What breaks most · 2003 to 2009 model years
Honda VTX1300 problems by year
Owners have filed 227 safety complaints with NHTSA about the Honda VTX1300 across model years 2003 to 2009. Three years stand out: 2004 for steering complaints, 2005 for steering complaints and 2003 for steering complaints. The quietest years are 2006 and 2007.
- Years to check closely: 2004, 2005, 2003
- Fewest complaints: 2006, 2007
- Complaints on file
- 2272003 to 2009, all trims
- Worst year
- 200476 complaints
- Crashes reported
- 70 fires · 9 injuries · 0 deaths
- Typical failure mileage
- 6kMedian where owners gave mileage
- Recall campaigns
- 2Across the years shown
Complaints by model year
Raw filings with NHTSA, not adjusted for how many were sold.
| Model year | Complaints | Crashes | Recalls | Most-reported component |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | 0 | 0 | Steering (12) | |
| 76 | 3 | 0 | Steering (32) | |
| 46 | 2 | 0 | Steering (31) | |
| 33 | 1 | 0 | Steering (21) | |
| 34 | 1 | 1 | Steering (24) | |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | Fuel system (1) | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | Electrical system (1) |
What fails on the 2004 Honda VTX1300
| Component | Share of complaints | Filings | Crashes | Parts for this job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SteeringPower steering pumps, racks and hoses | 42% |
32 | 1 | Shop all steering parts, not filtered to this vehicle |
| SuspensionStruts, springs and control arms | 33% |
25 | 0 | Shop all suspension parts, not filtered to this vehicle |
| Speed control and throttleThrottle and pedal sensors | 12% |
9 | 0 | Shop all speed control and throttle parts, not filtered to this vehicle |
| Powertrain and transmissionTransmission parts | 8% |
6 | 0 | Shop all powertrain and transmission parts, not filtered to this vehicle |
| Wheels | 7% |
5 | 1 | — |
| Electrical systemAlternators, starters and ignition | 5% |
4 | 0 | Shop all electrical system parts, not filtered to this vehicle |
| Unknown or other | 4% |
3 | 0 | — |
| Body and structureDoors, latches and body hardware | 1% |
1 | 0 | Shop all body and structure parts, not filtered to this vehicle |
One complaint can name more than one component, so shares add to more than 100%. "Unknown or other" is NHTSA's uncategorized bucket and is shown but never ranked.
In owners' words
Complaint narratives as filed with NHTSA, trimmed for length.
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On 2004 HONDA vtx1300c motorcycle, front tire develops a severe shimmy when decelerating from 40-50 mph. Have reported problem to HONDA repair center and tech's state they do not know cause of problem where many forums one stated to replace front wheel bearings with vtx 1800 tapered bearings.
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Wheel and handle bar mt 2005 HONDA vtx 1300s has a serious front end wobble that impedes the safe operation of this vehicle at speeds 35 - 45
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Bad wobble in steering/bearing between 30 and 50 mph. When this is going on in a curve you nearly loose control it convulsive wobble grows. Not hard to find numerous complaints about this condition even on these bikes right from the dealer.
How to read this page
Every figure comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's public complaint database, which holds every safety-related defect complaint filed by owners since 1995. We refresh it monthly and count each complaint once per component it names. Data through September 30, 2026.
NHTSA only accepts safety-related complaints. Rattles, paint, infotainment bugs and other annoyances are under-reported here, so this page is a map of what fails in ways owners consider dangerous, not a full reliability score.
Counts are raw. Use the year-over-year shape and the component mix, not the absolute numbers. Where a component maps to parts we stock, the row links to that category filtered to the year you are viewing. Air bag and seat belt complaints link to the recall checker instead, because those repairs are almost always covered.
Common questions
Which Honda VTX1300 years have the most problems?
By NHTSA complaint volume, 2004, 2005, 2003 carry the most filings on the Honda VTX1300. The 2004 alone has 76 complaints, led by steering.
What is the most common Honda VTX1300 problem?
On the 2004 model year, the most-reported component is steering with 32 complaints. The table above lists the top components for every year.
At what mileage do Honda VTX1300 problems start?
The median mileage at failure across all Honda VTX1300 complaints that include mileage is about 6,000 miles. Older model years skew higher; the per-year figure is in the "at a glance" card.
Are these complaints verified?
No. NHTSA publishes complaints as submitted and does not investigate individual filings. Patterns across hundreds of complaints are meaningful; a single one is not.