It seems to me there is a dilemma in trying to make that choice. Harley doesn't offer every model as both 883 and 1200, so you may prefer the looks of one of the 883s, but really want a 1200. It can cost a serious sum of money to make say a 1200 bike look like that 883 you prefer, but many of us are happy to do spend a fortune on paint and chrome, rather than open up the engine and do a very simple bolt-on 1200 conversion.

So forget what the engine size is. Find a style of bike that really hits the button, then consider the total price of making it how you finally want it. A good paint job or new tins is expensive, easily as much as the parts for a 1200 conversion.

 

IMO it's about trade offs. You have to decide what you want out of your Sportster first.

I bought my '06 already converted. The seller got very little extra $ from me for the conversion, I paid a bit more than a used 883, but not much. I think the largest % of buyers are scared off by a conversion. So, if you are concerned with resale someday, your best investment is a stock 1200.

If your concern is HP and Torque, I think a conversion is the ticket. But don't try to do it on the cheap. Go to someone like NRHS and match cams, heads, exhaust, do it right. Don't forget you'll need an ignition.

Are you planning to do much highway riding? If you're planning only city riding, the 883 gearing with a 1200/1250 kick ***. On the highway, not so much. I've since converted mine to 1200 primary gears and the 30T belt sprocket. At about 75 MPH, I'm down from 4000 RPM to about 3500RPM. Makes a huge difference on a long ride. But, more $ you wouldn't have to spend on a stock 1200. However, with the city gears, I could damn near keep up with my son in law's VRod. I won't be able to do that again.

If you just want a turn the key rider, I'd say go for a factory 1200. If you're looking for a bit more, make it 'your own', and aren't concerned with the loss at resale, Id say go with the 883, spend the extra $ on a well designed 1250 kit, and have fun.

 

I would plus 1 Dwagar.
Another consideration is whether or not this is your primary rider. For something I ride daily and depend on, I might be a little hesitant to do a conversion routine. I expect most of the guys will tell you conversions are no worry, but with every major mechanical upgrade, be it a cam upgrade or something else, inevitably there will be nagging little issues to resolve.
So for a primary rider I would prefer to start out with a stock bike that is as close to my final target bike as I can and then do the tweaks on it. If it were my second bike, I would go the 883 route and upgrade.

 

I agree with Hill Country and Dwager. All depends on what type ridding you plan to do. Personally (and this may **** some others off ) I want a larger bike for highway riding. But for knocking around town you can't beat a Sportster. And I like hard mount (pre-2004) vs. rubber mounted Sportsters. FYI - Lot's of cheap 883 Sporty's out there looking for love. Good luck and have fun.

 

Thanks for the in put guys!

I'm an all season rider so this will be my main ride but not too concern about down time because I can always take the train to work, which I do now since I have no ride. I'm mainly going to be riding street and doing some canyon riding. Not worried about highway speed, I already earned more than my share in speeding tickets. Weekend rides I can see myself putting in 300 miles a day easily. It's what I did on my gsxr but I would be aching by the end of the day.

I plan to make this my own ride and do the customs that I want without caring about the resale. I'm intrigued in doing the conversion kit but not sure what I'm getting myself into in regards to gears, pistons, compression, dyno and all that other stuff. They just fly over my head and I end up feeling that it's way outta my league.

I've thought about going for a bigger bike but I've heard that I'd like the sportster better, especially coming from a street bike.

 

look into it, but I think because of that different gearing a converted bike will get much worse gas mileage on the highway than a factory 1200 that has the correct gearing. So if you going to be doing 300 mile rides, that is something to consider.

When you first test drive a sportster your going to think it's great because it gets peak torque at like 2500 rpm and maintains it all the way up to 5000 rpm.

I'm not sure if people are being honest about the cost of a conversion, it you get the works, with the 1250 kit, the upgraded cams, exhaust and then all the tuning, look up the cost yourself to be sure. Also IMHO, if your not a professional mechanic, it's not worth trying to learn how to do the conversion correctly yourself, the last thing you want to do is by a bike and bunch of new parts and have the whole thing turn into a big pile of scrap.

 

I don't think you have to be a professional mechanic, these things are, after all, just tractors.
I think you should be handy, comfortable working with tools and following instructions. And buy the kit from someone who has good customer service, like NRHS.

I agree about the cost of the conversion, do your research. While an entry level kit may work, it's probably not where you're going to end up, costs can add up pretty fast.

I may be (well, am) biased, but I think if you're planning mainly city riding, and hitting the twisties in a canyon, the Sportster would be my choice. If you were planning long (6, 8 hour) rides on the highway, I'd probably opt for a BT with that nice 6th gear in it.

 

brought me home a bike today!!

2005 XL1200C with 7,000 miles, stage 1 screaming eagle intake, cycle shack slip ons for $5,000. she's faster than i thought she'd be and really clean looking



here's some pics



my brother checking her out

and

there she is. (in case any one is wondering that's my brother's wife 250 rebel and my brothers ZX10 in the background)

first upgrade im gonna do is a seat and HID head lights.
drove her from sac back to the bay (apx 125 miles) and man... that seat is hard! and finally home from my brothers (another 40 miles) at night and all i can say is those headlights suck!!

anyways. i wanna thank everyone that chimed in with their opinion whether or not i should get a 883 or a 1200. it made me think about a lot of things that i didn't even consider. so thanks!

 

Nice ride man. You'll be happy with the 1200. At least until you ride a Dyna!! Seriously, the Sporty's are great for a fun ride...

 

Nice ride good luck with it. Looks sweet!