It's my understanding that the 883 runs a 27 tooth pully and the 1200 runs a 29. Has anyone changed after the conversion or does that take all the fun out of it.

Here is a thread that is currently active right now about front gear changes:

http://www.xlforum.net/forums/showthread.php?t=346

Follow Turbota's lead there waterboy. I rode with a 883 to 1200 conversion that didn't change the front sprocket. It was wild off the line. The front end wanted to come off the ground in first gear. It had a 10:1 ratio and single fire ignition. Over the course of two years this guy had numerous gasket leaks and things coming loose. We rode a lot on the highway and did some trips. The vibrations coming form his bike were noticably more than mine. My top speed with the 30 tooth was way higher but I didn't have the performance off the line that he did. His bike felt more like a jap bike. Twisting the throttle in first gear would result in the bike trying to jerk the bars out if your hands.

You have to decide what you want to do with the bike. I can still run my bike to redline with the 30 and I have lots of power up there but the 27 will over rev the engine way too soon.

Ahh, I have a 27 tooth on mine, as mentioned this is just fab for traffic light racing :smoke
Yes the vibes will be more on the highway, but as I do no more than 80mph (I'm an old fella) this is not a problem, as it keeps the men in blue from feeling my collar too often.

I guess you have to consider what type of riding you do? If its mainly in town then a 27 tooth is better, if it is mainly longer highway riding then maybe the 29 tooth will be better. It is a choice YOU have to make.

Whiffi

I wondered about that too when I did my conversion this past spring. I decided to see what happens after the conversion and break in to decide. So far I'm very happy with the 883 sprocket. to get the front wheel off the ground from a stop, i think you would have to really try to get a wheelie. Now cruising at 25mph in first or 35-40 in second and crackin the throttle wide open pulls her off about 1/2 inch. I think my bike smooths out after 3500 rpm and really love to ride her over 4500, she's much moore responsive/snappy up there. In rush houre traffic on the slab I never shift out of fourth untill at least 75-80, and have no problem seeing out of my mirrors. Now when I shift out of 4th at 100 I couldn't tell ya what the mirrors look like cause I'm to busy holdin on to care what's behinde me. My cams SE bolt ins are supposed to come on between 2500-4500, but I feel them moore about 3500-6000rpm. My conversion used the wisco 10-1 flattops neting 10.6-1 actual compression. Why spend the extra money on a new sprocket till you find out the old one isn't giving you what you whant?

What did your conv run??

Turbota has a link taking you to another thread that discusses all this dmraco. Go up a few replies and you will find it.

I did the change from 27 to 29 tooth pulley on an '02 883 / 1200 conversion because I wanted to drop some RPMs at cruising speeds. At 60 MPH the tach dropped about 200 RPMs, and the vibriation is somewhat less. It still gets off the line faster than I need to, and roll on passing didn't seem to be affected much.
The conversion itself was easy. Check a farm / tractor supply store or some such for the 1-7/8" socket...auto supply house will rape you for the socket and adapter. Pull the pipes and pulley cover, put the trans in first gear and have some one hold the rear brake. Apply heat from a butane torch on the flats of the nut (maximum expansion with the least heat). Alternative would be to use an impact wrench but I didn't like the idea of all the whackity - whack on the tranny gears. If I remember correctly, the threads are left hand.
The pulley should slide right off unless it's rusted bad. Reassemble using loc-tite and the installation instructions in your manual, replace cover and pipes and go have some fun. Note: On my conversion, there was plenty of adjustment in the axel slot so that a new belt isn't necessary.

My bike is a chain drive, when i done my 1200 conversion i upped the front sprocket by two teeth, it makes a big difference to cruising speeds, much more confortable.