883 to 1200

[ultra 08]

My brother is putting a 1200 kit in his wife's sporty and the question came up can you or is there a primary pulley out there that is available to gear it up. That way she won't have to wind it up so thigh at 60 or 70 mph. He tried to talk her in to a dyna but she just likes her sporty to much to part with it.

[mayor]

what year Sportster?  I'm not too sure of the latest XL's, but the early belt drive Evo XL's came with a 27 tooth front pulley.  The 1200's came with a 29 tooth pulley, and switching over to the 29 tooth helps lower the r's while free way riding.  It takes the extra tq of the 1200 to make this work though, since the gearing does take away some tq at the rear wheel.   I think the later rubber mount XL's are only one tooth different than the 1200's. 

Changing the pulley isn't overly hard, it's more time consuming than it is hard.  The change will make the speedo read a little light, but there's a module available to correct that for about $100.   

[ultra 08]

Thanks mayor the sporty is an 09. I have to say I really enjoy this site there is a lot of info out here and if you have a question it doesn't take long to get an answer. It amazes me how much knowledge there is on this site and you guys do a fantastic job running it.  Thanks much. 

[Powerglides]

The gearing difference between the late 883 and 1200 is in the primary as well as the belt pulleys.
All models have a 68T rear pulley and all 883s have a 28T front with a 136T belt. US model 1200s have a 29T front pulley, and international models have a 30T. Both of these use a 137T belt.
However, there is a bigger difference in the primary. 883 uses a 34T on the crank, with a 94 link chain. 1200 uses a 38T with a 96 link chain.
If you do it on the primary, there is no impact on the speedo reading. The rubbermounts also have a different clutch diaphragm spring on the 1200, and you should use this also, to avoid clutch slip with the extra power.
Starting in March 08, as a running change, H-D changed the construction of the 883 cylinders, and these cannot be bored out to accept the 1200 pistons. You will need new cylinders.

[mayor]

Powerglides is right on the money.  Here's the specifics on '09 XL's and 1200's:

'09 883 (US):

Compensator Sprocket: 34T
Clutch hub: 36785-91
CLUTCH SHELL AND SPR: 36790-04
Primary chain: 94 links
Clutch Spring:37910-04B


Front pulley: 28T
Belt: 136T
Rear pulley: 68T

'09 1200 (US):

Compensator Sprocket: 38T (40290-04A)
Clutch hub: 36785-91
CLUTCH SHELL AND SPR: 36790-04
Primary chain: 96links (40147-04)
Clutch Spring:37924-04A

Front pulley: 29T (40409-04)
Belt: 137T (40591-07)
Rear pulley: 68T

[ultra 08]

Hey thanks guys nothing but a class act on this site.

[14Frisco]

That way she won't have to wind it up so thigh at 60 or 70 mph.

At 60-70-80mph the rpms of an 883 are in no way in any danger zone.  Plenty of us run our 883-1200 conversions with the stock 883 gearing.  I would just run it as-is after the 1200 conversion and spend my money on something else.

[bigfoot5x]

I agree with not changing the gearing. It will be much peppier than a stock 1200 and with the stock 883 badging on the tank it will be a real surprise in stop light drag racing.

[flhs90]

Hey 883 fans:

This question is along the same vein.  Our 89 4speed seems to like 65 mph. We currently do not have a tach.
What kind of rpms is that bike churning out at 70 mph?
Anybody here familiar with cruising an evo 4 speed at Hiway speeds does the vibration become excessively 'uncomfortable.?"

Thanks, Dave (FLHS90)

[cyclobutch]

My '89 1200 four speed is running just a bit over 3k at around 70 per indicated. It does vibrate a goodly amount but you do kind of get used to it. My speedo has since died (the needle fell off) and whilst it's off for repair I have a cycle computer fitted. Running that against a sat nav showed I had it calibrated pretty much on the money. Rushing back from an aborted mainland Europe trip with an intermittent ignition fault (to swap bikes) I had the thing running over 100 for a while. I was expecting that cycle speedo to wrap around to zeros after 99, but was amused to see it had an extra digit on there. What cyclist needs a computer that shows speeds in excess of 99 mph?

[14Frisco]

I was expecting that cycle speedo to wrap around to zeros after 99, but was amused to see it had an extra digit on there. What cyclist needs a computer that shows speeds in excess of 99 mph?

That's funny... I am also running a mountain bike speedo on my Sporty, and according to its spec it says "Speed up to 300kmh/183mph".  I believe they are very accurate too.

[Hillside Motorcycle]

I'd leave the gearing as is.
The OE 1200's will be staring at her tail light. hehe
Scott

[evo58]

some body could explain about th e883 module?
will work  a 883 module with a 1200 bike??
or th e883 module can be remaped to 1200 pattern??
evo

[W.Wilberforce]

some body could explain about th e883 module?
will work  a 883 module with a 1200 bike??
or th e883 module can be remaped to 1200 pattern??
evo

This maybe a little old but I hate to see a question unanswered!

Evo58, If you have an 883 and are doing the 1200 conversion on an EFI Sportster then you don't need to do anything with the ECU as the Tuner you have to put on the bike will handle the change.

In my case I'm using a PCV and hoped (wrongly) that I would be able to just download the map for the 1200 PCV with the same filter and pipes for it to work, no chance because of the 883 ECU. So off to the Dyno tuners for a map set up from scratch result = perfect.