Hi All

I'm a newbe to the whole Harley Scene. I hired a Harley a few months ago for an overnight road trip, thinking it would be a fun experience. I spent a great weekend travelling through some of the most beautiful scenary that South Africa has to offer and, well the bug bit! I now spend all my free time reading about Harleys, looking at HD websites, visiting HD stores and chatting to as many people as possible about HDs.

I am particularly interested in the Sportster models, however there don't seem to be many people on the forum with 883 Sportsters. At this stage I have no preferance to either the 1200 or 883. I just want to know more about the 883s.

Harleypmb

 

heres my logic on the 883. wife HAD to have a harley. there was not much diff in price between the 883 and 1200 and there is about 30 lbs diff in weight. IMO the 1200 was a little more solid, had better/more upgrades and would have a better resale value. the fact that they sell a 1200cc kit to upgrade the 883 tells me that many that buy the 883 wish thye had the 1200. so why not just start there and be done with it?

 

The 1200 is actually a few pounds lighter than the 883 because the outside dimension of the engines are the same but the inside of the 1200 has more hollow space for the larger piston.
The 1200 will have better resale value. I have read many times in these forums where people with 883's had wished they bought a 1200 or else have paid to have the 1200 conversion. I have never heard anyone with a 1200 (myself included) say they wished they had bought an 883 instead.

 

They are the same bike, basically except for the bore size. Neither one is more solid than the other. For a first time buy, I'd get the one that appeals to you based on the looks and go from there.

 

I have an 05 883 that I bought because that was what I wanted.The bike is perfect .It is just the right weight ,Rides like a dream and have never had anyone get away from me that I wanted to keep up with.

 

IMHO, the 883 Sportster is THE classic Sportster. The 883 was the first size Sporty ever made and it was, and remains, a kick-a$$ bike. The 883 will give you better mileage and will keep up with anything on the road as well as the 1200, unless you're talking illegal speeds or two-up touring. The Spotster has "grown" over the years from the 883, to the 1000, to the 1100, and now to the 1200 simply because it could, not because it needed to. The 883 is a magnificent machine in all respects, and has a direct linkage to the original in engine size. All that being said, the 1200 is marginally more expensive when new, but holds a much better resale value than the 883.

 

I currently have an 883 custom. I bought the 883 because I am planning on doing a 100hp 1250 conversion with it within the next year or two. The only thing that is really better on the 1200 then the 883 is that they come with better heads and hotter cams. Other then that it is just chrome which really isn't important to me. I just don't see that the extra 2k on the sticker price is worth it unless you listen to most of these guys who blow off that the 883 is a girls bike. Buy whatever you want and whatever you can afford and don't listen to what everyone else tells you. If you are like me and don't care about all the chrome you can make an 883 a 1212 for alittle more then 500 dollars through NRHS. Great guys that can tell ya anything you need to know about sportsters or buells.

 

Have been out cruising on my 883 Sporty (with the European gear ratio - not the USA ratio which is too low and revs out to early). The theme was originally "Lets see if that 883 can hang with us!". Yep, the 883 hung fine even on the high speed interstate and actually proved equal or better in tight maneuvering.

I have been thinking about the 1200 conversion pretty seriously, yet am now in no hurry whatsoever. The 883 gas mileage on the highway with Euro gearing is very close to 60 mpg. This goes down considerably with the 1200. The 883 Euro gearing is basically the same as the 1200 USA gearing.

The 1200 and bigger bikes can certainly out torgue me off the line, but so what.

If I were buying new, it would be a hard choice. Might go with a 1450 Dyno instead of a 1200 Sportster. If you are power hungry, the 1200 is only a stepping stone.

 

I have an 06 883L. I love the bike. I've never wanted anymore power from her. I've riden with big twin bikes, and chopper hot rods (110 cubic engines etc). Of course the choppers could pull away from me on a straight line, or when getting on the interstate, but they had to get outta my way when we got to the twisty roads.

My only complaint with my Sporty is she's not really comfortable on long trips. Of course I do still have the stock seat. But it's fine around town, and on trips upto around 250 miles a day. Any longer ride than that, I start to get pretty tired.

 

I have the 2006 883 Custom and love it. It's my first bike, and I've put over 4200 miles on it since the end of May.
The stock seat was definitely uncomfortable for long trips; I upgraded to the H-D Sundowner which I bought for 20% off of list and it's fine.
I liked the Custom because of the forward controls and the larger fuel tank, so whether you get an 883 or 1200, I really think the C is your best bet if you plan on doing any longer trips.
Don't know about your state, but the insurance was also less expensive on the 883, since rates are based on engine size in NJ.
Good luck!