New (used) VTX1300/Champion in the garage.

[kawabeemer]

Spent the day buying and registering an 07 VTX1300/Champion trike for my wife. A grand total of 1667 miles on the unit and a clogged idle jet to deal with. $10500 from a private seller. A few nicks and scratches, some ugly decals, and general maintenance to deal with.
Any VTX1300 riders with suggestions/warnings?

 

[Judge Judy]

I bought a 2007 VTX 1300R in Jan. 2012 that had about 1200 miles on it. Best advise I can give you is to take apart the entire fuel system - gas tank to petcock - to carb filter - and clean out the entire system! Apparently my bike was not kept with a full tank of gas while sitting idle. This allowed either rust to develop in the tank, or a tank lining to start peeling off. Or both. Symptoms were stalling out intermittently at higher (55) speeds due to fuel not getting through to the carb. My petcock screen was completely disintegrated, which sent the debris straight through to the carb filter, which was completely filled with debris. If the tank has rust in it, it must be cleaned out. I just did mine with Metal Rescue. Plan on checking the petcock screen every couple months so you know what is happening in the tank and it is not getting clogged up. Add an inline filter, too. Pretty scary finding out about it on the highway...

 

[kawabeemer]

I pulled the carb today since the "Miracle Liquids" I put in the gas tank did not clear up the clogged jet issue. The float bowl had a few particles in it; idle jet was completely blocked; no rust visible in the tank and the petcock screen is clean. The fuel did have the deadly smell of old paint thinner.
Drained most of the fuel, new gas, fuel system cleaner in the tank, and about 10 miles of good running so far.
I will get a few more miles on it tomorrow running errands. Keeping my digits crossed that no other issues crop up.

 

[Veritas44]

While you have it apart, jet that beast with a stage 2 or 3 kit and change the air induction system as well to match (may require a baffle/exhaust change depending on what pipes you have). Worth every penny and all effort. Those can give you a cheap 10% plus boost in HP which goes a long way to offest the increase in overall weight.
You're already in there, make it worth your while, ler 'er eat and be done with it.

Good luck and Enjoy!

 

[kawabeemer]

I will remember the performance suggestions in case the spousal unit decides she just doesn't have enough power.
I am in the 'get in running correctly' mode. Adding a few comfort/safety items, but that will be all for a while.