This document records a motorcycle owner's experience converting his 2003 Harley-Davidson 883 Hugger to a 1200cc engine. Over several days and steps, he removed components like the gas tank, exhaust, carburetor, heads and cylinders to facilitate the engine rebuild. He documented each day's work, noting any issues encountered and referencing service manuals. The rebuild involved installing new pistons, cylinders, cams and other parts to complete the conversion to a 1200cc engine.

1. 883>1200 Conversion Documented
By James D. Taylor, Helena, AL, 1/1/2004
Preface................................................................................................................................. 1
Bike specs: .................................................................................................................. 2
Parts list:...................................................................................................................... 2
Specialty Tools: .......................................................................................................... 2
Some notes going into this.......................................................................................... 2
Day 1 Monday 12/15/03 ............................................................................................. 3
Day 2 Tuesday 12/16/03 ............................................................................................. 5
Day 3 Wednesday 12/17/03 ........................................................................................ 7
Day 4 Saturday 12/20/03 ............................................................................................ 9
Day 5 Monday 12/22/03 ........................................................................................... 15
Day 6 Wednesday 12/24/03 ...................................................................................... 17
Day7 Saturday 12/27/03 ........................................................................................... 19
Day 8 Monday 12/29/03 ........................................................................................... 21
Day 9 12/30/03.......................................................................................................... 23
Post Conversion Notes...................................................................................................... 24
Acknowledgments............................................................................................................. 26
Preface
This document is just the recording of my experience converting my 2003 883 XLH
Hugger to a 1200. I don’t pretend to know anything, and wish only to convey what I
learned as I went through the process.
I’ve never wrenched on anything to this extent. I’ve done the turn signal relocation kits
and other things like that on my bike, nothing too complicated or very mechanical. My
knowledge of engines is very simplistic; I understand pistons, combustion, and valves
and how they kind of move, but engine theory, overlap, compression, squish is all still
kind of murky and foreign to me. I really have no idea how one affects the other.
But that’s was the second major reason I bought a motorcycle. I wanted to learn how to
work on and maintain it and go out and enjoy it.
Why’d I go with this setup? Because I spoke at great length with Mark Shumaker, and I
wanted my bike to perform like his. His conversion was cost-efficient and used all stock
HD parts, which made things a little easier (like checking end-play in cam bushings).
Settings like Idle Mixture for my bike out 2 ½ turns aren’t because I figured out it was
best (which it actually is); Shu tuned his bike, and found these to be the best settings. I
might eventually find mine to differ slightly (no two bikes are alike), but for now it runs
great.
1

2. Bike specs:
• 2003 XLH 883 Hugger with 5100 miles on it, serviced at appropriate intervals up
to 5K.
• Stage I Modifications:
o SE High-Flow Air Cleaner (29041-88B)
o Dynojet Kit (29045-97A)
o Screaming Eagle II pipes (80217-02)
Parts list:
• 16554-92A Cylinder, Silver (2) – 1200 cylinders
• 17026-91C Gasket Kit, Engine – Has everything you need for rebuild
• 22698-01 SE XL 883/1200 Piston Conversion Kit, Std
• 25263-90D Gasket, Gearcase Cover
• 25648-01 SE XL Bolt-in Cams
• 27170-89 Slow Jet, #45, 883/1200, Domestic
• 27243-95 Main Jet, 1.90 (I needed a 185, in reality; no stock 185’s)
• 16573-83 Dowel Pin (comes in 4 pack)
• 26432-76A O-Ring (comes in 4 pack)
Specialty Tools:
• Kastar Rocker Box Cover wrench (nice tool to have, low profile to get to rear
rocker cover)
• Yost Manifold wrench (with the ball end) – See http://www.yostperformance.com
• Craftsman Magnetic pickup (smallest one, looked like an antenna)
Some notes going into this
I followed the service manual for my bike as closely as possible. It would’ve been close
to impossible to do without it. I had Rickko’s, Holts, Riggins’ and Ernie’s conversion
notes printed and handy for reference.
Everywhere I could, I torqued to spec, usually to the higher number (i.e. if specs called
for 90-110 in lbs I always torqued to 110). If I couldn’t torque a bolt to spec (torque
wrench couldn’t reach or something), I would torque an equivalent bolt and then try to
match the feel for the tension as best I could on the one I couldn’t get the torque wrench
to.
Everywhere there was a gasket, it got replaced (complete engine rebuild gasket kit). Did
not need to buy additional cam covers (one is included in engine rebuild gasket kit),
although I fortunately did (I pulled my cam cover off a second time to verify timing
marks).
See acknowledgements for the reference materials I used to aid me as I went through this
process.
2

3. Day 1 Monday 12/15/03
1. Removed battery completely
2. Removed Air Cleaner
a. Removed cleaner trim
b. Removed cover and filter
c. Removed bolts to crankcase (Barnett breather bolts)
d. Removed U from top of Y on breather tubing
e. Removed backplate per FM
i. Left gasket on backplate, will remove and replace when
reassembling
Careful, a gasket is on the outside face of carb. Just note its position. (This “gasket” was
a ring that apparently came from my SE air filter kit; I didn’t realize this until
reassembly. The dealer put my SE air cleaner on, and didn’t leave the instructions )
3. Disconnected spark plug wires, left plugs in heads
4. Removed horn
3

4. a. Removed terminal clips
i. Facing front of bike, terminal wires go left to right on top (yellow
under sheath)
ii. Right to left on bottom (ground wire, black under sheath)
b. Unscrewed three screws with 5/16 nut driver; washers are inside rubber
grommet
5. Ignition coil
a. Removed spark plug cables
i. Front cylinder plug went to left terminal, rear cylinder plug went to
right terminal (as you sit on bike)
b. Removed ring terminals; just pulled off
i. Ring terminal with pink wire on the left, ring terminal with black
on right
Tried removing ignition coil, but ignition switch was in the way of one of the bolts, so I
went about removing the gas tank to get to the ignition switch.
6. Removed fuel tank
a. Made sure Fuel switch was in OFF position
b. Removed fuel tank supply hose –
It’s the great big ass hose that plugs into left brass fitting as you look at
carb. Might be obvious to those familiar with the carb, not to those who
aren’t (I wasn’t). You will mess up clamp getting it off, will have to
replace. Any gas remain in this line will leak out, so have cup or
something handy. There’s not a whole lot of it.
c. Removed vapor hose
4

5. FM will have you think at this point all you have to do is unbolt tank and lift it off. Not
so.
d. Remove vacuum hose from back of fuel switch housing
e. Unbolt ground from base of tank near where the seat starts
f. THEN lift tank off, carefully threading the hoses to keep them from
catching on anything.
7. Removed ignition switch bolt to get it off of ignition coil hardware to get to coil
bolt
8. Removed ignition coil and ignition coil hardware.
At this point, I called it a night.
Day 2 Tuesday 12/16/03
Removed Carb
1. Freed enrichener control (1-41)
5

6. a. Unscrewed the brass bolt on the back, being careful not to move the
plastic thumbscrew on the front (plastic thumbscrew controls enrichner
tension)
2. Disconnected VOES hose at carb
3. Disconnected VOES wire where it attaches to the ignition module on the bike
At this point, the carb was ready to pull off. I pulled it out of the intake manifold using
an up and down rocking motion, very easy and very gently. It pulled right off. I left the
carb attached to the throttle cables, and sat it on top of a container high enough not to put
stress on the cables.
Removed Exhaust System
1. Removed rear heat shield to get to nuts hold exhaust on
a. Had to screw clamps completely off, then pull shield off.
2. Loosened front heat shield to get to nuts hold exhaust on
3. Removed exhaust manifold nuts
To get to the nut holding the front pipe to the frame, I had to remove my right front
footpeg:
4. Removed front foot rest – 2-90
6

7. a. Removed clevis mount bolt
b. Removed clevis
c. Removed cotter pin and pulled everything off. Rested plunger for brake
on top of where foot peg was (part stick out from frame mount)
5. Removed nuts holding muffler to frame
The muffler was tough to pull off, and a lot heavier than expected. I had to work it loose
to get it to come off.
Nothing to the engine mounts, removed them per the FM directions
Removed top Center Engine Mount Bracket
1. Removed top 2 hex bolts
2. Removed bottom 2 hex bolts (attached to cylinders)
3. Pulled out mount
Removed front Engine Mount Bracket
1. Removed bottom bolts
a. Bottom right (as you face the engine) has ground for horn terminal
attached
2. Removed top bolts
3. Removed bracket
At this point, I was ready to start work on the heads. Good stopping point.
Day 3 Wednesday 12/17/03
Removed rocker covers
1. Removed plugs
2. Removed 4 hex nuts on outer rocker cover
a. On the back cylinder, the left rear nut was very difficult to get to. Had to
user an L-shaped hex wrench and very patiently work this off.
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8. b. Also on the rear cylinder, the two forward hex nuts had their fiber seals
fuse to the rocker cover. I had to screw them back down, then screw them
back up holding the cover down with my hand near the nut I was screwing
up to get the seal to come loose from the cover
c. I pulled the gasket off, but left it with the cover so I could ID the right
gasket for the cover
3. Removed the outer rocker cover
a. Gaskets caused the covers to stick.
4. Removed rocker cover spacer
a. Had to very, very gently wedge a flat blade tip and exert slight pressure to
un-stick the gasket. Maybe should’ve used a rubber mallet to jar them
loose, but I didn’t like the thought of hammering on my heads with a
mallet.
At this point, you can see the rockers and valve springs. A lot of oil had pooled in the
tops here, which is a good thing I guess. Be careful pulling this off with the oil and all.
In all the directions I had read, the instructions at this point were to have put the bike in
5th (if you hadn’t already), and roll it forwards or backwards (if not on a lift; if on a lift,
just rotate rear tire) to reduce as much tension as possible on the valve springs.
Essentially, the valves should be closed, and the pushrods (which you can see at this
point) should be pretty much even up across the tops, at their low points.
To make sure I could see closed valves, I removed the intake manifold using an intake
manifold tool that I bought from Yost, which was very helpful. Nothing to it, just
remove the 4 nuts. Note: The nuts were very, very stiff, and very hard to loosen initially.
(I probably should’ve removed this when I pulled the carb off, just as part of the process.
But either way, it didn’t matter.)
Once manifold was removed, I could see intake valves quite easily, and they were closed.
I proceeded to remove inner rocker cover per the FM instructions.
1. Removed outer hex screws 7/16
2. Removed 3 bolts and washers
3. Removed 4 remaining bolts per the FM – ¼ turns in a criss cross pattern to loosen
them up, then ½ turns until I knew no pressure was being/would be exerted on the
cover
4. I had to remove the push rods on the rear cylinder to get the rocker cover off.
Note: The exhaust push rods have 3 red (or pink) stripes; the intake pushrods
have 1 brown stripe. So the 3 stripers are on the outside, the 1 stripers are on the
inside.
8

9. The FM has you remove the rocker arms. I am not doing anything to mine, so I left mine
in. I did pull them out initially because I thought I was supposed to, but realized I didn’t
need to so I put them back.
Also, I had pulled the push rods out of the rear push rod tubes to get the rocker cover off,
and forgot how I pulled them out, I was so eager to get the cover off. I freaked out a little
bit, cause this was the first thing I had done that I didn’t note or document. I finally
figured it out, with Rickko’s notes on his pushrods backing me up. I hadn’t pulled the
front ones, and the stripes were as I noted above. I put pushrods back.
At this point, I’ve got both covers off and ready to remove the heads. It was 10PM, and a
good stopping point.
12/18 had Office Xmas dinner, didn’t work on it; 12/19 was family night out, didn’t work
on it.
Day 4 Saturday 12/20/03
Removed Heads
1. Removed pushrods, and set them down, noting where I pulled them from.
Essentially, striping determines location.
2. Loosened the head screws per the instructions in the FM, 1/8 turns.
a. I actually put my wrench in about a 2’ long steel tube to increase my
leverage when loosening the bolt and it gave me greater control over the
rotation of it.
b. Once the head bolts where loosened up enough so no pressure was being
applied to damage the heads, I just unbolted them normally
3. Pulled front head off
9

10. a. I tapped the heads very gently with a rubber mallet to work them loose
from the gaskets, and then eased them off. The push rod tubes came out
of their sockets in the crankcase and came off with the heads.
The first thing I noticed was the carbon build up. I mean it was THICK and black all
over my pistons and valve heads. It was amazing. I think I am going to do like some of
the others: use enrichener to start bike, warm it up using throttle lock.
4. Removed the push rod retainers, pulled gaskets off of heads and retainers.
5. Removed anti-rotation screw
At this point, the FM will tell you to pull the tappets out. I left mine in while I pulled the
cylinders off so no debris would fall down those holes. In hindsight, I guess it wouldn’t
have mattered because those holes lead down to where the cams are, which I replaced. If
anything fell down there, I could’ve just cleaned it out when I pulled the cam cover off.
I rotated the rear wheel so the pistons where at their highest points. Starting with the
front cylinder:
Removed Cylinders and Pistons
1. Tapped cylinder loose with rubber mallet, and slowly pulled it up to where I could
stuff a rag down around cylinder bores (big ol’ holes with the piston rods sticking
out).
a. These holes are not that big- your rags need to be of the small variety, or
you will have a helluva time getting them in there.
2. Removed cylinder completely
3. Put ½” tubing on studs to protect them.
4. Did rear cylinder same way
10

11. 5. Popped circlip off of one side of piston using an awl, pushed wrist pin through,
and pulled piston off
6. Scraped gasket leftovers off of crankcase using a razorblade
a. Note to be careful: Just like the other conversion articles document, razors
will gouge and shave off the metal here, so be careful
7. Pulled the tappets out using a Craftsman magnetic pick up ($5). Put them in oil
like all the other conversion documentaries documented.
a. Quarter a cup or jar with two pieces of cardboard
b. Marked tappet locations on outside of cup or jar – FE, FI, RE, RI
c. Deposited tappets into each quarter according to the location they came
from
d. Filled with oil and let them hang out.
At this point, the cylinders and pistons were ready to be put on. But I had a set of
Screaming Eagle bolt in hydraulic cams that yet needed installed, so I had to get into that
part of my bike. Most of the guys who have done their conversions with cams also
installed them at this point.
Removed Ignition Module
I had already drilled out the rivets on my timing cover to put on one of Shane Jewell’s
Sportster.org LSR timing covers. The FM documents how to do this. I just unscrewed
mine.
1. Removed timing cover and plate.
2. Marked ignition module location by scratching lines into the crankcase with an
awl. This is important; as it will help you put it back the way you pulled it off,
which needs to be pretty precise here.
3. Removed sensor plate screws, pulled ignition module out
a. Tight to pull out. There is not much slack where module is attached to
timing wires. I just pulled mine out and the top down so I could get
11

12. behind it.
4. Removed the nut holding the gold rotor in, and removed the gold rotor
Removed Cam Cover and Cams
I prepared a cardboard cutout like the others did, using an awl to punch holes so I could
put the screws back exactly where they came from. This is a timesaver; not all the screws
are the same size, and there are 11 of them.
I removed the allen bolts, putting them in cardboard cutout in corresponding location.
What I’ve read in other conversion docs and what I’ve read in the FM is that the bushings
hold the cams are very snug, and that there is little or no play and that is important. If
you attempt to pry the cover to get it off, you could damage the bushings the cams are
seated in, and this is a bad thing.
What you are supposed to do is tap the cam cover free with a rawhide or rubber mallet,
and pull it straight out and off. This is what I did.
When pulled the cover off, it came free suddenly from the crankcase, sliding straight out,
and the cams slid out of the crankcase with the cover.
This is not good either, because you’ve to make sure the time marks line up. I ended up
gently putting the cover back on, almost the whole way, sliding the cams back into the
crankcase, then slowly working the cover off making sure the cams stayed in the
crankcase this time.
Then I notice the ignition module is connected to the timing wires that run down through
the cam cover, and there is an oil vent hose also connected to it the cover as well. To
have the cam cover come completely off, you need to remove ignition module from the
timing wire and the hose from the cover, which has one of those one time use only
clamps on it.
12

13. So my cam cover didn’t come off completely free, which the FM doesn’t seem to prepare
you for. It could, but I didn’t see it as being necessary.
So I left my cover attached to the wires, and had it swung open like a door, bungeed it
open.
It was not taut at all, just loosely supporting it, holding it open. I also clipped a wire tie
holding the timing wire to the bike frame, just to ease some of the restricted movement of
the cam cover.
And NOTE: The FM and some of the other articles say “Hey, careful here, some oil will
drip out.” Hell yeah some oil will drip out. Newspapers don’t do the trick; get a pan, and
if you got your bike on a lift, get a LOT of newspapers if the pan doesn’t fit.
Putting the cover back on to get the cams back in the case caused the timing marks to get
slightly off, so I lined them back up (I used pics from Ernie’s site to do this).
Installed new Cams – This also marks engine reassembly point
Hindsight note: I had had a conversation with Mark Shumaker (another XL-Lister) via
phone, about my dowels, and we got to talking and I mentioned how the cams had com
off with the cam cover and the timing marks were a little off. He mentioned something
about the front piston being TDC when lining the marks up, and that’s something I hadn’t
done. I assumed if the pinion gear was in the right position, the pistons would be as well.
As precaution, make sure the front piston is TDC. Mine was with the mark on the pinion
gear at the 12 o’clock position. I rotated it back to 11, which was the only place the
other gears would line up on.
13

14. So old cams are all lined up – (NOTE: Assembly lube cam lobes and arms!!!)
1. Pulled the #2 cam, careful not to mess up timing marks
2. Pulled the #1 cam and replaced it
a. When putting in the new cams I used assembly lube and put a generous
amount on the cam arms and lobe
I tried pulling them all according to the instructions that came with the cams and the FM
and what everyone else in their conversion notes did; but my new cam gears would not fit
my old cam gears, so I had to pull 3 and 4 out at the same time.
3. Pulled 3 and 4 out, noting location of timing marks,
4. Put new 3 and 4 cams in lining up timing marks
5. Put #2 cam
6. Verified timing marks
I cleaned up the surface around the cam cover where the gasket would go on, making
sure it was as oil and debris free as possible. I did this just using a clean rag. I had to sop
up some of the oil inside the case with paper towels so it wouldn’t run over the edge.
7. Put new cam cover gasket on
8. Replaced cover, making sure gasket still lined up.
9. Replaced allen bolts in same location from cardboard cutout, with a drop or two
of loctite
10. Torqued in the right order, to spec 80-110 in lbs
11. Went back over sequence to verify.
I tried to check endplay on the cams per the FM guidelines, but there were two problems:
one, I didn’t really quite understand the instructions, and two, I didn’t have a feeler gauge
that would fit down the tappet holes. I did pry the lobes towards the outside of the case,
and there was no discernible movement at all.
They way I figure, it’s a stock HD part, going in a stock HD cam case. I couldn’t see any
issues, so I assumed the best. I double checked with a couple of XL-Listers (Art
14

15. Northrup and Mark Shumaker), and they said the same. End play checking is pretty
much for non-stock cams.
12. Replaced gold rotor, lining it up with the notch in the case.
13. Replaced rotor nut (drop of loctite), torqued to specs 55 in lbs
Cams done. Pistons and cylinders next.
12/21 Sunday did Christmas shopping; nothing done to bike
Day 5 Monday 12/22/03
I got to note here, and this is a hindsight thing, that if you bought new cylinders, MAKE
SURE YOU PUT YOUR NEW DOWELS IN NOW, while the cylinder is on your
workbench. I didn’t, and you will see it was a PIA later on.
The dowels don’t go in easy. There was no were in the FM or online that I could find
that referenced installation of them. Tap them in till they are seated well (they don’t go
the whole way in, there is a little lip that they will set on). Hit them square on or you will
have trouble get them in. I measured my old ones to get an idea of how far out they
should be for verification.
Pistons and Cylinders
1. Cleaned the base up with some thinner on a rag
2. Put the cylinder base gaskets on over the dowels very carefully, making sure they
line up
3. Put rings in pistons
a. Oiled up grooves a little bit
b. Slid rings in per the instructions that came with my piston kit
c. From my SE cams, I am using stock parts so I didn’t worry about
checking end gap
4. Checked ring gap orientation (see FM)
a. I’ve heard different things about ring gap orientation. The piston rings
don’t stay in the same position once inside the cylinder and you run them.
I’ve been to site that tested the ring gap theory, and they say it doesn’t
matter how you orient them, they will move around. But I guess better to
15

16. follow the instructions than not.
I used a cheap-o piston ring compressor I got at Advanced Auto to compress the rings so
I could slide the piston in the cylinder.
This was not *that* simple and easy to do. The rings are tight inside the cylinder, as well
they should be, I suppose. But it took some finagling to get them in. I did try the finger
method, but couldn’t see how the other guys got that going. Once the pistons were in
though, things were smooth sailing.
(I also need to note, here, that the as part of putting the heads back on, the FM will have
you put parts cleaner of some variety on the stud threads and the inside of the head
screws that go on the studs. If you put the cylinders on before doing this, it’ll be a little
tougher to get to the threads. Mine were in pretty good shape.)
5. Starting with the rear cylinder, I installed a circlip on tappet side of piston (al la
Ernie; didn’t want to drop a circlip down a tappet hole trying to get it on)
6. Put some assembly lube on wrist pin, and slid it enough to hold it but not so much
I couldn’t get piston rod into bottom of piston
7. Slid piston/cylinder combo down over cylinder studs, and had my step-son hold
the cylinder while I pushed the wrist pin through and installed the circlip.
8. Removed rag from crankcase hole
9. Slid cylinder down over piston and fitted cylinder to crankcase (just made sure
everything was lined up)
10. Repeated process with front cylinder
12/23 Tuesday – I have no idea what I did or why I didn’t work on bike. Means I
probably worked late.
16

17. Day 6 Wednesday 12/24/03
Reassembled Heads
As noted above, the FM will have you make head bolts and stud threads carbon free. Use
parts cleaner or something (I used some carb cleaner on the head bolts), and let them dry.
I threaded the head bolts onto the studs to make sure they threaded on smooth and easy,
so there wouldn’t be an issue with torquing them down, the torque not being right
because of some resistance from some grime or something on the bolt or studs.
I put a little oil on the studs per the FM. I didn’t put any on the shoulder of the bolt,
which the FM says to do, and I probably should’ve done. But after torquing them to
specs and then an additional 90 degrees, I think they are okay.
Dowels were a problem. Like I noted earlier, you should put these in while the cylinders
are on your bench with no pistons in them. I had to pull my cylinders up, stick a rag back
in the cylinder hole, put a block of wood down to keep the cylinders from sliding down
and damaging the paper gasket, and tap the dowels in very carefully.
Rubber mallets, deadweight mallets and blocks of wood weren’t effective. I had to very
carefully tap mine down with a regular hammer. It didn’t mess the dowels up at all
(distort them or anything) and I found it was the only way to get them in with the cylinder
on the piston and the piston on the arm.
They only other way I saw to do this was pull the cylinder off, but then I would’ve had to
go get a ring compressor that opened up, and I think trying to get those pistons in those
cylinders again would’ve been a huge PIA. I started tapping with the hammer, and they
went in fine. I wouldn’t recommend doing this, but it all worked out.
17

18. After getting dowels on:
1. Wiped gasket surfaces off
2. Put on o-rings. Important for lining up gasket
3. Put on aluminum head gasket
4. Carefully placed heads on, taking great care not to move the gaskets
5. Put all screws back on, and screwed them in as far as I could with my hand
6. Torqued them all to specs per the FM
At this point, I verified my cam timing marks with my front piston TDC (see hindsight
note under cam installation). Thank goodness my cam cover gasket kit had 5 of them.
This point forward, everything was pretty much by the FM. It all just kind of went back
together. I did refer to my notes and pics a few times to refresh my memory on some
things. But it was pretty easily done, putting it back together. I guess maybe because by
now you recognize everything, and know what goes where.
7. I dropped in my tappets at this point, per my markings on my cup.
a. Making sure flat sides of tappets point to front and rear of bike. Anti-
rotation screw won’t go in if not
8. Put in anti-rotation screws
9. Installed pushrod tubes per FM
a. And YES, the engine rebuild gasket kit DOES have pushrod tube seals for
both ends
10. Installed inner rocker cover gasket and inner rocker cover
a. I left my pushrods out for this, and pull the rocker arms out.
b. I dropped the bolts in to hold the rocker cover and gasket in place, and
then replaced the rocker arms
c. Hand tightened all bolts, then torqued them down to specs, starting with
the black bolts (4), then the inner silver bolts (3), then the two allen bolts
i. NOTE: FM assembly sequence had part numbers wrong in as
compared to the referring diagram (page 3-30) –
It says “to see figure 3-6” (step 19), and to install 4 bolts, numbers
6, 7, 12 and 15 (step 20). In the referring diagram (3-6), 12 and 15
are rocker arms, and the diagram only has 3 sets of bolts to install.
It took me a few minutes to figure it out, but what I ended up doing
was tightening the 4 black bolts (7) to 22 ft lbs (Step 20c), the two
allen bolts to 155 in lbs (step 20a) and the three silver bolts to 155
in lbs, cause they were number 11 in the diagram, closest to 12.
Also cause Mark Shumaker said these silver bolts stretched really
easy, and I didn’t want to run the risk of trying to torque them up
to 22 ft lbs and having the heads snap off. 155 in lbs got them
18

19. good and snug.
11. Installed rocker cover spacer and gasket
12. Put on the rocker cover and gasket, and bolted it down to specs
a. Kastar rocker cover wrench came in handy here on the rear rocker cover
13. Put on intake manifold with new manifold gaskets
a. Yost wrench with ball-end allen helpful here.
Hindsight, I would’ve put a drop of oil on all my bolts that I needed to torque and some
on the shoulders of the bolt heads. It’s a good practice, but not a big deal if you don’t, I
think. Most of my stuff torqued down pretty well, nice and tight.
Went and did the Christmas thing on the 25th; headed to Tennessee to visit the in-laws,
and spent the night. Returned the evening of the 26th
Day7 Saturday 12/27/03
1. Re-attached front motor mount and horn
a. Don’t forget the ground for the horn goes on the left front motor mount
bolt where it attaches to the engine (as you sit on the bike). Put it on
before torquing down that bolt.
b. I put my horn on the motor mount first, then the mount on the engine and
frame. In hindsight, I should’ve left the horn off; I had trouble getting to
the front exhaust manifold when I was putting the exhaust back on.
Take the horn off? Here’s a good lesson on why you want to torque to
specs: I didn’t with the horn (c’mon, it’s frickin’ horn, right?) Well I
fastened the bolts too tight, and when I went to remove the horn to get to
the exhaust manifold nuts, the nut on the horn bolt was rotating around
inside its little rubber housing (yeah, the FM diagram was not like my
19

20. actual setup). I used some needle nose pliers to get in there to hold it, but
it was getting kind of messy, and I didn’t want to chew the rubber housing
up.
I will replace the horn if/when I come to need to remove it.
2. Reattached middle motor mount. Torqued to specs.
3. Reattached exhaust system (see FM for details)
a. I worked the exhaust manifold gaskets (the aluminum fibrous things) into
the manifold on the engine. This was a PIA. Care was required not to
mess up the edges so they wouldn’t fold over on themselves when the
exhaust was attached.
b. When I attached the exhaust I sort of “hung” it on the large bolt that the
front pipe bolts on to, with care not to mess up the threads. From here I
was able to bolt the pipes on
4. Reattached front foot peg.
5. Put ignition switch and Ignition coil back together, plugged up spark plug wires
and ring terminals.
Carb Rejet
At this point, using Maurice Riggins’ carb rejet instructions, I started to rejet the carb. I
guess the thing to stress is when you remove the float bowl, take great care not to push on
or jar the float thing itself. It appears a very delicate device, and per Maurice is holding
on by thin pieces of metal that could be damage very easily if the float gets moved
around.
So I:
1. Drained float bowl
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21. 2. Removed float bowl
3. Tried to remove main jet
My needle holder unscrewed out with my main jet, and unlike Maurice’s instructions, my
holder wasn’t squared off so a 5/16th wrench could hold it in place. I unscrewed it all,
and using a thick piece of rubber, held the needle holder with a pair of pliers while I
unscrewed the main jet.
And lo and behold, the main jet I ordered did not fit my needle holder. It was 5:30,
Saturday evening. I grabbed my wife and boy, and on our way to eat dinner out, we
stopped by my friendly neighborhood dealership, with 15 min to spare.
They had no 190 jets that would fit my needle holder.
I missed a day, Sunday, because all the shops were closed, and I had a main jet that
wouldn’t fit my needle holder. But my folks came up from Montgomery and me and my
family, we all went over to my sister’s in Chelsea to visit and exchange gifts on my side of
the family. So it all worked out.
Day 8 Monday 12/29/03
Found a 185 main at a local indy shop. I finished my carb rejet with the 185 main, which
is what I really needed not a 190. Following Maurice’s instructions, I reattached the float
bowl, taking great care not to disturb the float. I then turned the idle mixture screw the
whole way in, very, very gently (like Maurice says to do), and then out 2 ½ turns.
21

22. My idle mixture screw was already accessible. I am guessing when they did the re-jet
with my Stage I modifications at the dealership, they pulled that plug like Maurice
describes in his instructions.
I reattached vacuum hose to back of carb, popped carb on to intake manifold.
Put tank on frame, plugged vacuum hose from carb (my vacuum hose Y’ed like that)
back into the fuel switch housing, and re-routed fuel hose. Everything routed okay and
looked good, so I bolted tank to frame.
I then used a regular hose clamp to clamp my fuel hose back on the carburetor. At this
point I double checked all my hose connections several times, making sure none were
loose or something was not attached that should be.
I went to put on the back plate for my air cleaner, and this is when I realized I had only
one gasket for it. Which is normal if you have a stock air cleaner, but the SE air cleaner
has a little ring that goes on the back side of the back plate, and it needs a gasket too. I
tried peeling my unused gasket off my original air cleaner (I paid the “Harley tax” before
I took it off the floor. Went ahead and financed it ☺), but I wasn’t going to get it off
without tearing it up.
Decided to stop at this point and find another gasket. Went ahead and hooked my battery
up to a battery tender and left it overnight.
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23. Day 9 12/30/03
Went to the dealership, got the gasket (P/N 29059-88A), along with some new plugs and
some oil. Came back home, installed the air cleaner, then the battery.
Now, for the moment of truth:
I wheeled her outside, and cranked her a few times w/o the plugs in, to build up the oil
pressure. I could feel the engine turning over, and the air whooshing out of the spark
plug holes. So far, so good. I checked the oil level again. Put the new plugs in, and
cranked it up. She cranked right up. WOW!
I let her idle with the choke a (maybe 60 secs or so), then used the throttle lock to hold
the idle, periodically varying it up or down slightly. No leaks around my gaskets.
As the engine started to warm up, I noticed smoke coming from the front cylinder. Not
billowing out, but like oil burning off a hot surface, and that’s what it smelled like, too. I
double checked my gaskets, and saw no leaks. I turned her off to let cool down so I
could look into this a little further.
I talked to Mark Shumaker again, and he confirmed what I thought, that it was probably
some oil or debris burning off the cylinder head. I went back outside, cranked her back
up, and got dressed to ride. Once she was warmed up to about ~130 degrees, I took off.
I could really feel the pull when accelerating. It’s a much more powerful engine, really
exciting. Real deep tone, real loud. That was my wife and son’s first reactions: “Wow,
it’s louder!”
I ran her about 30 miles. I rode pretty mildly, just trying to cycle up through the gears
and back down, letting the engine slow her down (per Mark Shumaker’s suggestion). A
couple of times it was tough not to give it some juice and feel the pull and power. Man
what a beast. Had to adjust the idle speed a few times with a small screw driver.
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24. Gonna break her in, and maybe fine tune it a bit, working with Mark Shumaker on this
Post Conversion Notes
Day 2, Post-conversion Wednesday 12/31/03
Pulled her out and first crank she didn’t want to turn over. Second hit of the switch she
fired right up. Gonna go run her a bit.
Put 20 or so miles on her, and brought her back to take my boy for a ride. Engine was
running a little hotter today, around ~195. Noticed smoke coming out of my crankcase
ventilation filter, but when I pulled it off, no smoke was coming out of the tube, and the
smoke stopped. The filter is filthy with oil and grime, so I will clean it up and keep an
eye on it.
Day 3, Post-conversion – Thursday 1/1/04
No problems with crankcase vent and smoke, ran her about 60 miles. Stopped by the
office for about 10 minutes. Hit the starter, it kind of did the same not wanting to start
when I first hit the switch, fired right up on second time.
I did some looking on the XL-List, and saw Moshe Levy’s post on his girlfriend’s
deceased Father’s Sportster and his starting problems. So I went outside, pulled the
plugs, and cranked it. It turned over fine, unlike the hesitation with the plugs in. I also
noticed the rear cylinder plug was white, and the front cylinder black.
I gave Mark a call, and we talked a bit. Gonna verify the voltage on my battery, but not
really worry about that hesitation on the first crank unless it doesn’t go away in a couple
hundred miles. I will email Moshe and see what he says as well.
Mark also said the different colored plugs means the timing’s off. I will do that
tomorrow, probably retarding it 2 or 3 degrees. And change the oil.
Day 4, Post conversion – Friday 1/2/04
Moshe responded, he said it was a battery thing more than likely, and that was what the
problem with his FRIEND’S girlfriend’s deceased father.
Got some stuff together to change the oil (got 120 miles on the conversion). Put the
battery on the tender and left it.
I statically timed my ignition module, and found out mine had been retarded by the
dealer, I guess. About 1/8” off. I also found out COUNTER CLOCKWISE RETARDS,
CLOCKWISE ADVANCES. Thanks to all who responded to that post ☺. Swapped the
plugs (rear to front and vice versa), and torqued to specs.
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25. I wanted to figure out the exact idle setting, and Mark pointed to Maurice’s instructions
for setting it. I wanted to use a tach, but didn’t want to buy the butt-ugly XL non-custom
tach for $250, and couldn’t seem to find a handheld one anywhere. Maurice’s
instructions will have you access the idle mixture screw with the engine at operating
temp, which looks difficult to do with my crossover pipe and the horseshoe breather vent
tubing hanging under my AC (operating temp pipe’s are HOT). I did turn the idle
mixture screw back ½ a turn (so it’s out 2 turns).
Also, when I started researching some of my issues, I started seeing a lot of different
things. As far as the hesitant start, timing advanced too far was one, and 883 starter not
being able to handle the new load.
The plug discoloration Art Northup suggested could be an intake manifold leak. Mark
Shumaker had suggested it earlier as well. On the list, plug discoloration was attributed
to timing. Most manifold leak issues resulted in poor motor performance, and mine’s not
poor at all, so it’s a mystery. I will check anyway, just to be safe.
I spent most of the day running errands and researching these issues. What I guess I
learned, is that tuning a bike is somewhat of an art; no two bikes are alike, and each will
require something a little different to make it run right.
My plan for tomorrow is to change the oil, try and set the idle speed, check the timing,
and look for a manifold leak.
Day 5, Post Conversion - Saturday 1/3/04
Got up, cranked her up, and no hesitant start! I don’t know if it was swapping plugs,
torquing them to spec (compression?), the static iginition timing or the battery on the
tender all morning.
I took some WD-40 and sprayed the area around the manifold intakes on the heads and
behind the card the best I could, and no change in RPM. Lots of burning WD-40 (that
stuff’ll smoke when hot), but no change in RPM.
Once hot, I turned her off and changed the oil. Took her out for a bit to get her back up
to operating temp and a good idle, then I tried setting idle speed per Maurice’s
instructions. I burned the shit out of my forearm, and couldn’t turn the screwdriver with
the big ol’ work gloves on.
At this point, I considered taking it to a local indy to have it tuned. Not that I thought
anything was wrong, really, but I wasn’t sure (lack of experience). Hell, the bike ran
great, really. Only problems were the hesitant start (which had stopped), and the plugs
(which I hadn’t checked since making changes). It doesn’t miss or ping as far as I can
tell, it doesn’t surge or cut out. It idles nicely. It runs great. Engine temp right around
180-185. 2 carb farts in 140 miles. But I just wasn’t sure.
25

26. So I called Mark Shumaker before heading to the indy, and we talked. He thinks it’s
good. Idle setting at 2 ½ turns, if it sounds like it is idling good, then it probably is. He
stressed double checking the timing.
I turned the idle mixture back out to 2 ½ turns, and I took it back out to get it back up to
operating temp and a good idle.
Came back, timed it to 17 degrees (slightly retarded).
With 160 miles on my conversion, I am done fiddling with it. I will leave things as they
are for a while, and run her, checking my plugs and watching my engine temps.
Oh, I just checked my plugs - they both look good ☺
Acknowledgments
This conversion would not have been possible without the Sportster.org XL-List and all
the people who read and post everyday. To all the people who answered any of my
questions, thanks.
Other resources include:
• 2003 Sportster Model Service manual, P/N 99484-03
• 2003 Sportster Model Parts Catalog, P/N 99451-03A
• Ernie’s Thunderstorm/N8 conversion
(http://home.sandiego.edu/~ekim/harley/tstorm/thud.html)
• Maurice Riggin’s Notes:
o Conversion: http://www.sportster.org/tech/883-1200/riggins.html
o Carb Rejet instructions: http://www.sportster.org/tech/carb/rejetting.html
• Nightrider web site - http://www.nightrider.com/biketech/download_manuals.htm
• Phillip Holt’s Notes (http://sportster.org/tech/883-1200/holt/)
• Rickko’s Notes (http://www.geocities.com/reliopoulos/upgrade/)
And finally, the biggest thanks go to Mark Shumaker. He did all the research for his
bike, and I borrowed his “recipe” for mine. Countless emails, lot’s of questions, and
even a couple of phone calls were not too much for him. This would’ve been a lot
tougher to do without him.
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