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What would you do if you were starting from scratch?

6K views 77 replies 14 participants last post by  Louis 
#1 ·
My ideal V-Rod:

Start with an 08 VRSCAW with ABS.

Get some unsprung weight off:

Muscle wheels, Galfer rotors, Metz tyres.

Get some ordinary weight off:

Lithium batteries, dump the rear fender.

Fix the suspension:

Arnotts on the rear and the cartridge emulators on the front.

Bodywork:

Make up a new short rear fender rear in steel with LED lights underneath and a plate, chrome the airbox cover, fender, new tail etc. Fit a spoiler type shroud and DX nose cone in gloss black.

Bars and controls:

Fit Burleigh bars, and chrome out controls. Slotted levers and foot conrols. Arlen ness lipstick mirrors, and around fork LED blinkers.

Exhaust / tuner:

PC Vision and autotune with Akrapovic exhaust. If I wanted to go further, TTS supercharger.

Bits I added as I thought of them:

GRC seat, V-Gauge, back stop.

What have I missed? Please don't suggest lowering it! I'm sort of half way to this with my 07, but I've taken some different routes with which I am now stuck.
 
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#76 ·
Winters are fairly mile here...

 
#78 ·
Annnndddddd

http://www.1130cc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157118

Bloke with a garage of V-Rods, including one with a 300, agrees it adversely affects the handling. Of course it does!

A 180 or 200 is sensible but looks dull, a 300 is barking but looks great. I have a light (Metz) 260 on a lightened (Galfer so far, Muscle coming) wheel myself. Looks a bit better than stock, works a bit better too (those Dunlops were lousy).

And the same goes for most other mods. If you keep your bike stock it is fairly practical but a bit dull looking, if you lower it, stick a 300 on it, treat it to a short, noisy exhaust that drags along the floor, add bars that have you bent double in the middle, fit lights that don't light anything, load it up with nitrous and turbos and God knows what so explodes into a million piece the first time you open it up, then you have an ornament.

And ornaments are fine as part of a stable. I took my prettiest (non V-Rod) bike out yesterday - I froze, because it has no link to my heated jacket and no heated bars, I had to plot a route to avoid all the blasted roadworks going on around here, and I had to avoid the fast roads because it has terrible brakes, the engine does not really like going much over 100 miles an hour, and it has 36" bars and footboards so you get blown off the back.

So anyone wants to build an ornament, provided they know they are building an ornament, fine! Post pictures! I actually think that is more sensible than going the other way and trying to turn the V-Rod into the perfect-handling sports bike. If you want an entirely practical bike, there are way better places to start than a V-Rod.

But where I was going with the original post was suggesting a route to end up with a bike that works a bit better than stock (because we can spend more money and we don't care about the EPA) and looks much better. Which is what I am always trying to do.
 
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