Im considering making my 1200S into an 883 as I never ride fast typically 60mph is as fast as I ever go, and also prefer a softer low-compression bike.

I have someone with a new 883 sporty willing to swap complete top ends and cams, his is a rubbermount 06 bike (carb). I want to know if the top ends, and the cams, would be interchangeable between our 2 bikes? Is it a big job or just a swap?

oh, and would the carbs need exchanging also?

All information gratefully recieved.

Why take away from what you have..
Sell your 1200 and buy what you would rather have. Changing your 1200 to an 883 would kill the resale value
just my thought...

For the sake of resale sanity and all the wrenching why don't you two just swap bikes?:doh

Why would you want to do that?

xcngbbn eerttynstddf? bnbnb377dhht , ihjni67676898?
mnbciyvdjkhcaij?

there lets see if that works!

I assume profanity is not appropriate for this forum?


:-(

Not only resale value would take a hit, but still titled as a 1200 has a higher insurance premium than a 883. So this will cost you money in the long run. Would be better as mentioned to sell it an buy a 883.

Why not just trade bikes?????????

I have a complete set of 2000 883 parts in my basement that has very few miles on it. Cylinders, Pistons, Cams, Heads, everything. All you would need is a gasket kit. I was keeping it so when my daughter turned 18 I could take mine back to an 883 and give her the bike, but in all honesty I think either she can ride it as a 1200 or not at all.

If you are serious and want to keep all your 1200S stuff, just PM me and I am sure we can work something out.

Hi Shu, thanks for the offer, Im in England and I would imagine the shipping would be v expensive.

But, I dont even know yet if I can even perform the swap, as my questions still aint been answered....apart from what others would or wouldnt do, which aint what I wanted to know!

Malc F, I am not 100 percent right but I think your are only good till 03,our valve covers are different.hopefully someone here will help you out.

I do believe the cams and valve covers are different and wont fit.

Malc, I'm on your side of the water and have 883 barrels and pistons from a 2004 sportster with about 3000 miles on, cheap. I can't answer your question with certainty but I think the cylinders and pistons fit but you will need 883 heads to match.

I know they changed the front mount on the head, so you'd have to buy the billet piece that NRHS makes or modify your existing mount, as would he, to bolt up the front motor mount. Rocker covers are different but I believe they would still work, its a matter of re-engineering, not functionality. Not like the pre 91(could be wrong about earlier head design year start) heads where they had a different oiling system.

there's a few differences, starting with the top, the rocker box assy on the 06 is a two pc. assy, as on yours it's a 3 pc. assy, the heads and cylinders have bigger larger fins on the 06 model, which won't make much of a difference if you keep the 883 heads and jugs together, i'm sure there's a difference in cams, if not cams, the pinion gear that cam #2 mesh's with is different, the motor mounts on the front head is different between the two models, not to mention you said you have a 1200(S) which if i'm not mistaken, has dual plug heads . . . now with that being said, I'm not sure how in depth you wanna get in this, but it wouldn't be so hard making a standardized dual fire coil work on your bike; however, making your quad plug coil work on the 06 is an entirely different class. Something else to keep in mind, it's not just a simply swap, both of you are more than likely gonna have to spring for adjustable pushrods and covers due to the lenght differences between the two. Just my opinion, there's loads of people that'd kill for a 1200 S, sale that puppy and get an 883, but i'll tell you this, you're gonna be dissapointed in an 883. I rode a buddy's here while back, it'd been damn near a year since my 1200 conversion, and his bike was horrible, it had no pick up at all, made me realize exactly what i was missin . . . my bike.

hope this helps.

brock

Your cylinder will work on the 06, but your piston will not work in a 04 an up motor. The 04 an up have a oiler that your pistons will hit. So your cylinders would need to be bored next size larger for 04 an up pistons. The cams should swap as people are putting SE 497 from 2000 up motors in there 06 motors. This is not just going to be a simple swap. If your die hard to do it. It can be done, just just going to cost some money. Motor mounts can be modded to fit. You keep your rocker an covers which should fit the 883 heads. The 04 rockers an covers will not fit a 03 an back frame unless you take the motor out to install from what I have read.

That has to be one of the oddest questions I have heard yet. Your compression is lower than the 883. You have the same cams I believeand that would be the strangest of all mods. You don't have to use the power because you need it. This is madness.

Why?.............................................. ....

Malc_F,

Anything is possible with money but not always reasonable on a budget. So I would say no it won't work.

If you want less power or compression you could double the thickness of the gaskets on your heads, increase the backpressure in your exhaust or put on a more restricted air cleaner. If you really wanted smaller cylinders I would either skip the trade with your friend and look for someone else to trade with that has the same year Sporty as you or buy a set of 883 cylinders and pistons and sell your old ones on ebay. They would go pretty quick.

Good luck,

Kong

Thanks for all the good info!

bmmccandless, WinXP, Horse, Sportster1200, thanks all, thats the type of stuff I needed to know! Zorro ta for the offer mate but on further thought I dont think I'll be doing it.

I asked this question as swapping with my bro-in-law for his stuff would have been very convenient and we would have done all the spannerwork ourselves making the operation (in effect) free of charge. Dont get me wrong, I can live with my 1200S easy enough, but had it transpired that the operation I asked about was simple, then I would have made a change. As for the performance Ive ridden the 883 in question more than once, and found it had ample power form my needs.

Anyway after reading these helpfull answers I am not going to pursue this, and will stick to down gearing her in the hope of better flexibility for town and country lanes riding. Most of what I do is in 30-50mph zones and the fact is im in second gear way too much! Ideally I need a more flexible softer engine for the riding I do, like my 500 Bullet which will pull top gear at 30, and 3rd gives me between 10 and 50mph!

Swapping the bike is not an option as I do love the cycle very much, I bought her solely on looks, and I dont believe in throwing the baby out with the bathwater, the tope end job (if simple) would have not cost a penny, swapping the bike would, and all I'd have is a bike I didnt want! Im just not 100% happy with the engine thats all, but maybe lowered gearing will solve this? It would mean a lot more time in theird at least, and less snatching at lower revs?

Well, if it would have been a case of just a few hours on the tools and a straight swap with no hassle I would have gone for it, but it's not a big issue enough to go to any further length, I certainly do not want to spend any money, and I dont want to get into any modding. Thanks again gents! :smoke

By the way RottenRalph, I believe my bike is 10:1 or 10.5:1 it is a fair bit higher than a stock 883 compression ratio I think, and it certainly has hotter cams than standard.

you're right, i think stock 883 compression ratio is below 9:1, I know you can change some gearing in your tranny, and maybe you could customize your tastes from there . . . I ride an 05 mild 1200 conversion rat bike with a suicide shifter . . . I am currently in the middle of a chain conversion and set myself up with a 24tooth up front and a 48 tooth in the rear, my off the line is deffinately gonna suffer, but but cruisin rpms are gonna be sweet . . . and using a foot clutch and hand shift, i can't get off the line that quick anyway, good luck with it man, you're in a delima that would baffle the majority of sporty riders, but it's your bike man, you do what you wanna do

brock

I know they changed the front mount on the head, so you'd have to buy the billet piece that NRHS makes or modify your existing mount, as would he, to bolt up the front motor mount. Rocker covers are different but I believe they would still work, its a matter of re-engineering, not functionality. Not like the pre 91(could be wrong about earlier head design year start) heads where they had a different oiling system.

The rocker covers will fit on the engine but they wont fit in the frame.

you're right, i think stock 883 compression ratio is below 9:1, I know you can change some gearing in your tranny, and maybe you could customize your tastes from there . . . I ride an 05 mild 1200 conversion rat bike with a suicide shifter . . . I am currently in the middle of a chain conversion and set myself up with a 24tooth up front and a 48 tooth in the rear, my off the line is deffinately gonna suffer, but but cruisin rpms are gonna be sweet . . . and using a foot clutch and hand shift, i can't get off the line that quick anyway, good luck with it man, you're in a delima that would baffle the majority of sporty riders, but it's your bike man, you do what you wanna do

brock

Thanks friend, your sporty sounds individual! I do know it's a pretty weird quest that Im on, but we just got to do what weve got to do right! :tour

Malc, seriously stick with 1200, I did the 883 to 1200 conversion and I would not like to go back to 883, Just don't rev it too much!.

Malc, seriously stick with 1200, I did the 883 to 1200 conversion and I would not like to go back to 883, Just don't rev it too much!.

I'll try not to rev the knackers off her, :tour nah seriously I aint as crazy as I was in the 70's ............thank god! :wonderlan:) I reckon lowered gearing might help, I spend most of my time in 30 zones or country lanes!

Where abouts are you in Blighty Zorro?

Mid Northumberland.

I aint been up that way for years when I was driving for a living, it's a long way from me (in UK terms of course)!

I believe my bike is 10:1 or 10.5:1 it is a fair bit higher than a stock 883 compression ratio I think, and it certainly has hotter cams than standard.
I think the 1200S has 10:1 compression and I know the cams are W grind cams (same as the stock cams in the rubbermount 1200's).

It sounds like you could switch the front drive pulley to a 27 tooth like a smae year 883 has and it would make the bike much closer to the way you want it. I have a 2000 883 that I converted to a 1200, but kept the 883 gearing. I can cruise all over town in third gear at 30 to 35 mph. Roll away from a stop light, click it straight from 1st to 3rd and just cruise.

Also, I don't know if it was mentioned, but one of the biggest problems you would have had swaping rubbermoutn and EVO parts is the pistons. The rubbermount has oil squirters to oil the bottom of the pistons for cooling. Putting the 1200S pistons on the rubber rods/crank and the pistons would ahve broken the squirters right off. You could mod the pistons to work, but that would take some machining and then rebalancing. I think it is best to keep what you have and change the front pulley.

Good Luck and WELCOME to the forum again.

I think the 1200S has 10:1 compression and I know the cams are W grind cams (same as the stock cams in the rubbermount 1200's).

It sounds like you could switch the front drive pulley to a 27 tooth like a smae year 883 has and it would make the bike much closer to the way you want it. I have a 2000 883 that I converted to a 1200, but kept the 883 gearing. I can cruise all over town in third gear at 30 to 35 mph. Roll away from a stop light, click it straight from 1st to 3rd and just cruise.



Hiya Shu, thanks for that further information, sounds like the pulley swap would be ideal, as you say, 3rd gear round the town is what you have and is what I would want. I hate to hold her in second, but third lugs! So what youve told me is encouraging!

Thanks for the welcome also! :)