what were the reasons some chose the 883 over the 1200 when buying the bike/ i noticed alot of people here have them..i was considering an 883 before i got my 1200 but i thought quite a bit about how i would grow out of it and need the 1200 power and really didnt want to do the conversion..were most peoples decision on an 883 because of your size or financial situation at the time? my financial situation was probably more towards an 883 and that would be pushing it,but i told my wife by the time i buy all the extra chrome and 1200 conversion i would have sunk more money into it anyway..in other ways i kinda wish i did get the 883 because im bored and have nothing to work on(05 1200c has lots o chrome already) some day ill do something more to it..

 

Search through a few pages of threads and there's no less than 20 topics on this. Not trying to be a jerk, just letting you know that there's a ton of info here to help you.

I went 883 with 100% intentions of converting to 1200. I had the conversion done before I even picked up the bike. Cheaper and faster off the line than a stock 1200 - but I couldn't care less about chrome. I'm more concerned with coin than chrome.

If I were to do it again - I'd buy the stock 883 and convert it to the NRHS 1250 kit for about the same or less money. (Haven't done the math to know for sure) And I'd put on Stage II heads at the same time - that might cost a little extra coin though.

 

If you're bored, you can always have the heads ported. I'm sure that would give you something to do and you'd see a performance improvment too. CHeck NHRS for head porting....

 

With all the possibilities and things you can do with a Sportster, I don't think I'll ever become bored.

 

The 883 had everything I needed in a Bike.

 

One comment I've read that seemed interesting had to do with cost of insurance. The individual posting indicated his insurance rate was alot cheaper with the 883 than the 1200 and after buying the 883 he had it converted to 1200 anyhow!

 

By the time you upgrade all the stuff on an 883 to a 1200 (chrome and engine-wise) you'll have as much or more money in it than just buying the 1200 to begin with. And if you ever want to sell it you'll still only get the price of an 883 so it is a losing proposition money-wise. If you can live with the harder to maintain polished aluminum and dull gray powder coating of the 883 and all you want to do is the 1200 kit then it is a great way to own a cheap 1200, just don't expect it will ever be worth the same at re-sale or trade-in time.

 

If you buy a 1200 I doubt you will ever wish you went with the 883. Buy an 883 and someday down the road you may wish you went with the 1200. Go with the bigger 1200.

 

I have the 883R, I will do the 1200 kit. Saving $$$$ on insurance.

 

Full coverage on my 1200C is only $178 a year, so insurance costs aren't a concern.