Ok, a little long but need to lay the ground work. Picked up an '05 1700 Midnight from a small dealership a couple months ago, only has 1500 miles on her. Well first thing I noticed was the tires were original, look ok but not thrilled about 7 yr old motorcycle tires. Second thing I noticed was it has aftermarket exhaust (star) and it smells like its running rich. Finally pulled the tank so I can get to the carb and plugs and found the plugs look like santa after he came down the chimney, so new plugs for me. Pulled the carb and the brass plug was already gone, jet set at 2 turns out. Now is the cool part, main jet is a 185 and pilot is a 150 (hard to read but definately not 135), and the other jet with no numbers on it has been messed with (screwdriver marks on it). Cant tell if its oem needle but its at the 5th slot. Oh, and the air filter is dirty. So it looks like after the exhaust was installed somebody tried to rejet and didnt do a good job, and the dealership that sold me the bike basically washed it good. So on todays plate are new plugs, new filter, I am going to go to dealership and get all oem jets and probably a needle setup if they carry it since i dont know if that was changed and put her back together. Question is since I dont know what else was done / not done to it I figured I would change the oil but not sure what other fluids I should take care of now that I am basically starting from scratch. Any inputs?

An '05, with only 1500 miles on it? Good snag!

Go ahead and change the transfer case gear oil. If the tires aren't showing their age with cracks, I wouldn't be so quick to replace them. If they're dry rotted, with some cracking, I would.

You know there's 2 engine oil drain plugs, right? Forget what Yama says about 4.3 qts of oil... go with 4 quarts only.

I don't have the link, but there's a free on-line service manual someone will share with you. I acquired all manuals on one disc for about $15.

Others?

no such thing as a 150 pilot. stock is 35.

All Mikuni jets have their logo stamped on it a box in a box. the pilot jet has to be removed to read...stamped on the side, main jets stamped on top.

Guessing you don't have a way to find out what needle you have. If it has more than one clip slot it is not factory (so it is thinner than factory).

Next thing you need to know is if the jet is Mikuni or Dyna. If Mikuni then 185 is too large for any aftermarket needle.

Last, is your air kit the factory one? If so, to make things easier for you on a rejet, would recommend you think about getting an aftermarket air kit (its also a prerformance enhancement). Since most around here that have rejetted are running aftermarket pipes and air kits their jetting requirements will be closer to what you are going to need and their experience will be more useful to you.

If it were mine, I would get a new jet kit and needle (So I would know what I had), replace the air kit, set it up initially per the jet kit manufacturers recommendations, then get some advice and recommendations from others here to really dial it in.

Baron's jet kit is the most used one around here. There are others but that one is really the gold brick standard for its needle and it uses Mikuni jets. Baron's makes a good air kit too although almost all aftermarket air kits are really good.

Good luck, lets us know what you do and how things turn out.

Gram

sorry, that was a typo.. too early.. pilot is 50, not 150

If the needle has slots on it then it has been changed. The pilot would not be a 150 it would be a 50. change that to a 40. throw away the 185 and replace it with a 180 Mikuni jet. I would guess that your bike was rejetted at a dealer and way too rich. Now there will probably be some here that will give you jet sizes that are smaller but there opinion will be based on using a Barons kit and I'm quite sure that your kit is not a Barons. I'm guessing that your kit is other than a Barons kit due to the way it is jetted. A Barons kit don't change the pilot jet and some other kit do. A Speedstar kit is one example and it would be used at a dealership.

Agreeing with Davej. I think you have a speedstar jet kit. Not many folks other than dealers will have much experience with that kit. If it is a speedstar kit that would explain the 50 pilot jet (again, like Davej said).

Most dealers around here use the Baron's jet kit. At least if they rejet a lot of V-stars and R*s.

Thanks for all your help guys, i found a dealership that has oem jets and needle setup so think i will put them in for now and worry about a jet kit when i have the funds to mod my airbox. Any recommendations for pilot screw setting for stock airbox and star exhaust? Right now it is at 2 turns.

I have used the Speedstar kit and it works great. It has a fatter needle than the Barons kit. That is why they used a main jet closer to the stock size main jet. When you do the intake and exhaust mods the area that leans out is controlled by the pilot, so that is where they do the jetting change along with an adjustable needle. IMO it gives you more control of your AFR adjustment.

If you still have the stock airbox you might want to think about doing a poormans Bak. and use the jetting I recommended above. A poormans bak is just drilling some 1 inch holes in the stock box to allow more air into the engine. It works OK.