the screaming eagle ignition is fine unless yer hardcore modifying.

 

oh dont waste your $$$ on screaming eagle slip ons or pipes they aren't any better than stock. if you want to see performance get 2 into 1s an ceramic coated is what ya really want if u can afford em. the screaming eagle aircleaner is bunk and just yer stock one repackaged. so SAY NO to the dealers so called stage one screaming eagle kit. the screaming eagle mikuni carb and manifold is top notch though. if this is a daily rider remember chrome ****** rusts an it dont take long to start.

 

oh yeah if this all point of sale where yer deciding on the spot tell em you want your old heads,cylinders,pistons and everything else as spares returned to you as THEY ARE YOURS!! the stealers hope you forget about em an resell em later. dont let lie to you saying "well if you want all them upgrades we gotta have the factory custom build it for you so you get no spare parts" thats straight up BS an they will only order parts from the factory, install themselves and yes theres ALWAYS your (not theirs) original parts. even though they're 883 you'll get some good money for em on ebay, even the stock ignition bro. if the dealer offers XR1200 pipes jump all over em

 

Buy the 1200 conversion kit from Brandon HD out of Tampa, FL. They usually have a few on ebay. They are around $960 from them plus the $20 shipping. You'll save around $300 buying it from them. Then expect around 4 hours of labor. I am not sure what your dealer charges, but mine charges $60 an hour. So, you figure around $1,200-$1,300 you'll be good to go

 

it'll cost alot more than 4 hrs labour an they assrape you even on the gasket prices bro which by the way ARE NOT INCLUDED and they charge U retail for them individually. if you bring them warranty approved parts they'll just tack on their lost profit to the install, my cousin works at a dealership as a salesman an he sez its all geared to get the most possible $$ outta each sale no matter what! they really don't give a shiit about repeat biz n as a policy only throw in some asskissing to the fools stupid enough to return for another assraping.

 

Our local dealer charges $750 for a conversion, I have no idea what that covers. Theoretically a 883 converted to 1200 should outperform a stock factory 1200. I 2nd changing the trans pulley, unless you are just going to putt around town......

 

If you are planning on doing a 1200 conversion right outta the gate, I would say just go with the Nightster. Save yourself a whole lotta work and just drive the bike out tomorrow and enjoy it for the rest of the summer!

 

It depends on what you want and how your money is.....We did the 1200 on my wife's Iron when we bought it. There are a few benefits to this. 1. It gets rolled into the price of the bike (depending on who you finance through) 2. It gets added to the warranty of the bike. If you use non-harley parts as some one else suggested, It will not. Also, if you don't do it in at least the first 60 days after purchasing the bike, it will not go onto the warranty. 3. You only have to break it in once.

As for performance, I have ridden a buddy's 1200N and another 1200 custom. The 1200 swap is SE parts. I can tell you that my seat of the pants dyno says the Iron feels stronger. I agree don't waste your time with the SE slip ons. Especially when you can still get Hooker pipes for under $200. We went with the rebels.

As far as price, We bought the Iron with the 1200 conversion and forward controls. The price was actually a little less than it would have been to buy the Nightster with forward controls. My dealer sells at MSRP, no more no less. When we figured up the MSRP, freight, set up, and parts, the Iron was cheaper.......and IMO it looks better