I'm with John Harper, etc, on this. Just ride it for what it is (with the tire, brake, and suspension upgrades you've mentioned). These machines are all about torque imo. Up-shift early and have fun with what it was designed for.

 

XL's are not the big torque bikes that the Big Twin is,,,,period.
sporty need to spin up higher in the rpm band to work well,,short shifting on a stock motor will not make anything any better. PM me if you feel the need, my 93 has 104 hp and 106 tq AND 94,000 miles on it, that I put on it. like i said, if you want more info PM me and we can discuss it further. take your advise from people that ride and like sportsters.
marco

 

We're not talking about "Big Twins" in here. This is the Sportster thread. As for the rest of your story: I say ya, sure, and likely.

 

yea I was wanting to port and polish as well and idk what a/c is but I got 2 inch drag pipes they came on it I haven't changed nothing on it

 

when I purchased the bike last year it had round 20,000 miles on it every since i got it I have rode everyday pretty much I have made a few At least 140 or more round trips have been to Parsons wva on it I ride all year haven't rode since October cause a deer jumped out in front of me and fractured my foot and broke two turn signals which I'm just now getting to fix and I'm looking for acceleration I lag behind the rest of the guys when we ride I need a lil more pick me up and at like 70mph in 5th gear I'm around 4000 rpm I don't really like to whine the gears out so ima try to figure that out as well I mean it sounds whined out to me anyways

 

I don't know how to pm on here I'm new to this so pm if you don't mind wouldn't mind chatting with you and picking your brain

 

you need to post a few more times to break the thresh-hold to send and recieve pm's. the first thing that you want to do to make your bike run better is to get rid of the drag pipes!!! there are lots of better running systems!!! the 2-1's work very well and the old bassani short side by side pipes look very cool are loud and make great power...stock head pipes and good slip on run way better than drag pipes.
For the 2-1's the older vance and hines pro-pipe hs, the super trap, and thunderheader are all very nice. the V&H and supertrapp are tuneable too. that would be the first step.
next would be to get a Mikuni 42 carb. both of these uprgrades are kept and become invaluable to when you step up your cams and comp and headwork, if you get them first, you will enjoy all of the benifits right from the get go and after you do further upgrades.
marco

 

You're in the right place to get good advice and help, to get your bike 'just so'. That will obviously come with some opinions as well and I will add my recommendation by Marco above to ditch the drag pipes. There are worst set-ups, but I also agree that a Supertrapp 2-into-1 would be a great choice - I have one on my Glide. Why? because it gives great low/mid rev range torque, where most of us ride and will certainly get you after those newer bikes a lot quicker! It will also run more smoothly, if my experience is anything to go by.

Also keep onto your belt - chains are just so last century! They are also quieter, smoother running and near zero maintenance. Not going to a chain will give you some useful funds to buy that new exhaust!

 

Riding with a group/club and get left behind...

First... There is a difference between need and want...

Do you really "need" more than what a 1200 Sporty can deliver on american roads? I'd be skeptical of an affirmative answer. What are your buddies/club members all riding? Sport bikes? This a bunch of aggressive riders? In my book, there is only so much room for play that's reasonable for public roads. Beyond that one should avail themselves of track days. I've dumped so called riding buddies in the past because they tended to get stupid. In my experience it's a common outcome of "groups" for various reasons. This is one of the reasons that I generally prefer to ride alone.

As already mentioned... You need to get rid of the drag pipes. You are likely taking a sizable performance hit in the area of the performance band that you ride in the most (low to mid range). You might consider starting with getting a good stage 1 done (appropriate set of pipes, air cleaner, and tuning/jetting). You might be surprised with the difference from just a correctly done stage 1. If not satisfied, you'd still need to components bought for the stage 1 for going further. Don't skimp on the tuning - get it done on a dyno by a competent pro.

Lastly, no matter how much money you dump into a stage II, III or IV, you are still going to be riding a Harley. Any reasonably sized, modern, stock, sport bike will wax the floor with your hopped up Sporty. So keep that in mind while you contemplate your "needs".

Oh... and as to chains vs. belts... Don't see a need for chains... Also, doing chain maintenance all the time gets to be a drag. Belts are so much better just for this alone.

 

ok ill check into those thanks