[TPVTX1800]

Hello All! This may be counter to what most folks like. Think V&H upgrade pipes. November 2022, I bought and stored, for the New England winter, a 2004 VTX 1800, and am now ITCHING to prep and ride. Fluids have been checked and topped off. Battery in the basement and on a battery tender. Seat was cleaned and reconditioned for my tender hindquarters. Bought a crashbar and a few knick knacks to enhance my riding experience-but nothing really huge. Suffice to say I won't be the upgrading exhaust any time soon. All the times I ran the VTX, it sounded pretty loud and most of my neighbors may experience shock to hear my new (to me) motorcycle tooling through the neighborhood. More importantly, I think I could do with lower exhaust volume. You know, to protect my 'ear balls' to use the term coined by Cheryl from Archer. The VTX has 19,241 miles and it is 19 years old. Does anyone know if the fiberglass packing in the stock mufflers should be worn out or completely burned away, (or potentially scavenged by mice to build a nest)? Also, has anyone replaced it and is it fairly easy? Have seen several videos on YouTube on how others repack new fiberglass on other motorcycles' muffler but not VTX 1800 stock exhausts. Am wondering if anyone here has done this and if the results were good. This video in particular demonstrated good results:

Thanks very much!

 

[Chicago-Spike]

If your exhaust is stock and loud....it's not stock. Someone has done something to make the muffler allow exhaust to go straight through, hence the loudness. Honda stock muffler is pretty quiet and it's not quiet from fiberglass packing, it's quiet from the chambers inside redirecting flow and noise

 

[brettp]

Spike is 100% correct. No fiberglass inside, it is a muffler with a maze inside.

See if your mufflers have been drilled out. Some people were drilling holes in the end of the pipes to increase their exhaust sound. Some liked it, some welded them closed again.

And nice reference to Archer. You're not the boss of me!

 

[TPVTX1800]

Time to deep dive into the exhaust and start taking stuff apart. She's 19 and can probably do with some detailed inspection and cleaning. I know the previous owner let her sit for a while, but at first visit started right up from cold.

Forgot to mention, it came with a Kuryakyn Hypercharger intake and I found an unmarked circuit box connected to the ECU under the seat, which I assume was installed with the intake to adjust fuel. Am guessing this upgrade pulls more air through the engine and may increase exhaust volume maybe marginally(?) Will investigate. Am looking more to mellow out the raspiness(for lack of a better term) like the guy did in the YouTube video. Thank you, Gents!

 

[rangers4u]

If you have a little mysterious 'black box', it's likely a FUEL manager, and has nothing to do with the air intake. At the same time, a Kury Hyped-charger does nothing for performance. It's there to "look cool".

 

[brettp]

Time to deep dive into the exhaust and start taking stuff apart. She's 19 and can probably due with some detailed inspection and cleaning. I know the previous owner let her sit for a while, but at first visit started right up from cold.

Forgot to mention, it came with a Kuryakyn Hypercharger intake and I found an unmarked circuit box connected to the ECU under the seat, which I assume was installed with the intake to adjust fuel. Am guessing this upgrade pulls more air through the engine and may increase exhaust volume maybe marginally(?) Will investigate. Am not looking more to mellow out the raspiness(for lack of a better term) like the guy in the YouTube video. Thank you, Gents!

If it is a fuel manager of some kind, it is probably not needed with a stock exhaust, even with the hyper charger. Others with more experience with those will surely chime in. My understanding is the ECM will add fuel as the MAF sensor notices more air from the hyper charger. And because some of the connections on those fuel managers are T-taps or vampire clips, over time they do more damage than good.

 

[Fulkrum]

 

[Hans&Feet]

I found an unmarked circuit box connected to the ECU under the seat,

Fuel Managers usually have a name in big letters.
What wire is connected to the ECM wire???
Any other wires on the unknown device going where??

 

[Chicago-Spike]

A fuel manager won't make any difference in exhaust volume or note. The Hypercharger, I'm sorry to say, is one of the worst flowing air intakes barely better than stock. You can probably take that unknown fuel manager off the bike being that old and unknown brand it's likely not working right anymore. These are also likely to be making your bike run super rich especially if the previous owner just put it on and used the recommended settings as they always put them too rich thinking "More fuel must = more power" and that's not the case

 

[Merry Prankster]

As spike says.
Consider going back to stock and work your way up.

 

[TPVTX1800]

Hmm. The plot thickens. Yeah the intake looks cool but I would prefer the stock intake. The previous owner did not have it. Will need to ride it for a few weeks to make a better assessment, sound and performance.

 

[TPVTX1800]

!

 

[brettp]

Hmm. The plot thickens. Yeah the intake looks cool but I would prefer the stock intake. The previous did not have it. Will need to ride it for a few weeks to make a better assessment, sound and performance.

How did your plugs look?

 

[TPVTX1800]

As spike says.
Consider going back to stock and work your way up.

Wish I could. I'd have to buy used stock intake from ebay. Not a great scenario

 

[TPVTX1800]

How did your plugs look?

Did not pull and examine-yet. Now on the prep list. It seems to run well so I will likely ride it for a number of hours, then check the plugs.

 

[TPVTX1800]

Did not pull and examine-yet. Now on the prep list. It seems to run well so I will likely ride it for a number of hours, then check the plugs.

To follow up on the unknown box from Spike's post-I mistakenly call it a power commander-I took the following pics. Does this device look familiar to anyone? As you can see there are no markings. The blue and grey wires are spliced to two wires on the ECU harness. The red wire connects to what I think is switched + power. The black wire, which I think is ground, is left unconnected. Not sure its even powered. As stated, the plot thickens
As for Brettp's questions, I installed the battery and it started up, no issues. I revved it to 2000rpm a few times and it backfired a bit as revs came down. Is that normal?
Still learning what is normal about the VTX since all I did is basically buy and winterize-my line of work afforded little time, even when the weather was favorable for riding, so I have zero saddle time so far.

 

[brettp]

Connected to the ECU with 2 wires, a switch power, and no ground? I'd get rid of it. Hans will be able to tell you what the wires on the ECU do.

Backfiring is normal.... Depending. Do you have stock pipes or after market?

 

[TPVTX1800]

Connected to the ECU with 2 wires, a switch power, and no ground? I'd get rid of it. Hans will be able to tell you what the wires on the ECU do.

Backfiring is normal.... Depending. Do you have stock pipes or after market?

Am inclined to remove the mystery box also. Will do that next and test some more. Will also unscrew mystery box and see if the circuit board has any markings.
The exhaust is stock, based on the following pic, the R variant, plus Kuryakyn HyperCharger-same exhaust seen here. Will take pics of the wires spliced to by the blue and grey mystery box wires next. The (very granular) PDF manual wiring diagram should provide a clue

 

[Harkon]

Am inclined to remove the mystery box also. Will do that next and test some more. Will also unscrew mystery box and see if the circuit board has any markings.
The exhaust is stock, based on the following pic, the R variant, plus Kuryakyn HyperCharger-same exhaust seen here. Will take pics of the wires spliced to by the blue and grey mystery box wires next. The (very granular) PDF manual wiring diagram should provide a clue

See if that big rubber thing on it is just a plug or a cover. If it is, you may get a clue from what's under that.

My bet is that you'll find 3 adjustment screws.

 

[TPVTX1800]

Harkon, great observation-am disappointed I did not think of it myself. Always fun to find out turn the screws and see what the engine sounds like. May need to connect ground wire first. Not sure it's powered on with the black wire disconnected. I recall from a video, when the hypercharger is installed, the idle control on the left side of the engine is disabled-not convinced just yet, that's true. Have to get a closer look with a flashlight. So maybe if there are adjustment screws... Maybe it's part of the Kuryakyn intake kit(?) Again, fun to find out. Thanks