Well, I decided to do the conversion this winter. I tore the bike apart today and I'll drop the parts off at Zippers tomorrow during lunch. I'm going to do the Torkster 883 TO 1200 conversion package that they have, this should be interesting. I'll check back in a couple of weeks when I get the parts back and let you know how it goes..



Myke

Here's a before and after..
http://xlforum.net/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=192&sort=1&cat=500&page=1

http://xlforum.net/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=194&sort=1&cat=500&page=1

Ya that wouldbe interesting. I like the idea about using a complete kit for performance since everything has been figured out. The carb and cams and intake and all the other specs are all done and tested. This takes a lot of guess work out of high performancing your engine. I'm curious to find out how it works. Have you done any research on the reliabilty of there kit?

Yep, I like the "kit" approach also. I did quite a bit of checking locally after I saw some posts here about them. Everyone I talked to had good things to say about their work. The only caution I got was that some of their "kits" really push the envelope, the Torkster kit doesn't. I dropped off the parts today and should have them back in about 2 weeks.... Now the loooooong wait starts.....
Myke

Keep us posted!! Curious to hear how it turns out!!

I got my parts back from Zippers yesterday. You should see how much they cut out of the stock air cleaner backing plate, I’ll try to post a pic later today. I’ve got to find some way to clean and or paint these jugs and heads since I’ve got them out. They’ve got sort of a gold tone that doesn’t want to wash off, looks terrible (they were that way BEFORE they went to the machine shop).

The break in instructions are pretty unique. They want you to go through a series of very short start-ups at low rpm’s letting the cylinders come back to room temperature between each. There is about 12-14 of these short sessions before you ever ride the bike. Wow, that’s going to be a hard one. Get the bike back together and then spend hours listening to it start without being able to climb on and hammer it… oh-well guess I’ll have to learn a little patience for this one.

So, if any of you have any ideas for the heads and jugs or some general advice on the reassembly please post your thoughts. I’ve never done this before and would sure appreciate being able to avoid some of the common mistakes.
Myke

Since the barrels are off, have you considered getting them Diamond Cut? It looks great and supposedly gives you more power because your engine stays cooler.

Sportsterrific, if I add up all the horsepower I should have from the promises of the manufacturers I would have 300. I am sure the diamond cut looks great but selling them as a performance mod is one of the strangest claims I have heard. Get them if you like the look not for more power. Harley sells the black crinkle coat paint in rattle cans. You can use thos to pretty up the jugs or regular hi temp paint. I used aluminum color on the heads and semigloss black on mine then I sanded the edges of the fins to pretty them up again. The sanding took the longest. I would give them several days to really harden up before you sand or you will be removing the paint from the edges by the clump. You may want hi temp paint that matches the bike.

It sounds like your heads and jugs are fuel stained. Paint might be the only way. Here is a pic of the end product.