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Me personally I bought a Dyna I never did convert mine its still 883. I think I would just buy a 1200 untill you spend the money and time wrenching it would be more cost effective IMO.
I'm glad I just geared mine and sent the kit back because I really will end up buying a bigger bike. If I had some extra cash laying around I'd have a softail standard sitting here.
Yeah my reason for the bigger bike was two up riding I literally rode the 883 for 7 or 8 years then the wife wanted to come along i left her home all the time...we tried the sportster but too small the dyna has more than enough power for two up etc.
I have pulled the front wheel up more than once shifting from first to second with it also. Dont get me wrong though I like sportster and I kept mine when I bought the Dyna, but it is a bike i ride solo on.
Last edited by Super Glidester; May 12, 2022 at 12:29 PM.
Yeah my reason for the bigger bike was two up riding I literally rode the 883 for 7 or 8 years then the wife wanted to come along i left her home all the time...we tried the sportster but too small the dyna has more than enough power for two up etc.
I have pulled the front wheel up more than once shifting from first to second with it also. Dont get me wrong though I like sportster and I kept mine when I bought the Dyna, but it is a bike i ride solo on.
I'd make money on mine even if I just traded it in, I got it cheap and it's a nice bike.
Yeah sportsters are wierd as far as resale value,once they reach a certain age the ylevel out at between 3-5 grand...but ium talking when they are like 15-20 years old. for example if you wanted an old 67 ironhead if you could find one it would be 5 grand,same for a 90s or 2000s one and they may be even cheaper.
I can deal with a little better with the gearing. I wanted a bigger bike when I bought it but it was a steal. If I can deal with it a couple more years I'll be in a better position to buy a brand new bike.
Agreed! But if I read Richnutt's message correctly, it sounds as if he wants to 'cheap out' on the conversion
by using the stock 883 heads. Then put more dollars into suspension, but I could be wrong though....
T.
Your correct. I gave myself a budget, then made choices. I read/ asked questions as much as I could, as quickly as I could about sportsters on sites such as this. The Harley Dealer Service Dept at my local dealership recommended the 883-1200 modification as it is. I relied on the experts recommendations / suggestions to my desires to modify the primarily solo Sportster to a more 2-up friendly bike. My last Harley was a stock 92 FXRS-SP ,red color. My 2nd motorcycle at age 20 was a 1975 Kawasaki 750 Mach 4 bored out to 850 with bigger carbs and expansion chambers. At my current age, I never had any intention of ever purchasing any motorcycle again. If you read my introductory post to this site, you will understand why purchasing another Harley was not an option as the wife gave me the bike as an anniversary gift. My goal was to make the bike work for us at a reasonable cost to mitigate the deficiencies that are inherent to Harleys. So far so good. Bike has enough grunt and handles well with both of us with the Progressive 444s on the rear on Progressive springs up front. I had all the work done at the Harley dealership with so when I sell it , I can document who did all the work and hopefully mitigate the inevitable financial loss. I was able to modify our utility trailer to haul it with the goal of traveling to scenic rides which we will conduct at 55-60 mph. Oh yes, I also requested the SE slip on mufflers because they were a quiet performance muffler. Slow and quiet ( relatively) on a Harley - Oh the apostasy ! Dont worry Great Grandpa has signed up for an intermediate and advanced refresher course at the local community college.
You're certainly going to have more power when you change the jugs and increase compression but these guys saying they'll smoke a 1200 from a logical standpoint are full of ****.
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