Harley v-rod

Kento-Moto

Hayabusa Immortal
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Hiya boyz, First let me clarify: this is not a busa comparo

Now that being said I am looking for a cruiser to ride with my harley buddy's from time 2 time and to do 1 or 2 tours with same buddy's a couple times a year and perhaps ride 2 up with the mrs once in a while. I have been looking at Yami's Road Star line, Honda Shadow, and a few others. I usually rent a Harley Road King once a year and like it ok but I aint spending $25K! ( price counts out the Gold Wing too )

However I went to the local Harley dealer the other day and demo'd the V-Rod. And I must say WOW! what fun! Way better than any Harley I have ridden yet. Comfy, upright ride, handled pretty good for the wieght and it has way more beans than any other HOG. I still am working on getting use to the looks but ... oh well. And a 2003 can be had for about $13 or less. An 03 Road King or Gold wing is way more than that. So who has one or has ridden long distance? Comments plz?

Oh and I had plenty of looks and comments from the dealer folks about what I rode in on ; the fastest production bike in the world ... blah, blah blah - yeah I heard it all before... and when I got back on her after riding the V-Rod allmost gave her her too much juice when I left the parking lot
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Dont have one, but its the only Harley that appeals to me. Got that sport bike look to it.
 
Looking at the picture the V-rod looks like a solo only and you said you wanted to do some two up riding.  Sometimes looks can be decieving but thought I would mention it.

Looked at the pic again I see the passenger pegs but hope there is a better seat for two up.

Love the M109 and not just because it is a suzuki the thing looks like a train on two wheels.
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i had one but couldnt get use to the high power band after the busa. plus the 100 mile fill ups get old quick. go to v rod forums . com lots of usefull info there. I kinda wish i still had it but i bought v max for 4000 and its alot more fun, hope this helps good luck
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I have a fair amount of time on a Vrod. Ran an HD store for 4 yrs. I had a Vrod for a demo for one season..

Seat sucks. My tailbone was killing me by 50 miles. The first mod would be an aftermarket seat. With that said..

The Vrod is a great machine. Makes good power, handles good (for a cruiser) and is very smooth. Honestly tho...if you are looking for a machine that can carry 2up in comfort...get a Roadking. If the prices in your area are that stiff...look elsewhere. You should be able to find an HD dlr that will sell you a Touring Chassis model @ MSRP. Should be in the 17K area.

The touring chassis will be much better suited for long distance travel, and your passenger will appreciate the ride much more. The Vrod is ....quite frankly...more of a single person machine. As is the Softail.

I know the water cooled motor appeals to you....but the twincam 88 is a great, trouble free motor. Just keep it basically stock. Pipes, air filter and download are fine...but you get into cams and big bore's.....reliability suffers.

The Vrod has a fantastic powerplant. If you have the patience to wait, I am quite certain that the motor company will come out with a more touring friendly chassis to go along with the motor.

Just my .02
 
We had one on one of the tours last year. The only complaint the owner had was the tiny gas tank. But a MSR fuel cannister or siphon hose in the saddle bag might solve that. I think it's a georgeous bike! Was fun getting a chance to shoot some photography of it.
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Kent,

I have a V-Rod / Street-Rod. Brembo brakes, braded liines, 5 gallon tank, all the good stuff from the factory. DO NOT BUY ONE!!!!! Go ride a Suzuki, Victory, Honda what ever. Stay away from the Harleys. I can not describe what a POS this is.

If you would like, I can get more detailed. The one thing I will say is I will never buy another HD product as long as I live.

Later,

Steve
 
First, if you like the Road King, look around...hubby picked up an '04 Road King Custom a few months back, less than 500 miles, just $14K...
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We too couldn't see spending the $22K+ on a new Road King

We have a V-Rod sitting in our garage...it belongs to Mike's cousin...I haven't ridden it yet, but Jason (the owner) loves it and he came from the sport bike world...hubby says it rides great, is comfy, but complains about the small gas tank as well...nothing that can't be worked around if you like it enough. It's a nice looking motorcycle
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My good friend has a 06 Nightrod, we've done lots of riding together. Besides the seat and small tank, it has had some quality issues I should mention. The front engine mount bolts fell off, the heat shield screws were rattling loose and falling off ( Harley made him BUY replacements), the coating on the master cylinder cap peeled, and now his front rotors are warped after 5400 miles. Gripes aside, he does like the bike, and it sounds cool as hell.
 
I had a Night Rod on order. The small gas tank was the deal breaker for me. I also got my Busa for $9K less than the HD.

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Have a friend on the Ducati net that has a V-Rod. Made alot of trips on it before he got his ST-4 (he also still has the Rod) but said that for long trips, the Rod was not that comfortable. But, he LOVED it for just tooling around town and short day trips
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At one time I was thinking about getting a cruiser. The V-rod was the only one I liked.

I talked to a Harley mechanic and was told the V-Rods were having lots of mechanical problems.. I dont remember what, but I do remember Harley started having a hard time selling them

I "Think" it was transmission problems they were having

anyway. a die hard Harley mechanic steered me away from buying one
 
VROD is a good looking bike , a friend of mine got an ann. vrod and he is so happy
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I prefer Hayabusa over everything
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Screw that, Buy yourself one of the new Yamaha Roadliner's or a Honda VTX. The VTX has a HUGE AFTERMARKET available and is just rock solid. BUT, you have to leave the exhaust alone there are only a couple of aftermarket pipes out there that sound OK on the VTX. Be careful.

Seriously though, Honda's VTX's are rock solid, make good power, and are over all just great bikes.

But shoveling over the money HD wants for the Vrod is silly. Especially when you compare it dollar for dollar with what you can get in the other lines.

The Road Liner is especially cool. Really detailed and it's a Yamaha Cruiser so their own accessories list will be huge.



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If however you have just gotta have the H-D name then I got one bike for you... The Night Rod. EastCoast mentions small tank, and it is but otherwise is pretty neat.

$14k-17K DO NOT LET THE DEALERSHIP SNOW YOU... The V-rods are NOT selling very well, Street Rod and Night Road even less so. The H-D Cult's collective brain cannot handle change to well.

But the Night rod is Comfy, has a low seat, and mid mount pegs. Comfy and not as stretched as the V-rod. It actually handles pretty good. I never did get to break one in, but I did get to ride one a few times.



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Me and my bud got to test ride a couple of V-Rod's. Actually, we rolled up and were looking around and the salesman came up to us and offered the testrides. Me being me, i'm not going to turn down a freebie ride. The salesman the whole time was feeding us the "once you feel the power you'll buy one" kinda crap. Well we test rode, i had a blast and i did like the power, but i kept dragging the pipes by accident. I liked the Rod, but agree the stock seat would have to go. We got back and the salesman asked about our ride and if we were ready to "upgrade" from our sportbikes. I laughed and said hell no and then pointed to my Busa.

That was my V-Rod experience. If i had the cash i'd buy one, used.
 
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