After waiting 50 years for that "special" sporty I came away very disillusioned :( and purchased a 2003 solid mount sportster sport :)

Now before all my teeth fall out I'm wondering if anyone here has had their crank professionally balanced, and if so at what cost and if it helped at all to dampen the vibrations in the upper rev range, say-3500-5500 RPM

Thanks
Capt About Lunchtime:D

Lots of other ways to fix/change this situation before going THAT route....probably not necessary and pretty expensive, I'll wager....

Search the forum...LOTS of threads on losing SOME vibration....

I had my evo on my 99 FLSTC balanced, but while it was completely apart for a rebuild. Balancing is a rather complicated, time consuming process. If you're not familiar with it, the flywheels must be removed, all the reciprocating parts (rods, pistons, bearings) weighed. Then weights are put on the flywheels, they are aligned, then the balancing act is performed, either adding or removing weight from the 'wheels. Then things are pulled apart, assembled and the flywheels alinged again, then the bottom end assembled. I can say this is going to be rather expensive if you have a dealer or independant do it.

You might explore the solutions here, and maybe look at balancemasters.com - they have an 'active dampener' or something like that, that goes on your clutch basket, which would be much cheaper than tearing down an engine.

Balancing did make my engine smoother. But it is still not a rubber mounted or twin cam B (rotating balancers) smooth engine. But better... I guess I'm used to it now- I did my ironbutt ride (1000mi / 24hrs) on solid mtd evo.

In fact, selling your bike, and buying a 04-07 rubber mount would be cheaper than tearing into your engine. With a solid mount engine, there will always be vibes, even balanced. Try varying your cruise speeds- solid mount engines have 'sweet spots' where everything is smooth. The sweet spot may even vary depending on how hard the engine is working (wind, hill, etc) But, you may be happier with a 'rubber head' sporty.

I had a real nice '98 S. It vibed pretty hard between 3500 & 5000 RPM. I liked to run it hard so that was no good. I shitcanned the stock deisel pistons and put in some Wisecos. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! The engine was so much smoother and felt freer revving. The fIrst ride with that setup was FANTASTIC. As a final touch I added a roll of nickels siliconed into each bar end. Funny,but yes it really worked. That's avery old trick.

NO engine can be truly balanced over it's entire operating range. This is especialy true of a 45deg. V-twin. It is a compromise. The factory does balance the motor to run relatively smooth at highway cruising speed. I think the stock pistons weigh something like 500 grams(!). That is insane.

Reduced reciprocating mass is a very effective way to reduce vibration. Also,the expensive chore of lower end work can be skipped. You could make some little improvements in the heads and freshen it all up while you're in there. aluminum pushrods are good too,as long as the valve springs are mild.
DO NOT USE KB HYPEREUTECTIC PISTONS.

And of course, make sure all the motor mounts,pipes,etc are tight.

What kind of handlebars are you running? Seems the drag bars have more vibration.
I'm running buckhorns and have next to nothing for vibration. The mirrors are fine.

Thanks for the advice fellas, I'll try the wisecos' roadster , thanks ,as for the bars they're stock .I've read up plenty about bar weights both aftermarket and homemade and I'm yet to change the grips and pegs, Kuryakyn Isos' seem the go by what I've read anound here. :D

:tour Oh and she's still got the stock seat so there's plenty of room for improvement before I consider spending up heaps on ballancing.:D
Great site for finding out stuff like this before buying thanks again:clap

Hi Captain.

The Balancemaster add on balancers are snake oil, too little weight to real cure anything, and many come apart.
The balance master flywheel mounted ones have a far better track record.

As to helping with the vibes....
1) Handlebars. I will assume that since you have a "S" model, they are not drag bars. I would suggest that you pull the throttle grip off, and pack the bar with lead shot, then cap the bar and re-install the throttle. The lead shot will soak up some of the vibration.
2) Handlebar mounts. There are rubber bushing that isolate the risers from the top triple tree, these bushing wear out, and the stock ones are just junk out of the box. A set or urafame mounts from drag specialties will help out a bunch.
3) Iso type gips. They will help to isolate your hands from the bars.
4) iso type pegs. same as the grips, but for the feet.
5) set the shocks and forks to soft. Not all vibration comes from the engine, some comes from the tire through a too stiff setting on your suspension. The 1200s is adjustable for dampening, so try it soft.
6) Gel gloves. They do help.

All in all, the sportster is a fast adgile bike, but this is it's akillies heal, I tried all these, and it was as good as it could be, but in the end, I sold my much beloved Sporty for a Electra Glide.
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One cannot balance a V motor for ALL rev ranges...

All you do by changing the balance factor is move the sweet spot around the rev range..

try different bars/grips etc as Jeffy suggested...

Reducing your timing a little can help.... actually it can help a lot if that's a contributing factor..

The piston option sometimes helps but thats often because the compression has been changed..