An additional thing to consider is; I'm sure there are a few people out there with 883's that wish they had bought a 1200. I never heard a person with a 1200 say they wished they had an 883?????

 

Very true. But I'm a totally happy 2 time 883 conversion owner... and if (God forbid) something happens, I'll buy another 883, but it'd be an R and I'd be converting to 1250.

 

dbleagle, the MSF course is a must for all motorcyclists, or should be. It's even good for those who have been riding for years. They have an advance course also where you use your own bike. I agree, they need to teach people to drive better. People have gotten too lax on their driving. They think it is a right instead of a privilege and drive that way. Anyway, I took the MSF course and it is well worth going to and it will teach you some good maneuvers and what to watch for.

 

Eight hundred eighty three ccs is not a small engine. (a motor is electric). Many metric cruisers are of the 800 cc range and are much heavier than the sportster. The 883 will give you just a little better mpg than the 1200. The gearing ratio is different. Converting an 883 to a 1200 will not give you a factory 1200. More people take notice of my bud's sporty (04 883 with slip ons) than my new bob. Calling a sportster a starter bike is like calling a Mustang GT a good little dirver's ed car.

 

The same thing scares me but at the same time you gotta remember that you control how fast you go. I've heard of people, one a friend of mine, who got a V-rod as a first bike. Whatever you get, take it to the parking lots for practice to get the hang of it. When it comes to weight of the bike it's all technique. I'd suggest getting the Ride Like a Pro dvd. I got it and it's helped for my MSF class, and in it there's a little woman, can't be more than 140 pounds tops, and she throws around an Electra Glide like it's a toy. []Good luck!

 

go with a 1200. otherwise you will spend just as much if not more converting it....plus you may want to customize and if you are using the custom money for motor improvements when you could include it in the financing, but if your coming from the dirt like i did, that power not being available might get you frustrated to the point where you dont want to ride it. It did me

I rode an 883 and it got me by (it was borrowed), but within a week i was wishing for more power to the point where i didnt want to ride.....borrowed a 1200 (older beater) that was great for about three days then the same thing, rode a 2005 with pipes and intake....scared me a little. bought my 1200 and within a week wanted more out of it. within two weeks i was annoyed. (it was still stock).

you can never have too much engine....

you will get used to the weight pretty quick, just dont try taking corners like you do on dirt for awhile.

 

Another newbie throwing her two cents in: I've ridden dirtbikes for a while, but nothing to write home about; they were only little 80's. I bought my boyfriend's 1200 Sportster Sport last year and everyone I told about this bike said the same thing - "you're gonna kill yourself in the first week". (I'm only 4'11" tall.) "Too much bike for a little girl." "What's your boyfriend thinking, he must not like you that much".

Took the MSF course and took the Sportster over to a parking lot close to home and practiced, practiced, practiced. Did so many circles and figure 8's in the parking lot that it was a challenge to ride a straight line. The weight of the bike was a bit daunting to me at first, but now that I've spent so much time doing slow-speed maneuvers, I don't even notice it anymore. And yes, I can pick it up if something happens where it gets away from me and ends up on the ground.

You are over a foot taller than me and outweigh me by a lot, so based on my (very limited) experience, bike weight/handling/speed shouldn't be an issue. Get your 1200 and be happy!!!!

 

You're kind tall for a Sportster. Try finding a used FXD. I know a girl with an 883 and she wishes she had more power now that she's had it awhile. Go 1200 or find a deal on the 883 and have someone build the motor.

750 for a conversion kit
http://www.bigboyzcycles.com/service.htm

 

I am 6'3" and about 215lbs. I rode bikes as a young'un, but hadn't sat on anyhting in about 12 years until a few months ago. Despite having about 20,000 miles of experience from my younger days, I consider myself much wiser today and wanted to start out slow, small and cheap. This and a somewhat tight budget forced me into the same decision about 8 months ago. I did some research and finally ended up with the 1200XLC. I am very glad that I didn't go with the 883. I ride 2UP about 75% of the time with [Candidate] Mrs. Sgreen0313 and we love it. We've put about 3,500 miles on the bike in the last 8 months and I couldn't imagine going with anything smaller.

The fwd controls are great and the only problem that I've had with my bike is that the mirrors aren't wide enough for me to see clearly behind me. Even with the HD extensions I have to drop my arm/shoulder a bit to see directly behind me. I am told by my local dealer that I would have to get wider bars or a bigger bike to accommodate my fat azz. LOL. I don't consider my bike too small, but I would like to have some of the bells and whistles that the larger bikes have such as:

1. Intercom/Radio built-in and hidden by a fairing. I just ordered (today) the Chatterbox GMRS-X1 to partially solve this problem.
2. A little more butt room for me and the little woman.
3. A fuel gauge. I can't even find an aftermaket gauge for my bike that has a gauge in it, although I hear that the '07 has a low fuel light.
4. I wish I didn't have to spend the extra bucks to add an RPM gauge.

No matter what, you will probably want to buy some add-on gear, so make sure that you plan ahead for those purchases. The nice bags are about a gran installed, then there was the oil temp gauge, mirror extensions, passenger foot peg extensions, sissy bar and back rest, chrome switch housing and switch covers, etc. and I'm not done yet.

Personally speaking I don't think that you'll go terribly wrong either way, but make sure that you do some homework on the resale values also. That was one of the big things that swayed me from the Honday VTX aside from quality. The Harleys seem to hold their value much better than all of the other brands. After you go through the MSF course nad get your license, you might consider renting (seeing as how it's almost impossible to get a test ride) each bike for a day and seeing how they feel.

I have a ton of things to say about the MSF Course - most of them very positive. Even with tons of experience (granted most of it over a decade ago) I found it to be extrmely well worth the money and sweat out in the hot SoCal sun to learn a few new tricks.

 

I am in a similar, not exact same position as you. I'm not however worried about engine size being too large as I am the weight of the bike. I am in the market as well for a first road bike, dirt bike xp as a youngin' as well. I'm definitely if staying with the sportster crowd going to purchase a 1200c, if in the dyna, either a WG or a StreetBob.
Getting closer to my safety class start time as well. 1.5 weeks away. CAN'T wait. . .