Sportster Enduro/Scrambler Thread

[Danno]

It looks like for rear shocks 13.5" is stock for my 96, so I am leaning toward the 15". From the scramblers ive found online the 15" with a TC bros. scrambler spoked 18"x2.5" rear wheel looks like decent enough clearance for me. The extra tire options are a plus as well. May need to go back to the stock foot controls as well, the forwards are going to be awkward lol

Are there any appreciable differences between the same year 883 and 1200? it looks like for the gen I have the rear shock length is a little shorter on the 883 and thats about it.

13.5 I believe was later base and r. Parts are all over the place. So it is letter designations and year. Xl forum might have a chart. Gets a little confusing. I think it is woodies that can take a 19 front and adapt to the rear. So 19/19. The other sporty issue is tubeless offroad tires for 16 in wheel. There is a tube tire being used tubeless. The later model low can run 705. But the 19/16 is a problem for the rear. I think I can find the tire if you want to keep the 16.

 

[psykown]

I am quite ok with swapping to an 18" rear the only thing with that is how happy the gearing is going to be with it, that may be the catalyst to switch to a chain setup

 

[psykown]

Im hoping the 18" rear with a 15" shock combined the 19" stock front end will give me a more neutral handling as well. Right now the front feels like I am riding a chopper in the canyons, super vague and always pushing in the turns. I am not planning to make it feel like a sprt bike or anything but a little nicer handling is definitely welcome lol

 

[Danno]

Ya that was my issue, the front end needed the rider closer to the steering axis and steeper rake . Other wise it is a point and shoot bike. Pushed hard and it will mimic the worst 80s ujm cruiser head shake. I wasn't joking about getting closer to the bars. But the bike isn't for that style. Also not an issue below 60mph. The 883 and 1200 have different final drive ratios. The balance factor is at slightly different speeds and piston weigh varies. Hence my preference for the 883. Tighter gearing and a slower speed smooth zone. HD is good at mixing parts. A faster rider will like the 1200 because it is smoother at a higher speeds..75mph

 

[Danno]

1983 Honda XL600R had 39mm tubes and damper rod forks, if you can find some rusty old forks the innards should still be clean and should drop right in to your tubes and lowers letting you keep your wheel and brake as is.
I'll post more as I find them.

Hmm showa on both bikes I think? That would be cool.

 

[Alan F.]

I'm pretty sure Honda uses Showa, these are the two bikes that should be a solid match:
XL-350R (84-85)
[UWSL]XL-600R (83-87)[/UWSL]

[UWSL]Both of these Hondas use 39mm damper rod forks, if you find a pair, even if they're rusted and bad, the complete internals still sealed in oil should bolt right in to your forks allowing you to keep your wheel, brake and triples as is. Worst case you need to drill the head off the damper bolt and grind the cap off the fork tube to get in. [/UWSL]


And after a quick ebay search the look like the low prices:

Honda XL350 Front Forks XL 350L 1984 low miles

1986 Honda XL600 XL 600 Front Forks Fork

The 600 weighed only 300lbs, that's 15lbs more than the 350 so I dunno how well those springs world do in a 550lb sportster, maybe with the right preload spacers they'd be OK.
There are no guarantees these parts will fit, but it sounds promising. Oh and none of these parts cross reference between these 2 bikes, so they're not the same, just 2 independant possibilities. I'd make sure the seller measures the fork OD before committing to a purchase.

 

[Shinyribs]

The engine is rigid mount vs rubber. 2003 is the last year for rigid mount. Also the cases have a trapdoor to access the transmission vs the the rubber mount and later buell cases that have to be split. The rigids have better ergos, less weight and more ground clearance. The rubber mounts ride nicer on the highway and feel more like a big twin. Early rigids also dont have a rev limiter. The wifes 89 883 will rev over 7000rpm of glorious sound rapped out. Most riders have no idea about how these engines can be built. Mild to wild. It is a dying art. But the parts and shops are still around if you desire over 100hp and a crazy amount of torque.

Several years ago I was stopped at a gas station and I heard something with an engine absolutely roaring down the road. No clue what it was. Never heard anything that sounded like that, but whatever it was was at full song and it sounded amazing. Dude rolled in on a Sportster ( no clue the age) that sounded like it was cammed to death. Talked to him briefly but he didn't have much to say. I hung around til he left and he wrung the thing out when he was leaving. Any ounce of Harley hate in had in me went away that day. I don't even know what to describe the sound like. Nothing at all like a Ducati twin revved out. Glorious really is a good description.

I didn't know any Harley engine could rev like that and I'll never forget it. It spurred me to pick up a couple Ironheads but I never did anything with em. One of these days...

 

[Danno]

Several years ago I was stopped at a gas station and I heard something with an engine absolutely roaring down the road. No clue what it was. Never heard anything that sounded like that, but whatever it was was at full song and it sounded amazing. Dude rolled in on a Sportster ( no clue the age) that sounded like it was cammed to death. Talked to him briefly but he didn't have much to say. I hung around til he left and he wrung the thing out when he was leaving. Any ounce of Harley hate in had in me went away that day. I don't even know what to describe the sound like. Nothing at all like a Ducati twin revved out. Glorious really is a good description.

I didn't know any Harley engine could rev like that and I'll never forget it. It spurred me to pick up a couple Ironheads but I never did anything with em. One of these days...

The good years are built to spec. Everything from wheel bearing clearance to crank float. Even rod to crank pin. The cranks are 5 pieces assembled and trued. Sporty can have 5" stroke flywheels! It is a builders bike and engine. The newer bikes are refined but never the same. Setting the bump in a front or rear wheel is rewarding. And you can spec it tight or loose. Many bushings are lap fitted. The earliy bikes remind me of real americana airplane technology. A modern triumph is a way better bike. But its not the same. I think the mentioned scrambler build could easily weigh 470-480lbs with 70hp. But even 55hp is nice. The evo rigid mount sportys competed with ujms. So the ride is not that different. But the carb is removed in 5 mins vs a v4 honda ujm nightmare. Keihin and mikuni carbs but only one! Some years jap cruiser were smart enough to decrease performance with single carb. The bike I want is an 03 883R completely stock. The R has different cams that the efi model got. Last year of the rear deal. 04 and later rubbermounts are refined, heavier and have sealed bearings in the wheels. Still great but not as true to mission that lasted from 1957-2003. So 97-03 are probably the best modern year "real" sporty. But the rubbermount years were for modern riders. Interstate riding is nicer on 2007 later efi rubbermounts. These bikes are close to being awsome. Just a few quirks

 

[psykown]

Coming from a triumph Street triple and now a sprint I feel a bit spoiled, both bikes were so responsive and smooth all through the revs that everything since has felt meh. When I cleaned and jetted the carb on the sportster after getting to Albuquerque (5000ish ft) it still felt meh. It pulls reasonably hard of idle but really falls off hard and vibrates by 5k rpm. I think over the summer here I'll be messing with jetting a bit more to dial her in better

 

[Danno]

Check out the yost kit. These bikes can run open air box or exhaust. That moves the powerband around some. Later years have a rev limiter that drove enthusiast nuts. It is costly to get around it. Ha a 1050 engine compared to a sporty is comical. The 1050 is crazy flexible and fast.

 

[Shinyribs]

I am quite ok with swapping to an 18" rear the only thing with that is how happy the gearing is going to be with it, that may be the catalyst to switch to a chain setup

I've only ever had chains and Harley's belts are something I've always been jealous of. I think if I ever got a belt drive bike that you'd have to twist my arm pretty hard to take it away from me

 

[Alan F.]

Spotted this on Chopcult & felt like sharing, handy swap-meet fork ID chart:

 

[psykown]

I've only ever had chains and Harley's belts are something I've always been jealous of. I think if I ever got a belt drive bike that you'd have to twist my arm pretty hard to take it away from me

My understanding is offroad they are a lot more prone to jumping or breaking especially in rocky terrain. but the trade off of almost no tension adjustments or maintenance doesnt sound to bad to me!

 

[Shinyribs]

I've heard that, too, but no personal experience. I know if you want any amount of wheel travel that you end up with an idler system, but Buell seemed to handle it well with the Ulysses.