The
Take A Tour of The Harley Davidson Factory
web page author's previous bike: hft89883
'89 Sportster 883
- Color: Black
- Engine: Stock 883 ( modifications described below )
- Style: Solo (still a solo)
Carburetor: Stock Kehin 40mm CV w/acc pump
- Dynojet Needle, clip on 3rd setting from the top. Though a bit on the rich side, this setting does not blacken
the ceramic insulators of the Autolite plugs (the non-Platinum ones). In fact, the ceramics remain white, but some black powdery dusting
is evident on the ground electrode, but only about 1/4 of the way up the ground electrode's stem. The center electrode has no
visible residue on it whatsoever. And, this is after intense riding.
- Lighter Spring from kit. Allows the engine to respond a bit more quickly.
- Screamin' Eagle ( A product line of Harley-Davidson Motor Company)
Air Cleaner Kit
- Gave floats 1/32" more travel to smoothen out the high end.
- Modified the Accelerator Pump area, by removing material from the inside of the bottom cover, for
more fuel squirt.
- Raduised the slide ( All the kids are doin' it! )
- Drilled out the Slide lift hole and finished to a 1/8th" diameter
Exhaust: Stock
- Low Restriction
- Transmission: Still a 4 Speed . . .
Internal Gearing
- Had the local Harley-Davidson Dealership mechanic replace the "Close Ratio" gearing
with the gearing that came on the 1986 and ealier models which drops the 1st gear ratio to 2.52 as opposed
to the 1987 and later "Close Ratio" gearing which was a 2.26 1st gear ratio. I had this done to give me more
low end torque. The alternative was to change the final drive chain sprockets' number of teeth, but this
would affect my entire gear range, and only wanted a lower first gear. This modification was important to me
because I got a lower 1st through 3rd gears, but my 4th gear, the gear ratio that I did not want changed,
is left the same. I did not care for higher highway mileage if it meant sacrificing my low-end torque. Of course,
I did not care for extra low-end torque if it meant my entire gearing would make my engine work harder and drink
more gas all the time, which is why I went by way of the costly upgrade. You've probably guessed by now that there
is a considerable difference from my 3rd gear to 4th gear shifts than what it used to be. Regardless, I now have
a much more satisfying ride. The bike now sings both Soprano and Tenor.
- Screamin' Eagle (Harley-Davidson Motor Company product line) Clutch Spring. This will work out your left fore arm
a bit, but not nearly like the Sportsters from a decade prior to that would.
- Barnett Clutches/Friction plates. I still have the original clutches from the Sportster. I took them out to preserve
them. I did this when the bike had 10K miles on it. The original clutches looked like they could go another 10K miles.
- Instrumentation/Ergonimics
Stock Speedometer: (bwoke a cabuw dis summa')
- Added the Tachometer kit. Relatively easy bolt on and hook-up. I love having a tach.
- XR-Style handle bars. I can't say enough about how good they feel compared to the stock chrome set which is still wrapped in
the cellophane I wrapped it in, under my bed. (The original set can turn blue for all I care). The XR set just seems pefect for me.
- To acommodate the XR bars, I had to get a flexible, braided steel brake line which worked out just beautifully.
I used the stock cable, though routed less than perfectly for a couple of years, until I made the recent swap.
- Plasti Dipped the clutch and brake levers for a little extra comfort. Not a whole lot, but the leather wrappings were
just too much. I like the Plasti Dip coating better. Did the same with the grips.
- Electricals
Ignition System:
- Dyna 2000 Dual/Single Fire ignition system. This unit can be switched from it's current dual fire mode by the
flip of a dip switch if I've hooked up a set of single-fire coils. I use advance curve #2 with Normal VOES setting (thinking about disabling the VOES).
- Currently set up as dual fire until I can decide on the coils for single-fire upgrade. I set the rev. limiter at 6K and it reaches that point rather quickly "for an 883".
- Igntion Coil is the Orange one from Harley-Davidson.
- Plug wires are the wonderful Accel 8.8 Suppression wires.
- Spark Plugs are Autolites ( not platinums ).
- Battery is one I got from WalMart. Hey, it holds pretty well. I keep my terminals polished and seal them after I've tightened them.
- Suspension
Forks:
- Screamin' Eagle fork brace for the 39 mm forks. Progressive suspension springs for the forks with the full length of PVC pipe supplied.
Screamin' Eagle fork oil.
Changes last made on: Sun Sep 21 18:25:05 1997
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