I bought my bike from a dude off craigslist here locally. He was listing it as a sportster 1200. Didnt even mention it was an 883 to begin with. I showed up and it was an 883, he said the previous owners had done the 1200 conversion at the harley shop, thats why he was listing it as a 1200.

This is the first harley ive ever ridden, so i wouldnt know if this was an 883 or 1200, i dont know the difference.

How can i tell if its really a 1200 conversion? Its just been bugging me, i know ive ridden with friends that have an 883, although i didnt ride thier bikes they took a spin on mine and said the power difference is alot, but i just want to ease my own mind. Any hints on what to look for?

What is a stage 1 or stage 2 upgrade? Maybe thats what the previous owner did, it has vance and hines pipes ect. Does a conversion include new pipes? i dont know.

 

Look on the jugs. If the conversion was done w/ new 1200 jugs, there is sometimes a stamp on them that says '1200' near the bottom, towards the corner. Not all have this, and of course the conversion could've been done having the 883 jugs bored out. So, if it's stamped 1200, then you know for sure it's been done. If not, then you need to investigate further.
Ask what shop did the work (if the current owner knows), and contact the shop to see if they have record of it.
You could have a bike mechanic do a compression test on it, that may lead you in one direction or the other. But the only way I know for sure to tell is to open her up and have a look inside.
I'm sure others will be able to offer some other info.

All that said, I'd be leary about buying from a seller who may be misrepresenting the bike. However, the 1200 conversion is a pretty common mod. Got some pics? Good luck.

 

If it was done at a HD dealership they should be able to run a check of the VIN number and find a 'work history' on the bike.

 

You could always pull the plugs, grab a flashlight and look at the top of the piston to see if it's dished... right?

Part of the problem is that there's different ways to do the conversion.... stock heads w/ dished pistons. - 1200 heads, cylinders, and pistons. - new jugs, bored out jugs... etc.

Also make sure that you're PAYING for an 883, not a 1200, regardless if the work has been done. The conversion may be worth a couple hundred extra bucks, but only if it's been built well.

 

Here is the VIN breakdown:

http://www.sportster.org/tech/vin.shtml

 

Ride it, find a nother 883 or 1200 and race him if you win it's problably the 1200 if you loose the 883. You could do multible combinations and narrow it down pretty good. At least when finished you'd kind know if you like it or not.


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You could buy mine. It is on Craigslist locally,HD Forum, EBAY etc and it says 1200 on it.

 

Riding an 883 compared to a (properly done) 1200 conversion should be the differance of night and day, right? If not, I'll stop worring about one day doing the 1200 conversion on mine (sorry for jumping in and making it about me ).

 

If it's a recent H-D 1200 kit, it will have the Screamin' Eagle logo cast into a lower corner of each cylinder.

 

he said it was done at the HD dealership in washington. I called them with the VIN number but the dumbass there said he had no idea what i was talking about, they dont run reports with the VIN number, they need the original owners name to look it up? They look up bikes by the owners name not the ViN number. I called back, the 2nd guy said he could run a report but that will cost me $30. Do you guys have to pay for these reports?

 

the VIN number matches what it should be, an 883. I got such a good deal on it to tell ya the truth whether it was an 883 or 1200 i jumped on it, tried to verify the conversion but didnt have the time, it was a one day deal. He sold it for 4K, 2001 with brand new mustang seat, new vance and hines pipes, forward controls and alot of mods i really wanted. Its been a great bike, had no problems. Ill see if i can verify it using the methods you guys said. Thanks again.