Another 1996 in the garage
Front fork tubes and seals are shot and spray oil all over the place, even while trailering it home thinking of putting on a Moto Iron Springer when the time comes did a quick ride down the street and everything runs and shifts good this bike will be a long time project for me being retired it will keep me out of the house and out of my wife's hair
I was able to speak with previous owner (not original owner) and was told they were not sure is it had a 1200 kit installed
Question is there an easy way to tell if it has been changed to a 1200?
I thought about putting a cylinder at bottom, measure out the correct amount of fuel for a 1200, and see if the cylinder will hold that amount through the spark plug hole if not it would have to be an 883
Question assuming the rings are good would fuel seep into the bottom end?
Looking forward to your comments and suggestions
The rear (factory) 1200 jug on mine has a small "1200" cast into it at the base. It's on the right side, at the bottom, near where the two jugs meet. Don't know if MoCo kit jugs have the same marks, but it would seem odd if they didn't. Of course, there's a chance that the 883 jugs were bored out, so there's no telling on that.
I've read (but never tried) that you can use a thin wooden dowel to check. Motor at BDC, dowel down through the sparkplug hole with the end at the edge of the piston (up against the cylinder wall) will measure 5 7/8" to the top of the spark plug hole on a 1200 and 5 1/2" on an 883.
Replace the fork seals with real HD seals, don't use those "leak proof" fork seals as they aren't.
Sad thing is, is that Sporty will outlast the new Sporties made on Monday at the MOCO, because of superior quality parts used....
filling the cylinder with fuel will leak down and fill the cases...
You can always pull a head. I'm pretty sure though you would feel a major performance difference between the 2 motors..
filling the cylinder with fuel will leak down and fill the cases...
You can always pull a head. I'm pretty sure though you would feel a major performance difference between the 2 motors..
If it has any giddy up and go then it ain't a 883.
The rear (factory) 1200 jug on mine has a small "1200" cast into it at the base. It's on the right side, at the bottom, near where the two jugs meet. Don't know if MoCo kit jugs have the same marks, but it would seem odd if they didn't. Of course, there's a chance that the 883 jugs were bored out, so there's no telling on that.
I've read (but never tried) that you can use a thin wooden dowel to check. Motor at BDC, dowel down through the sparkplug hole with the end at the edge of the piston (up against the cylinder wall) will measure 5 7/8" to the top of the spark plug hole on a 1200 and 5 1/2" on an 883.
filling the cylinder with fuel will leak down and fill the cases...
You can always pull a head. I'm pretty sure though you would feel a major performance difference between the 2 motors..
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Last edited by FreedomRider; Oct 13, 2018 at 02:24 PM.












