First my wife is 4'11" and 110 lbs. It took me 8 months of trial and trial to get her 2005 883L to 'fit' her perfect. I am finally there! She has 17 years of dirt bike experience and 1 1/2 years on the street, 11 months on the 883. She is a very good rider.

She has another complaint - it is too 'buzzy' at speeds 65+. I certainly understand that. She is over 4000 rpms at 70mph (I installed a tach). The bike has V&H short shots, a modified airbox, and rejetted carb.

My solution, if others agree, is to kit the bike to a 1200 or 1250 AND install a one tooth taller front sprocket on the belt drive. I need to get the RPMS to drop without sacrificing acceleration, which I feel is very important - around town especially.

What do you guys think?

Thanks in advance

 

Sounds like a plan just hope she can hang on! That bike will rip with a 1250 kit! I don't dought her skills I'm just saying she's a light girl!!!

 

Does she have a fork brace?
http://www.superbrace.com/index.asp

What about those thick rubber retro pegs to absorb some of the vibs?
http://www.harley-davidson.com/gma/g...bmLocale=en_US

Or what about the vibranator?
http://www.vibranator.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=24

These three mods got my 1200 Iron up to 80 mph cruising speed with very little vibes or wobbles.
And you know how tight the 883 gearing is.

 

When I had the 883 converted to a 1250 (no gearing changes) I was about 298 pounds and it still hauled almost as much *** as Oprah... almost.
It definately vibrated pretty damn good at 70mph even with the rubber mounts. I got used to it but after I got the Dyna I realized just how much it vibrated.
I think a 1200 or 1250 kit (hopefully NRHS finally fixed the crappy oil useage in the 1250 kit, mine used a quart of oil every 500 miles) and a gear change would be damn nice.

 

Thanks for suggestions. Those would have to occur after I get that engine to drop RPMs. High reving motors for long periods can be annoying.

 

I wish my wife could sit on your Dyna. That seat looks very low. Shock blocks and an internal spring kit in the forks and I'll bet she would fit. Her problem with the bigger bikes is the width of the motor with her short inseam. Weight would probably come into play also.

 

Unfortunately, that 1 tooth (front) gear change is going to buy you less than 150 RPM. I'm not sure that will make much of a difference in terms of vibration.

Example - replace a 28 tooth with a 29 tooth:
28/29 = .9655
Original RPM @4000 * .9655 = 3862 RPM

 

Thanks for your info, but I have not performed the calcs 1200 ratios (internal) versus the 883. For instance 5th gear on a 1200 is a 10% (roughly) drop, and engine to clutch ratio also allows another 12% drop. This is not a 22% total because both reduction are multipied and will probably come in around 19 or 20%................

I am very familiar with the calcs due to years of desert racing. I will perform the calc before just randoming going up one in the front. The issue (with dirt bikes) is you can normally only go up one or two in the front before the chain hits the case when using these taller sprockets. Depending on the Harley design I will go up 2 or 3 in the front and down a few in the back and buy a belt that corresponds to the axle adjustment on the rear wheel. I really don't want to have to go into the motor. I will just buy her a 1200L and start swapping parts to lower it.

Right now I am more interested on the thoughts about the 1200 kit allowing the gear change without my wife having the acceleration of a Buell Blast.

You know, maybe I should just buy a 1200 low and call it good.

Does anyone have experience with both bike and the reving out issue on the 883?

Thanks for all advice guys!

 

Update - after much thought on this, and researching the difference in gearing, I decided to buy her a 2006 1200L and swap all of the lowering, performance, and cosmetic parts to the 'newer' bike. Thanks guys for all of the input. I learned many years ago in hot rodding and dirtbiking, not to throw $$ into a car or bike when it is easier (and less expensive) to go buy exactly what you need and want. You guys brought me back to that, so thanks again!

 

Final post on the outcome of this thread (I promise): '06 1200L is now lowered and upgraded, and all the 883 parts are now part of the 1200. The wife has around 150 miles on it. She says it is a completely different bike. The bike is brand new basically, purchased with 283 miles on it. It still needs some braking in, but at freeway speeds she loves it, especially when compared to the 883. Slowing the bike she says is completely different, because of gearing/engine braking. She is kind of learning the process over again because of the vast difference. She does say the bike is smoother at all speeds (once again - gearing). Also, as a side note; the bars on the '06 1200L are taller and not as much of a grip area downturn, like the 883 buckhorn bars. The bars are closer to my wife now and much more comfortable according to her (another plus for the 1200). I AM very glad that she started on the 883 (Buell Blast before that), especially given we rode very few interstate highway miles. It made her a very worthy big bike rider. Thanks for all the feedback and interest.

If anyone would like to discuss what it takes to get a 4' 11" lady rider comfortable on a sportster, shoot me a message.

Thanks!