Picked up 1 of these model sportsters and was wondering if anyone had any info on the internal engine mods of this motor from harley davidson, I was gonna order cams and a big bore kit for it but a buddy of mine said that if he remembers correctly they already put andrews cams in this model at the factory, Ive been thru the HD parts list and the list does not have the cams listed for the 883R engine, Also it has different head numbers than a stock 883 and different numbers from the 1200, Head part numbers are 16865-02 &16867-02 883R model only. The bike has a factory SE 2into1 pipe,SE Ignition and coil, Only info ive been able to track down is that this specific model was only made in 2001,2002 and lists the hp is rated @68hp@6000rpm (Stock 883 around 53). Before i go tearing into this bike and throwing money out the window i would like to know what exactly the HD internal mods were, Ive called 3 different dealerships and they can't or wont tell me that info. i even tried to tell them i wanted to order new cams for the bike and they get stumped cause the parts book doesn't list the 883R cams,The bike still has the factory racing orange paint scheme and is pretty much in mint shape. with only 3600 miles on it, So dunno if i should do a bigbore kit on it or throw it back in the shed for another 20 years. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated...Jeff

 

The only factory difference between an 883R and the others is the dual front disc and 2-1 exhaust. Everything else is identical to other 883 models.

It should have stock cams unless someone switched it, which are the "D" grind cams. They're the same cam grind in all pre-2003 bikes except the 1200S, which had the "W" grind.

 

Most differences are cosmetic. Unless, like posted above, someone as already done some work to it. If you can get the parts, a Buell kit is direct bolt on. That's wat I did to mine.