VTX1300C/R/S/T

In 2002 Honda made the VTX1300S available, as a 2003 model, with an all-new 1,312 cc (80.1 cu in) liquid-cooled V-twin engine in traditional cruiser bodywork, rolling on spoked wheels. It sold quickly, and by the close of 2003 sales totaled almost 12,000 units.
In contrast to the VTX1800 line, VTX1300 bikes used standard unlinked brakes, with a single large front disk, 336mm in diameter. The rear brake was a 296mm disc.
Although it was similar to the 1800, the 1300 was not the same engine with a smaller bore or shorter stroke, but a new design. The 1300 engine used a 38 mm constant velocity carburetor unlike the fuel injected 1800. The single carb had a manual choke for cold starts, and was heated by engine coolant to improve cold-weather operation. The configuration of the new powerplant was the same liquid-cooled overhead-cam 52-degree V-twin layout as its larger sibling, but the VTX1300 engine was designed around a single-pin crankshaft, unlike the 1800s dual-pin crank. As a result, the 1300 required dual two-axis primary counterbalancers to control engine vibration. The VTX1300 engine had a cable-operated clutch, instead of the hydraulic clutch of the VTX1800. The 1300 engine used an air injection system and catalytic converters, similar to the bigger engine, as well as a lean fuel-air mixture to control emissions.
The VTX1300 line employed the same two-into-two exhaust system across the board, as opposed to the model specific two-into-one system of the VTX1800C. In a road test on the Motorcycle USA website, editor Ken Hutchison observed that the VTX1300C had an "extra-muffled exhaust note that may be politically correct but it really detracts from the Big Twin experience potential buyers might be looking for."Nevertheless, Motorcyclist magazine's Art Friedman opined that the VTX1300 "sound is classic V-twin", and that the bike had more responsive handling as well as a smoother drivetrain than its 1800cc lookalike.
VTX1300 bikes came with the least possible instrumentation, one large analog speedometer (with a digital odometer) in a nacelle on top of the fuel tank, unaccompanied by so much as a clock or fuel gauge. The 2004 VTX1300S was joined by the lighter and shorter VTX1300C Custom with cast-alloy wheels, a drag-style handlebar, and without the floorboards and heel-and-toe shifter of the S model. The new C model also sold in large numbers in its first year, upwards of 11,000 units.
2005 saw the VTX1300 family grow to three models with the introduction of VTX1300R Retro, which combined traditional cruiser styling with cast-alloy wheels (and tubeless tires) in place of the wire wheels used on the otherwise identical VTX1300S. The R-model also did well on the showroom floor, with first-year sales over 8000 units. Honda continued on with those three models, type C, S and R, changing only the paintwork in 2006 and 2007.
Honda dropped the spoked-wheel VTX1300S in 2008, but maintained lineup at three models by adding the VTX1300T Tourer variant (with cast wheels). The Tourer was basically a type R bike equipped at the factory with what had been the three accessories most often added by Honda dealers; saddlebags holding 24 litres (0.85 cu ft) each, a windshield and a passenger backrest. In a Los Angeles Times road test, Susan Carpenter described the VTX1300T as a "Midwesterner's motorcycle", noting that many sales of the VTX1300 line were made in "corn country."
For 2008, the two-into-two exhaust system was redesigned to be more compact. 2009 was the final year for the VTX1300, available as type C, R and T models in new colors, but otherwise identical to the previous year.
Competitive models included the Yamaha DragStar 1100 (aka V Star 1100) and V Star 1300, the Suzuki Boulevard S83, the Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 Custom, the Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic and Vulcan 1500 Classic.
Total sales for all types of VTX1300 cruisers amounted to 82,900 for all model years.