Need new carb for 89 Sportster 883 XL. Have been offered 1200 XL and need to replace jets. What jets and other carb parts need change for stock 883?

Appreciate any help. Thanks

 

If it's an unmolested carb off a 1200 then it'll probably run pretty well as is. Adjust your idle mixture properly, shim the needle if required, and worry about the main jet last... if at all.

More important than swapping jets and needles is that the rest of the carb is good:

Does the float needle seal properly?
Is the float height set?
Is the diaphragm in good shape? (not torn?)
How about the accelerator pump diaphragm?
Does this carb HAVE an accelerator pump? ('88s did not)
Has the vacuum port in the slide been drilled out?
Are there any aftermarket kits in the carb? (CVP or Dynojet)
Is the tiny O-ring on the idle mix screw in good shape? Is it even there? Is it stacked properly with the washer???
Is there crud inside the carb? (I've seen some pretty nasty examples)
How about the enrichener?
Do you have a vacuum fuel petcock and is it functional? (not leaking)
How about the intake seals? You can't tune **** without good intake seals!
Any cracks around the idle port? (from over-tightening the idle mix screw)
Is the fuel feed elbow cracked? (later models are plastic)

I had to cannibalize three carbs to rebuild a buddy's CV... it's amazing how many problems can be encountered! Not even sure what jets we ended up using... but the bike runs great. Changing jets is often a band-aid used to compensate for other issues... if the rest of the engine and carb is good, jet size is of little relevance, particularly on an 883... even more so if mostly stock.

 

Thanks John for your complete explanation of this seemingly easy switchover. Hopefully it doesn't require major work to get back on road again. Drive safe! Frank

 

Hopefully it goes easy for you, but it does turn into a can of worms sometimes! Good luck.