2003 Superhawk VTR1000F3 California model:
Man, this bike is annoying to work on. I just removed the rear carb slide to shim the needle and following service manual instructions threaded a screw into the "holder" to pull it off/out of the slide and access the needle underneath. Except the thing won't budge, absolutely rock solid. can't pull any harder or something will break. So I'm stuck.

 

Rock it back and forth while slowly working it out....it's easy once you get the "feel" for it

 

I put a little Shooter's Choice synthetic lubricant in there and waited 10 minutes and they slid right out. The O rings must have been kinda dry and were binding. And, yeah, you're right a side to side motion helps. I couldn't keep the carb diaphragms in place for re-assembly until I used a little dab of Bel Ray assembly grease in the groove running around the top of the carbs to hold it in position. So now my needles are shimmed and my TPS is all set for adjustment. Man, what a different looking engine bay after pulling all those PAIR and EVAP hoses and valves out and cleaning 10 years of accumulated dust off with Simple Green and water and small brushes.

 

Hey jon1475, my 01 was a CA bike and somehow ended up in eastern KY. I took off all the evap stuff along with the pair and you are right about the room in there. For some reason, that bike accepted HAWKRIDER's carb setup prescription easily and I have done nothing except regular maintenance to it since. It runs great. My 05 (now gone) needed 8541HAWK's carb setup prescription to run like it should. Once you get used to pulling the carbs and such, you'll have it down to a few minutes. Good luck and keep us posted.