Short version: I bought a Sportster frame, and I want to build an engine with the best combination of parts to get the best performance. What would you suggest?
Long version: I bought an XR1200X a few months ago. Low miles, bone stock, later model with the floating front brakes. Love the thing to death, even took it to Tail of the Dragon one day and had a blast. And I wanted to do a little wrenching on it, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that my bike probably should stay just the way it is. It's a great example of one of my favorite Harleys, and if something bad happens to it, I might not get another chance to find one of these in as good of shape as I got it.
So I got the harebrained idea to just build an XR from the ground up, and ended up buying a bare XR1200 frame. Then I started thinking about what I would change on my XR if I wasn't so attached to it. I already started eyeing a Buell fork set with a Firebolt front wheel and brake, and I'm looking into styling it closer to an XLCR, another favorite of mine.
Then I found out that an actual XR1200 motor is way more expensive than a regular 883 or 1200. But any other Sportster engine will bolt into the frame just fine, and if I'm going to drop a non-XR engine into the frame, I might as well start with bare cases and build them out to get the best performance that I can bolt together.
If you had to build a Sportster engine from the ground up, and were going the 1275 Hammer route, what else would you change from stock? Cams, heads, gears, different sprocket ratios? It's going to be a slow work in progress, but in the end I'll be happy just rescuing an XR frame from the scrap pile. Any guidance, suggestions, etc. are all welcome.
