Hello all. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is James, I am a 22 year old who now owns a Suzuki GSX-R 1000 (crotch-rocket). Pic below. Although this bike is a blast to ride and all, I am just tired of being hunched over and getting a sore azz from an hour ride. I know this might sound strange coming from a young man at my age but I am selling the Suzuki next week and have been looking at the Sportster models. Basically I am looking for something a little more comfortable, with a decent price tag and still own a legendary Harley! To be honest, I am a major fan of custom choppers (Big Dog, OCC, etc) but who at my age can afford one of those?!?!? HAHA! I was really interested in the 883 Low. My question to you guys is has anyone ever ridden both the 883 and the 1200? If so, how much of a difference is there power-wise? Does the 883 get up and go pretty quick? Also- I have been searching for reliability ratings on H-D's and have not been able to find anything besides a few bogus statements on other Forums (you guessed it, Japanese!) so if anyone could be so kind as to answer a few of these it would be greatly appreciated!

Also, I seen on the Harley site that you can order a two-up seat for the 883 Low, has anyone put this kit on?

Thanks a bunch guys!

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I have not ridden a "crotch rocket" but have ridden an 883 and 1200. There is a noticable difference. The 883 won't have the giddyup of your current ride( I assume since I have never ridden one). You will also want a different seat than stock. You may also want to consider forward controls, but that's my opinion. I know many ride with mids and highway pegs.

I had an '04 883 but I'm 6'1" and it didn't have the room I wanted, but my wife still has hers and it is a blast to ride! Got a Fatboy this year and love it.

Have you ridden one yet? I would say test ride one or rent one and see how you like it. That's what I did with the Fatboy.

Good luck and enjoy your ride, whatever you ride

My 2 cents

 

So there are bikes with two sets of pegs?? Cool, never thought of that b4.

Thanks man. I have not ridden one yet but I do plan on riding one before I buy. I know it will not get up and go like my GSXR but I still want one. I have had the speed (180 M.P.H. to be exact, and yes under controlled conditions) now I want a nice little cruiser but most of all the pride of owning a Harley! The pinnacle! I am not as tall as you (5'10") so I would probably fare well on an 883.

 

this is just my 2 conts, and you will get a lot of great opinions from these guys, but i started with an 883, after a couple weeks of getting used to riding i did the 1200 conversion. its well worth the money, because of the higher compression ratio of the stock 1200. then i changed the front pully to a 30 tooth pully and now the bike has plenty of guts and it stays right next to any big twin! good luck, and enjoy the harley!

 

I definitely think the 1200 is the way to go but the price tag is quite different from the 883. Definitely try to get a test ride. As for reliability, HD is just as good, if not better, than all the other makes out there. Those damn AMF years...

 

I've got a little time on an 883 and about 320 miles on my 1200 this week. Not allot of experience, but in my opinion the 883 just didn't have it. I'm 6'1" but a skinny guy and the 883 just felt TINY. I have a 1200 Custom and love it! It has plenty of get up and go, handles pretty well, and is much more comfortable than my old Kawi 550 Zephyr was! The 1200C comes w/ forward controls and a bigger tank, so it works well for me. W/o the bigger tank I'd be filling up daily.

Definitely test drive both, but I'd guess you'll prefer the 1200.

 

Howdy, welcome to the forum. Thanks for the pic of your ride, I thought the same thing about the sore back. I'm 54 and I was wondering how people could ride a bike like that without it effecting their lower back. I don't know that much about the Sportys but if I wanted to buy a Sporty, I like the looks of the 1200 custom. I've heard some people commenting about Sportys, but I don't care what they say, I like the looks of them but based on my size, they are a little small for me. There are several people on this forum that ride Sportys so I think that you will be able to find out what you want to know. Good luck

 

Also a newbie w / Sportster. I wonder if anyone can tell me if a gas cap that was on a 1999 fatboy will fit on a 1995 sportster?

 

Thanks everybody for all your input! Like I said I will definately test a few out before I buy so i will know what my best fit will be. Honestly I would rather have the 1200 but I just don't think I want to kick out that much for my first Harley. I graduated college and bought my first house. That coupled with a nice SUV payment is a lot right there. So I think for the money, I am probably looking at the 883. I think for now it is a good fit for me. Like I said, I am not too tall (5'10") so this would probably fit me well. I just hope I have the power to "scoot" when I want to. Also- has anyone ever tried the two up passenger seat kit for the 883 Low?

With a passenger, does the 883 have the power to get out when you need to?

Thanks in advance.

 

I've never ridden two-up on a low but my 883 two-up was not the most comfortable ride for the passenger. Seems like the suspension would almost bottom out if you hit any bumps in the road. Between the wife and I we weighed 310 lbs. The bike did not seem to respond too well when you get on it at 55-60mph. If you plan on running around town its not too bad but anything over 45 minutes and it would get rather uncomfortable for her and I had a Sundowner seat on it.

Again, just my 2 cents.

BTW, WELCOME!! There is a great bunch of people on here that have many years of experience. Enjoy!