trike for wife...883 or 1200 sporty?

[RoboDD]

I am planning on building my wife a sporty frankenstein. I am wondering if a 883 will have enough power to run at HW speeds? Turnpikes in OK are 75 MPH. What kind of MPG can I expect?

[msocko3]

Don't know what you'll get MPG wise but if it was me I'd go with the 1200. I used to own an 883 with 2 wheels and it was not power house, the 1200 gets right along.

[Ol' Grey]

I respect all bikes and don't want to offend any 883 owners, but having ridden both 883's and 1200 Sporties, if I was having to choose between triking out an 883 or a 1200, my choice would be narrowed down quickly........it'd either be a 1200 Sporty or an 883 bumped up with a 1200 kit.......

[Torchman]

i am building a frankie trike on a sporty as well. i just bought my wife a 1200 and love it. i looked at a few 883's cause of price difference and to me there was no comparision. so i decided on 1200 and just keep lookin for the "1". soon after i found it. got a heck of a deal on it and it only had 117miles on it. brand new even though its a 2008. had lots of ad-on's. there are some great deals out there if you don`t mind puttin on a few miles to get them. I ride a softtail 1340 and i'll tell ya what that 1200 sporty has plenty of power to keep up and then some. i figure the money i'm spending on the frankenstein kit and paint i might as well do it right the first time round and make sure the power source is there.

[RoboDD]

I know very little about trikes but have been riding for over 40 yrs. I figured I would end up with a 1200 but with it being for my wife I dont know if the power will be a big issue as long as it will cruise at speed. I havent ridden a sporty in years and the only one I have ever owned was a 60 model that was stroked and bored. Who knows, since I am getting older a trike may be in my future also.
I appreciate the input and would like to here from someone that has an 883 triked.

[Gorilla]

welcome aboard. glad you joined us.

[Nana]

I am planning on building my wife a sporty frankenstein. I am wondering if a 883 will have enough power to run at HW speeds? Turnpikes in OK are 75 MPH. What kind of MPG can I expect?

I did a quick search in our GARAGE for "sportster" and came up with this list:
Photo Gallery List - Trike Talk Forum Photo Gallery

I have talked with SBStormy, and I know she loves her 883/Frankenstein trike and had no complaint about enough power. She probably doesn't weigh over 120 lbs, and a heavier person may feel differently.

[RoboDD]

Thanx for the gallery list

[joncallihan]

The thread title brought back an old memory:

"that was a good trade, mate"

[Papa Zook]

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[ladyff1481]

Triked my '07 883L Sportster in '09 dealer bumped it up to 1200 before converting. Looks like my pics are missing from the Gallery. 883 might be ok for the Frankenstein but a few other owners I know with 800's wish they had something else.

[Torchman]

Attachment 4272I just put together a 08 1200 sportster low for my wife. lost little bit of power in conversion but not much to notice but I am glad I went with 1200 for a couple reasons. Price was relatively the same,wanted to make sure I had the power if ever I wanted to ride it with her on the back or her with our kids , and I think I could sell a 1200 fast and easier than a 883 imo. don`t mean to offend anyone either but if it don`t work out for my wife I will need to sell it at some point.

[Nauga Mok]

Don't sell the 883 short. I had a '06 that was accused of being a 1200 numerous times. It only had the "taxes paid" & a good tuning. One thing to keep in mind, the 883s have a lower primary ratio, so when pumped up to 1200, they've got more "off the line" than the "born 1200s". That would be just what's needed when converting to trikes. I was always going to pump mine up to 1200 someday, but traded it in on an Ultra that already had about everything done to the engine that was pratical for street use. If I was to convert a Sportie to a trike, I'd start with the 883 & see how it did. Good exhausts & either the SE or Big Sucker air cleaner + a good tuner or good rejet & tune if it has a carb really wake up the 883. Bone stock, mine would only do 95 on the top end, but after exhausts, air cleaner, rejet & tune it'd do 110 -- the same as the 1200s did that year. AND it got there quicker. Granted that was as a 2 wheeler, but it'll give you some idea of the potential the 883 has.

NM

[Ol' Grey]

Don't sell the 883 short. I had a '06 that was accused of being a 1200 numerous times. It only had the "taxes paid" & a good tuning. One thing to keep in mind, the 883s have a lower primary ratio, so when pumped up to 1200, they've got more "off the line" than the "born 1200s". That would be just what's needed when converting to trikes. I was always going to pump mine up to 1200 someday, but traded it in on an Ultra that already had about everything done to the engine that was pratical for street use. If I was to convert a Sportie to a trike, I'd start with the 883 & see how it did. Good exhausts & either the SE or Big Sucker air cleaner + a good tuner or good rejet & tune if it has a carb really wake up the 883. Bone stock, mine would only do 95 on the top end, but after exhausts, air cleaner, rejet & tune it'd do 110 -- the same as the 1200s did that year. AND it got there quicker. Granted that was as a 2 wheeler, but it'll give you some idea of the potential the 883 has.

NM

Agreed that an 883 bumped up with a 1200 kit would have a bit more low-end grunt than a stock 1200. Also agreed that 95 mph is about tops for a stock 883.

Your modified 883 (without 1200 kit) matching a stock 1200 of the same year is very impressive Would you consider that the norm or would your results be considered an exception to the rule ?

[Whozure]

I just converted an 883 using a Cass County kit and it seems to me it has enough power to get the job done. I am not interested in going 80-90 MPH to begin with and the 883 should be capable of cruising along at a max of 70 very easily.

[Torchman]

yep I agree a 883 bumped to a 1200 has a nice low end power. makes a nice bike even nicer but when I was shopping around for my wifes ride I found in this area there where alot more 1200s and the price was about the same so I just went with 1200 to start with and all I had to do then was install the kit and did not have to do anything to motor. My nephew has a 883 and it has plenty of power and it is a very nice bike and has no problem keeping up on any ride but I just wanted to make sure so I went with 1200 cause the price was there for me and I was buying a bike not just converting one. If I had a 883 then I would convert that but I just went with it and it turned out gooooood.

[Ol' Grey]

yep I agree a 883 bumped to a 1200 has a nice low end power. makes a nice bike even nicer but when I was shopping around for my wifes ride I found in this area there where alot more 1200s and the price was about the same so I just went with 1200 to start with and all I had to do then was install the kit and did not have to do anything to motor. My nephew has a 883 and it has plenty of power and it is a very nice bike and has no problem keeping up on any ride but I just wanted to make sure so I went with 1200 cause the price was there for me and I was buying a bike not just converting one. If I had a 883 then I would convert that but I just went with it and it turned out gooooood.

You know you made the right choice and I agree with you. The 883 is fine for what it's designed for, many 883 owners are very happy with 'em and more power to 'em.

The original question was whether to trike out an 883 or a 1200 Sporty. For many here, that's an easy question to answer. As you've experienced, the 1200 is already a powerhouse in it's own right. You didn't have to spend time, $$$ or energy to boost the power numbers. All you had to do was the trike portion and you're obviously happy with how it turned out.

May it serve you well and Ride Safe

[Nauga Mok]

Agreed that an 883 bumped up with a 1200 kit would have a bit more low-end grunt than a stock 1200. Also agreed that 95 mph is about tops for a stock 883.

Your modified 883 (without 1200 kit) matching a stock 1200 of the same year is very impressive Would you consider that the norm or would your results be considered an exception to the rule ?

OOPS -- Sorry, I missed this when it was posted. At the time I did this, I was pretty GREEN with Harleys. Granted, I'm now a reitred Heavy equipment mechanic (back then I was still working) & an engine IS an engine, so I'd say a top notch Harley wrench could have probably gotten even more than I did. I was pretty pleased with my results, except I could never get rid of the stumble off idle so common to carburated Hearleys -- ESPECIALLY with single fire ignited Sportsters. My 883 WAS stock except for the mufflers, air cleaner & bigger jets in the carb. NO cams or anything else to "warm it up". At first, I only changed the mufflers & jets & removed the restrictor from the inlet to the air cleaner, but discovered when it was colder weather, it ran stronger indicating it needed more air. I then installed the SE air cleaner, which was the last mod & it ran strong even in our 110+ summers.

NM

[Ol' Grey]

OOPS -- Sorry, I missed this when it was posted. At the time I did this, I was pretty GREEN with Harleys. Granted, I'm now a reitred Heavy equipment mechanic (back then I was still working) & an engine IS an engine, so I'd say a top notch Harley wrench could have probably gotten even more than I did. I was pretty pleased with my results, except I could never get rid of the stumble off idle so common to carburated Hearleys -- ESPECIALLY with single fire ignited Sportsters. My 883 WAS stock except for the mufflers, air cleaner & bigger jets in the carb. NO cams or anything else to "warm it up". At first, I only changed the mufflers & jets & removed the restrictor from the inlet to the air cleaner, but discovered when it was colder weather, it ran stronger indicating it needed more air. I then installed the SE air cleaner, which was the last mod & it ran strong even in our 110+ summers.

NM

Sounds like you had fun with it and were very pleased with the results, which is the important thing. As you're no doubt aware of, these motors like to "BREATHE" (no EPA fan here, LOL!) and by going with more free flowing intake and exhaust, one can actually utilize those ponies that the EPA crap keeps hidden/subdued..........as much as a 15% gain in HP, calculated from the stock HP x .15 then adding the stock HP rating & the .15% figure.........

Good catch by you on the performance being better in colder temps giving you the head's up of the need for more air in the mix. (colder air is denser = more air)

It's pretty common for folks who do similar alterations to Sporty's to find some relatively minor performance glitch that they can either try to fine-tune out or simply live with it. When you mention the stumble off idle there's that momentary transition going off idle and heading into mid-range. Different pilot jet may or may not have helped that but I've seen it frustrate a lot of folks. We found something interesting in dialing in one Sporty, but I'm not sure if you used a Stage 1 Carb Kit or not, so not sure if this would have applied in your case. This guy had used a Dynojet Stage 1 Carb Kit and he swapped out the stock accelerator pump nozzle for the Thunder Nozzle. He was getting a similar stumble off idle like you had and as it turned out, the Thunder Nozzle was spraying too much fuel when initially engaging the throttle. He removed the Thunder Nozzle, put the stock accelerator pump nozzle back in and bingo! Smoothed it right out..........

Have a GREAT New Year and Ride Safe..........

[RoboDD]

The decision is made. Found a good deal On a 2010 Tri Glide. It mad a great Christmas present. VickiRN was speechless when she opened the garage door and it was setting in her parking spot. Thanx to everyone for the input.