883 possibly converted?
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Stage I
Joined: Sep 2012
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From: Middle Georgia
883 possibly converted?
I just bought a 2004 xl883 from a bank who repo it from owner. It has a complete bobber maker over. ( some short cuts) i been getting her right and i was wonderin if there was a way to see if its been converted to 1200 or 1250 without taking heads off?
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Joined: Feb 2007
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From: Boynton Beach, FloriDuh
There's a number of different "1200" conversions out there, but you could start with a compression test.
Here are the numbers from an 04 Service manual, they should be close.
883cc - 125-140 psi
1200cc- 200-225 psi
.
Here are the numbers from an 04 Service manual, they should be close.
883cc - 125-140 psi
1200cc- 200-225 psi
.
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Joined: Jan 2012
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From: NE Philly
You might look on the jugs for a logo of some sort like NRHS, or Screaming Eagle. If those are there it's a dead giveaway.
Edit:
A good deal of the conversions are done with kits like I mentioned above. Almost all of the conversation kits will have a logo on the jugs.
Only a small percentage are done by boring the jugs and adding 1200 pistons. Those, obviously, wouldn't have a logo and would need a compression test. The chances are, though, without a logo, it's probably stock.
Edit:
A good deal of the conversions are done with kits like I mentioned above. Almost all of the conversation kits will have a logo on the jugs.
Only a small percentage are done by boring the jugs and adding 1200 pistons. Those, obviously, wouldn't have a logo and would need a compression test. The chances are, though, without a logo, it's probably stock.
Last edited by baka1969; Sep 28, 2012 at 05:14 PM.
Extreme HDF Member
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From: NE Philly
If it's his first Harley or Sporty it may not be THAT easy.
Club Member
Joined: Feb 2007
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From: Boynton Beach, FloriDuh
+1 - Agreed, it was a rather dumb statement. A moped can seem fast if you've never had anything else to compare it to. 
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Joined: Jun 2007
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From: Bedford UK
Which year did Harley start fitting 883s with cylinders that can't be bored out to 1200? Was that with the rubber mounts? If so his cylinders will have to be either after-market or SE.
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Tourer
Joined: Aug 2012
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From: buffalo, NY
From what I've read about conversions is that 04+ will use older pre 03 jugs with the kits and will have the smaller tigheter spaced fins, so that can be an indication of a conversion too. I'm not positive but I think kits like the NHRS 1250 kit uses the older jugs on newer bikes. Just another thing you can look into.
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From: victoria bc
Well did you figure it out?
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