I also have an Iron... I did V&H short shots, removed the baffles and put a V&H intake and my bike ran like ****. Winter came, I did the NRHS 1250 kit, RSD Tracker 2-1, Mastertuner, and had it tuned, made 74hp/76tq. I need some heads and cams... Its a lot of fun to ride now though, mine only has 2800 miles on it, lol...

 

Sure with a nice set of pipes, AC and good tuner you will see a nice boost in power, but will not get the Holy S**T factor till you do the 1200 upgrade. I mean you need the pipes, AC and tuners anyways to get the most out of the 1200 upgrade so might as well get them, but like was said it would be better to do it all at once. I agree that buying a 1200 to start is the best way to go, but I sure do love the looks of the Iron so I can understand why you would want one.

 

A converted 883 is not the same as a 1200XL.