Hi Guys,
Just ran 2000 miles from London to Paris to Florence to San Marino through the alps Geneva and then back to London via Reims and Dijon on the 2003 A model.
A couple of 6 hour riding days, did the longest stint between Paris and Nice by autotrain... Lot's of varied roads, rain wind sun you name it...
Had my wife on the back, soft panniers, and a soft rack bag - Probably carried 80 -100 lbs of luggage (mostly freakin shoes!) and the wife won't forgive me if I mention her weight, but luckily she's petit.
I've done this kinda trip on my Road King, here's how the V-Rod compares
IMHO
Good.
Bad
Ugly
V-Rod Touring bike mod wish list
Just ran 2000 miles from London to Paris to Florence to San Marino through the alps Geneva and then back to London via Reims and Dijon on the 2003 A model.
A couple of 6 hour riding days, did the longest stint between Paris and Nice by autotrain... Lot's of varied roads, rain wind sun you name it...
Had my wife on the back, soft panniers, and a soft rack bag - Probably carried 80 -100 lbs of luggage (mostly freakin shoes!) and the wife won't forgive me if I mention her weight, but luckily she's petit.
I've done this kinda trip on my Road King, here's how the V-Rod compares
IMHO
Good.
- Able to cruize with the fastest traffic in Italy.
- Windblast sustainable at 90MPH with Speed-Point Faring
- 150 Miles between stops (5 gal u.e.)
- Excellent Highway stability
- No reliability woes
- Low tire wear.
Bad
- Doesnt like weight over the rear wheel. Handles like a drunk hippo under ~20 MPH
- Lot's more detonation - even at speed
- Grounded out the frame rails in corners
- Some wobble if bags arent tied down real tight
- whine from rear seat... to be fair, even with peg extenders, the rear pegs are too high. Even pretty small passengers are punished on the back of the Vrod. Had to make an impromptu seat pad for her out of a backpack stuffed with clothes, that on top of the "Official HD Touring Pillion".
Ugly
- Almost impossible to filter in traffic!
- No clearence - even with preload maxed. Grounded out the frame rails in corners
- Some wobble if bags aren't tied down real real tight
- Scary off road gravel moment on a wet mountain curve... she realy digs into the sand when she's all heavy. Thought I was going over the side of the mountain for a sec there!
- Why is there a giant oil/shit slick at every toll both ferchristssake!?!!
- Packing and unpacking at every hotel stop....Locking bags would be nice but weight is an important factor.....
V-Rod Touring bike mod wish list
- More clearance, or less sag with weight
- Better front end characteristics at low speed. This is one point where the RK wins. Too much rake...
- Another 50 ponies :angeldev:
- keep the v-rod look - it's a winner over here!