new to the site and just bought my 1st hd.. its an 88 sporty 883.. they guy that had it before me said it has the 1200 kit on it... it seems sluggish for a 1200 but ive never ridden an 883 so im unsure... is there a way to determine that this is in fact a 1200 w/ out pullin the heads and physically measuring the bore??.. like possible a stamp in the jug or something? i looked but saw nothing.. thanks

 

None what so ever a 1200 is an 883 bored to 3.498".

 

alrite kinda thought so, thanks

 

Some of the after market conversion kits have the company name stamped on the bottom of the jug. My 1250 kit has NHRS stamped there.

 

Has to be a way.

 

Only way I can think of is to pull a plug, get the piston to rest at the bottom, fill the cylinder with fluid and measure how much goes in. If 600cc goes in then it's a 1200. I don't recommend the method as it'll be a real bitch to get every drop out again (plus I wouldn't really want to put stuff that don't belong in there).

 

Compression test?

 

There is no way to tell other than pulling the heads, back then most of the conversions consisted of a set of pistons period, it made the bike a lot faster but by no means did it turn them into a tire shredders. You could pull the carb apart, that might tell you, if it has a 175 or larger main jet in it then it probably has the large pistons.

 

alrite ya carb mite b a good indicator, jugs appear to be factoryish.. the black paint stuff is equally on the jugs and crankcase, so im thinkin either not touched and i got screwed or just pistons done a long time ago.. but either way, things to consider

 

If I had a 883 and a 1200 side by side I'd remove the plugs and insert an L-shape piece of solder and mark it when it hit's the cylinder wall at the top then do the same thing to the other bike and compare markings.