From the Boutique:

883 to 1200 Conversion

by L. Maurice Riggins (1997)

Well, it isn't technically detailed (for me anyway), but here's a report of my 883/1200 conversion using Wiseco 9.5:1 reverse dished pistons, new HD 1200 cylinders, a HD top end gasket set and cam cover gasket, Bartel's thin head gasket set and Andrews N2 cams.

Sunday, Dec 7th

End of a three day weekend where mostly all I did was cleaning house and getting a Christmas tree and decorations up. Got off my butt this afternoon, cleaned up the garage around the bike and moved all the stuff off the workbench. Got started tearing it apart about 3:00. By 7:00 had the heads, etc off and the cam cover off... all the parts nicely labeled and laid out on the workbench. Pulled the cam cover, taping the screws to a sheet of cardboard in the same pattern as the cover, and numbering them according to the torque sequence diagram in the shop manual. Went to install the new cams and can't find my assembly lube (or my high-temp neverseize). But I did find the lost Hylomar while looking for them. :-) Auto parts stores were closed by the time I gave up looking, so I knocked off for the night. I left the pistons and cylinders on so I could rotate it around to line up the cam marks and won't pull them 'til the cams are changed.

Found the easiest way to rotate the engine is just to push the bike forward in fifth with the clutch out and back up slowly with the clutch in so the drag doesn't turn the engine and do it again til things like up.

Did notice more carbon build up on the front piston/head than the rear and the rear exhaust valve is a little lighter than the front... guess that's from the front running cooler than the rear. Or it could be from the roll in the intake manifold seal on that cylinder that must've happened during factory assembly, and maybe it has been leaking there a little, making the rear run lean.

One year/5,500 miles is a nice time to tear it all apart... nothing frozen yet... everything came apart nicely. The Yost intake manifold tool came in handy, as did a shorted 3/16 allen wrench on the left rear rocker cover fastener on the rear cylinder which is under the frame. This area is so close to the battery + terminal, I went ahead and disconnected the cable from the battery - terminal. Lots of cable tires make holding the coil, cables, wires, etc out of the way easy and masking tape with notes on each wire end and component will make reassembly easier. Wherever possible, each nut, washer, screw, etc. is stored on the fastener or component it came off off.

Monday, Dec 8th

Got home from work a little later than usual. Spent some time installing the cam gears in the cam cover to check for binding. Checked okay. Also temporarily installed the cam gears in the engine case to check for binding with the crank pinion. Checked okay. Oil pump drive gears look okay.

Tuesday, Dec 10th

Stopped off at the auto parts store to get some assembly lube and neverseize (and found the missing neverseize as soon as I opened and used the new tube :-) Got the new cams in (using lots of assembly lube) and the old cylinders and pistons off. When cleaning up, discovered that I'd reused the old cam cover gasket... just wasn't thinking. I know enough to throw the old gaskets away, or at least get them out of reach so that doesn't happen.

Wednesday, Dec 11th

Reinstalled the cam cover gasket. Checked cam end play and had some on each cam... good enough for me. Cleaned the gasket residue off the heads. Got the big stuff with a single-edged razor blade (at a low angle and carefully... a razor CAN gouge aluminum) and the gunk with 0000 steel wool and denatured alchohol. Still need to blow out all the passageways, hose 'em down with brakekleen and bag 'em in plastic (cleanliness is important). Started on the engine cases with one of those green plastic scrubber pads and thumbnail... didn't want ANY steel wool dropping into the crankcase (which is stuffed with paper towels)... no alcohol either, which might run down into the crankcase. Got the easy stuff but tired of working around the studs and did something else. I think the green scrubber pad would've worked on the heads and left no metal debris like the steel wool did.

Checked the piston to cylinder fit... looks good to me (can't see any gap at the skirt... can't even fit a sheet of bond paper (.003") in there, but it still slides smoothly)... sounds close enough to me (but I really should check it with a thin feeler gauge). Checked the ring gaps in the cylinder they will be used in. Both top rings spec'd right at Wiseco's .015", but the middle rings were both just under .012", so I filed them with a swiss file and smoothed the edges to get them to Wiseco's spec'd .015".

Looked back at the base gasket area on sidecases and said the hell with it... it's 9:00PM... time to go eat dinner. Felt better after eating and finished cleaning off the old base gasket residue. Had to resort to the razor on a couple of tough spots.

Thursday, Dec 11th

Got the heads cleaned up and new seals installed on them and pushrod tubes. Put one circlip (left side) in each piston, installed them on the connecting rods (without rings) and slipped the new cylinders over them and a HD base gasket. (and put a piece of masking tape on the frame that says "Don't forget the wrist pin clips!" Gotta compensate for old age memory loss :-) I'll pull the pistons off the rods later to install the rings.

Rolling the bike back and forth with thumbnails on each side of the piston and adjacent cylinder, right over the wrist pin, it feels like they're just slightly below the deck with the piston's at its highest point. But I didn't have the cylinders bolted down with spacers either... just pushing down on them. I'd say there was less than .005" depth from the feel of it, but straddling the bike I only had a bird's eye view and really couldn't eye-ball it. I really need bolt them down with spacers and check this accurately with a metal straightedge and feeler gauge as tight as I'm trying to make it.

I'm still debating the base gasket situation. The HD gasket is supposed to crush to .015", and the Bartels aluminum base gasket is .010", which will probably translate to .011 or .012 with a coat of Hylomar on each side, so I'm wondering if the aluminum base gasket is worth using? The real deck height (when the cylinders are snugged down with spacers) will tell. Plus there's a tiny bit of ridging where the two engine cases meet and I don't feel like grinding that down. The stock HD base gasket can tolerate a bit of that where the aluminum one can't.

Friday, Dec 12th

Pulled the cylinders off and removed the pistons from the rods. After getting a feeler gauge that went down to .0015", I tried to measure the gap on the thrust faces of the piston skirts... I couldn't even get the .0015" in there (and Wiseco calls for .002" to .0025"). But off to the sides of centerline about 15 degrees, I could easily get a .002" in. Given that the piston dropped like a rock through the cylinder, with no drag, I made a judgement call and decided to go with virtually no clearance, remembering what Chris'd said about the Wiseco skirts sort of mashing in and giving more clearance as they break in. I'll run it tight and just break it in real easy.

Installed the rings. Piston ring pliers were nice. Reinstalled the pistons and remembered to put the second circlips in thanks to my note to self.

Good thing Chris had warned me about some piston ring compressors not opening up... okay for cars, but not okay when the cylinder comes down over them! The Sears one I got wouldn't open! So I went to Lowe's home improvement and got a 4" hose clamp. It wasn't as wide as I'd have liked... it was a pain getting it on the top ring and the lower oil ring at the same time... but it worked... getting the cylinders over the rings wasn't bad with the generous chamfering of the new HD cylinders.

Saturday, Dec 13th

Got up and did my weekly grocery run, etc. Started on the bike about 11:00. I found, after snugging down the cylinders with spacers (stacks of washers), that the pistons were actually a little taller than the deck (the opposite of what I found before snugging the cylinders down!)... I could see light between the straightedge and the cylinder, but couldn't get the .0015" feeler in there either. I was using the HD base gasket, which miked at .017" and is supposed to crush to .015", so I figured after it did that, the piston would be somewhere around .002 - .003" above the deck. I went ahead and used the Bartel's thin copper head gasket (with the Bartel's recommended copper gasket spray from NAPA) which miked a true .027", figuring this should give me .024 -.025" squish when cold. This is at the max range of the Buzzelli/Minton recommended squish for performance but will require warm-up before operation at high rpm to avoid kissing the head with the piston... then again, I never use high-rpms anyway. But I will switch to the wait-til-rear-rocker-cover's-hot warm-up drill many of you use rather than my old start and ride method.

Bartel's recommends torquing the head bolts to 35 ft-lbs in three stages since their gaskets don't compress as much (at all?) as the stock gaskets. Chris recommended sticking with the HD routine with the 90 degree turn at the end, regardless of what gaskets you use. So I used the HD routine for tightening the head bolts... but checked them for torque anyway. They all came out to 35 ft-lbs using the HD routine. Just what Bartels recommended!

Had to knock off at 4:00 to go to a birthday party.

Sunday, Dec 14th

Slept in 'til almost noon. Getting the damned lower pushrod seals in was a BITCH! Actually, the worst part of the whole job. I managed to get two in by myself. Fortunately, I was able to use both hands to hold the tappet block down while my son cranked the allen screw down on the others.

Putting the rest of it all back together was just a lot of work... nothing difficult. Rocker covers, engine mounts, horn, coil, carb and air cleaner, exhausts, gas tank, etc.

About 6PM: I couldn't find Chris's old article on starting up a new Evo engine. You may laugh, but I got a couple of fire extinguishers handy (I like my garage the way it is). I figured the 30 seconds or so of starter motor letting the vacuum petcock fill the float bowl would help get the oil moving. Soon as the bowl filled up, it started and ran!!!! YES!!!!! I had turned the idle screw in about 1/2 a turn, remembering how as the 883 broke in, I had to keep backing the screw out to bring the idle back down, and I expected that as tight as this engine was, it would need a bit more idle mixture. There was no whine at all from the cam cover (indicating cam gears too tight)... and no ticking either (cam gears too loose, but okay)... the lifters quieted down a few seconds after starting (they... and everything else for that matter... were saturated with assembly lube).

But boy, I knew I had a different beast here now! The exhaust note is much lower and fuller, which I attribute to the displacement, and with a somewhat sharper attack, which I attribute to the higher compression, but the overall volume is lower, which I attribute to more gas trying to get through the same restriction in the SE mufflers. And you can really feel the power pulses... thump, thump... thump, thump!

It seemed to be running richer at idle now... it was rolling big time with the choke on, so I pushed it off and just held 1200 rpm with the throttle lock. I also had to turn the idle mixture in about 1/2 turn to 1 1/2 turns out. Still with the (mild) 40 degree overlap vs the stock 4 degrees, the idle is a little rougher... loping enough that you can tell it doesn't have stock cams.

All I could remember from Chris's startup article was something about letting it get fully hot and then fully cold, then fully hot again before riding, so that's what I did. I was watching for idle speed to drop, indicating the tight pistons were about to seize but that never happened. I was also listening when it started for sound of piston hitting head, and even reved it to about 2,500 when it was just barely warm, but never heard that either. It got hot... damned did the rocker covers get hot! But I expected that with the tightness. I also had the nose on alert for any overtemp smells (like rocker cover seals melting), but never got any. The oil in the tank got warm, but certainly not hot.

Anyway, I let it cool completely and got bundled up for the 28 degree temperature and flurries (and was still wearing less than some people do in 60 degree weather :-). I started it and let it get hot in the garage before taking off. I did note a trace of either white condensation (the garage temp is in the 40's) or some white smoke for a minute or two after restart from dead cold, but Chris'd said this was normal with Wiseco pistons and the rings still need to seat, so I didn't worry (the ring gaps are staggered at least 90 degrees and none are on the thrust faces).

I did a mile or so around the house, covering the clutch lever in case the engine seized, then took it out on the road. I kept it between 2,200 and 2,700, but did let it drop to 2,000 once in third, where I can tell it has more power. There was no tendency to ping at all (high-octane). I could probably get away with more timing, and maybe even regular grade fuel, but that's probably pushing it with the cranking pressure of the 9.5:1 pistons, thin head gasket and N2 cams (gotta find my compression tester, too... never did find the old assembly lube though).

Anyway, I'd worn my thin summer gloves so if the engine did seize, I could get on the clutch quickly, so after about 10 miles, my fingers were freezing and I decided to wrap it up for the night and went home. The rocker boxes were about as hot as before, and the oil was a bit warmer, but not so much it burned my finger. Actually, I was a little concerned I used too much assembly lube and it was gumming up the oil passages, but when I looked at the lube bottle, it said I'd used less than two ounces. The idle at the end of the ride was a little faster than when I'd started, which I expected (loosening up vs a slower idle which would indicate seizing). No signs of leaks anywhere... at the head gaskets, base gaskets, or even the damned lower pushrod seals... and no new noises... no cams clicking, no piston knock... nothing. The 883 had always had a little whine from the cam cover, so the stock gears were probably a little tight and the "mid-sized" Andrews are just right for my cam cover. The Wiseco's may get louder after break-in, but the engine's not really any noisier than before.

I can't really say whether it has more vibration or not... the power pulses are more distinct. And I can't _really_ say whether it has more power... cause I babied it. I guess I can say I didn't have the throttle near as wide as I would've before for the same performance. And with the slightly rougher idle, I did think about a single-fire ignition, although it never farted even once... and I sorta like the slight lope at idle.

It's also too early to evaluate anything about the upgrade... power, vibration, idle, timing, jetting, etc... that'll take a lot more riding and really should wait until after break-in. But the job's done, I'm tired, and I'm glad it's over. This past year of discussions, and some nightly email with Chris sure made it go a lot smoother. THANKS, Chris!

BTW, forecast for the next three to five days is high-40's to low-50's and sunny in the afternoons (was 23 this morning!). If that's true, guess where I'll be in the afternoons the rest of this week! (Thank you, Lord!)

PS. Monday, Dec 15th. It got up to 40 degrees by 1PM so I took the afternoon off to do some break-in riding. This time there was no condensation or smoke or whatever it was at the last startup. Got over 100 miles on it between 2:00 and 5:30, doing the < 50 mile break-in routine the first half. Still babying it... still no problems, no leaks, etc. It does seem to be running a bit freer, though, after some mileage. I can see why some of the 1200 owners have complained about the sound of the SE slip-ons... I don't think they sound "as good" as they did on the 883... they're certainly quieter, but the engine does have a "bigger" sound. Maybe I'll enlarge the bypass hole in the baffles. I didn't get it over 2800 rpm, so I can't say for sure it has more vibration. When I'm thinking about it, it seems to, but the mirrors are no more blurry than before. So I guess maybe a little more. It has more power, but I'm staying out of the throttle 'til the 500 mile oil change (and that's damned hard!), so I won't know how much more 'til then. It does seem to move more effortlessly.

Deja vu all over again... I was breaking in the 883 this time last year in cold weather... one of these days I'll wise up and do this in the Spring.

Tha... tha... that's all, folks!

883 to 1200 Update

Damn, it's been a long week! Managed to break out of work at 1:00 Monday - Thursday and rack up 515 miles of gradually increasing speed/throttle break-in by Thursday night. Temps got into the 40s each day by 1:00, fortunately. Thursday evening decided to whack it more than 1/2 throttle and finally get off the slow jet and get the slide open... got a little strong pinging from 2,700 - 3,200 in fifth and backed off... 883 jetting (#165 main) ain't gonna work with the beast. Did the 500 mile oil change Thursday night along with a few other maintenance items and installed a #175 main. Chris responded to an email, saying I might even need a #180 or more given the temps... and not to worry since Buell uses a #195.

Took all day today off (Friday) to do the jetting (high of 57 today and rain and/or snow this weekend... gotta do it now). Got it fully warmed up, took it out and whacked the throttle wide open in fifth at 2,500 as soon as the temps got into the 40s. Got a little light to moderate pinging from 3,200 - 4,500 or so. Chris was right (so what else is new :-)... back to garage for a 180. Took it out, did it again, and still getting a light tinkling of pinging at various points WFO in the 3,000 - 5,000, but it sounded right. Tried raising the needle one notch, no change, but sounded rich. Put the needle back to mid setting and tried a #185 main, ditto. Hmmm... looks like #180 main jetting with middle needle setting is about as good as it gets.

Retarded the timing two degrees (using marks on timing plate)... no more tinkling... but I didn't like this... not as much grunt at the lower rpms... idle has to be cranked up too much. Advanced the timing one degree (to one degree retarded from stock)... still no ping. Acid test (temps dropping back into the 40s)... cranked shock preload to max and installed large son on pillion... close to 400#s between us. WOW! Where the 883 used to feel like it was laboring below 4,000 or so rpm with both of us, this beast feels like it doesn't notice a passenger from 2,000 up. One hard run from 2,500 to 5,000 (80mph) in fourth with no pinging (and the front end starts feeling light about 3,500 - 4,000 :-). Seems to accelerate as fast with son as without. Got it down to 40 mph in fifth and hit it up to 70 mph... still no pinging. One thing's for sure... with the higher cranking pressure, engine braking on deceleration is much stronger. Got home and removed large son with large grin on face (under helmet, of course).

Well, what does this all mean???? I don't think any of the pinging was a result of the high compression or high cranking pressure due to the N2 cams. The first, heaviest pinging was simply due to inadequate jetting. The 1200 typically takes a "10" larger jet than an 883 for a given set of equipment, plus I have the cams which call for a little more than just SE air filter and slip-ons. The '96 and later 883 ignition modules have significantly more advance than the 1200 ignition modules on the power curve (but the 1200 modules have more advance on the high vacuum cruise/deceleration curves)... but the 883's are about two degrees behind the Buzzelli/Minton "ideal" curve. I wanted to keep the 883 module if possible since more advance (to a point... a point I discovered) means more power, if the jetting's right. Given the 1200 module's much slower advance on the power curve, I don't think I'd be happy with one of those 1200 modules under heavy power application, but I'd sure like to try the extra advance at cruise and deceleration (high vacuum) for gas mileage reasons. But I may just live with the 883 module's advance curves.

Was this conversion a success? Well, it's a mixed bag. Did I get the torque monster I wanted? I think so, but I guess only dyno testing will tell (time for the 5-hour ride to see Chris in Chicago :-) Actually, I probably got one hell of a lot more torque than I'll use in my mostly solo riding... I didn't really discover just how much I did have until loading it up with two big guys. I guess if I ever hook up with a big, fat mama (like me :-) or get a sidecar, I'll really appreciate this beast.

Were the N2 cams worth it? Even that's a mixed bag! I got them to both increase the lower end torque (they close the intakes several degrees before the stock cams) AND to use their increased duration to somewhat offset keeping the smaller 883 valves at higher rpms. I'm damned happy with the low/mid rpm torque when loaded up! And I haven't tried to push it much beyond 5,000, but it still seems strong there. The only downside I've discovered, besides the slightly rougher idle, is that, despite the increased torque from 1,500 on up, I can't really use the engine below 2,500 at part throttle without getting a lot of surging and snatching... I guess the damned ghost spark from the dual-fire ignition really has a lot more to ignite when the intakes are opening 18 or so degrees earlier than stock and a hell of a lot faster!

It just so happens Crane has come out with a new multi-spark selectable single/dual fire ignition, the HI4e. Much like the MSD, it gives up to nine sparks/rev at idle and three at 6,000 rpm. And it has the usual selectable advance curves and rev limits. Sounds like it fits where the '97 and earlier modules go, since it's available in 7 and 8 pin connectors. Guess I'll have to give AccWhse.com a call and see what they'll charge me for that and one of Crane's single-fire coils (not listed on their web pages), if I still want to grunt around at 2,000 rpm or so.

In summary, I'd definitely recommend the Wiseco 9.5:1 pistons and the really tight squish you can get using the Bartel's head gasket. I can't tell that the engine is any noisier, mechanically, than before. That's probably due to two things... the tight fit of the pistons in the new HD cylinders, and I just got lucky that the mid-sized Andrews cams were right for my cam cover and crank pinion gear.

The power pulses, especially at lower rpms, are stronger. If there is any increase in vibration, it's not obtrusive at cruise... that is, I don't notice it at all. The vibration harmonic that occurred at 72 mph or so, still occurs there, indicating the balance of the engine really hasn't changed. With the 27 tooth belt sprocket, it's still more comfortable at 65 mph than 70+.

The SE mufflers ARE quieter on the 1200, but I realized later this week my comparison was with bandana and goggles on the 883, and balaclava and Arai Quantum/e (very tight fitting, sound deadening helmet) with all vents closed (and chin windguard down :-) on the 1200. I'll worry about the muffler sound later.

I really don't know how much of the grunt when riding solo comes from the N2 cams (they may be overkill on top of the 9.6 or 9.7 mechanical compression ratio for solo riding, but loaded up, I suspect they make a significant difference), and it's a little too early to be testing performance from 4,500 - 6,500 rpm to see if they really help there... but I suspect they do... in spades... compared to just the 883 valves and stock cam. But then again, I probably won't use that... well... much anyway :-) Just be aware, if you ride below 2,500 rpm, of the possible need for a single-fire ignition.

Final note... if you can help it... don't do this in 40 degree temps... it sux... it's more like work than fun.

I hope these notes help some of the other 883 owners considering a 1200 conversion. Believe me... it's a TOTALLY different bike. Mine now reminds me of the first vehicle I ever drove... maybe I should paint it... John Deere green!