I have some "facts" here concerning horse power between the 883's and 1200's that I got from www.Sportster.org. I'm SHOPPING for a Sportster Custom and was going to get an 883 and have it converted to a 1200 during the winter but now if their "facts" are TRUE I think I'll just get the 883 and have the Stage .5 upgrade. (Harley tax) After reading this please let me know YOUR feelings from your experience.


I went on www.Sportster.org sight to look for information about Stage 1, 2, etc for a Sporty 883. (I'm VERY seriously considering a 883 Custom) According to the web site STOCK the 883 puts out 40 HP and the STOCK 1200 puts out 50 HP.

They say stage .5 (not stage 1, stage one half) = the Harley tax meaning a SE air cleaner, SE slip on mufflers and rejetting the carb. They say doing that will give an 883 50 HP and a 1200 60 HP. More or less giving the 883 the power of a stock 1200.

They go on to say STAGE 1 for an 883 is doing the 1200 conversion which would give the prior 883 60 HP, only 10 HP more then simply paying the Harley Tax.

Well personally that seems like a LOT of cash to pay for the conversion to gain only 10 HP over paying the Harley Tax.

They then went on to explain the Stage 1.5 and Stage 2 upgrades but personally I was totally uninterested in these. Fairly pricy and if I needed that much power I'd keep my VTX 1800.

I took a brand new STOCK 1200 Custom for a test ride the other day and though it had a real nice power to weight ratio and according to the Sportster web site that was at 50 HP. The 883 gets 50 HP with Stage .5!! (Harley Tax) I was initially thinking I'd get an 883 then have the conversion done. NOW I'm thinking of getting an 883 and simply paying the Harley tax to gain the extra 10 HP and give it the power of a STOCK 1200. A few HUNDRED extra bucks and I'll have the power of a stock 1200 rather then over a thousand extra bucks for a conversion that will only get me an aditional 10 HP over an 883 that's paid the Harley tax. TO ME a mear 10 HP isn't worth paying over a grand more then sinmply paying the Harley tax.

Please let me know what you think!

 

UPDATE ... I just read the 883 at 50 HP isn't the same as a stock 1200 at 50 HP. The stock 1200 has 30 to 40% more bottom end torque. ............... I'm still concidering simply getting an 883 and paying the Harlety tax.

Again I'm looking for opinions from those of you who have Sportsters.

 

check out NRHS, this company that does alot for sportster motors worth checking out.
NRHS

 

The difference in power figures between a 883/1200 and a 1200 should be mostly due to the heads.
The figures on www.sportster.org don't seem to entirely agree with figures I've read elsewhere, including here. Their torque figures for a punched out 883 seem a little on the low side given the high intake velocity and gearing differences between the 883 and 1200. Maybe HD did something with 2004+ 883 heads that isn't reflected in the www.sportster.org figures?

After reading the site of a sponsor of this site I'm really wondering how much difference there is between 883 and 1200 heads.
Sure the 1200R heads are a different animal but vanilla 1200 heads can't be that much different. We're only talking about a 217cc difference in displacement even if it is all in bore.

 

I'm not sure of all the differences in the 2004+ engines, but here is some information I saved;

"Knowing that they were opening up the higher end of the powerband, Harley engineers spent a good deal of time reworking the motor to suit. Bore and stroke dimensions remain unchanged for both the 883 and the 1200 versions, but lighter pistons and rods help the 1200 rev to 6,000 rpm. For added grunt, the larger mill also receives the high-flow cylinder heads from the Buell XB line and hot cams from the 1200 Sport.

Other changes include larger fins on the cylinders, a new shifter mechanism, and a reworked breather and oil drain system to reduce oil carryover. So much was changed, in fact, that only a handful of parts are shared with the previous generation motor."