I got the style, of the bike well on the way, that I want it. Now for the motor.

Going to convert the 883 to 1200. What is the better compression ratio for today's **** gas ? Compression ratio 10:1 or 9.5:1

Other then buying an S&S Kit' for 1k, are the 500$ kits any good ? They both come with the same componets.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1200cc-Big-B...8738a1&vxp=mtr

OR
http://www.ebay.com/itm/S-S-1200-Con...ht_2766wt_1073

 

I'm going with a Hammer Performance kit. Flat top pistons and some headwork and cams. I'll be at 10.5:1 at that level. That'll run on pump gas, as long as I make sure to install everything right and get my squish right. If you go with stock 883 heads and cams, you really can't go higher than 10:1 with conversion pistons.

I'm not a big fan of the S&S big bore kits. The two big vendors out there are Hammer Performance (my choice, slightly biased) and NRHS. You'll do much better than anywhere else by going with one of those two.

You can easily do 10:1 on pump gas. Compression ratio is just one factor as to the required octane ratio. The combustion chamber shape and tumble/swirl play a much larger factor than compression ratio. As said, I'll be running 10.5:1 and I'm not worried about octane issues. I'll let my buddy's turbo B18 worry about race gas...

You'll find that Hammer and NRHS provide far superior kits to anyone else. Their customer service is phenomenal, too. Both are active here and on XLForum. And you can always call and get a real person to answer. That real person is one of the owners. They truly are what a business should be.

 

Divco,

I agree with all the above but . . .

Why go to the 1200 if your not changing tranny gears, cams, heads bla bla bla?
Why not just port & polish, 15% or better perf increase by just making things breath better, in and out.

IMHO if you are not re-gearing your loosing out on significant mileage increase big-time. By port & polish you just smoothing the combustion process.

PS: Be sure you get your squish correct, incorrect may invert any performance gains, unless its with the wife or better, girl friend.

Cheers,

.