[W-P Bill]

My new (to me) V-rod arrived last night. I thought you all might be interested in seeing a Japan market V-Rod. As far as I know, its a dead stock 2002. VIN still starts with a "1" instead of a "5" but the EPA certifcation is absent.

Since several kilometers of bureacratic red tape and recent surgery have, as of yet, precluded me from obtaining a Japanese motorcycle license, I had a friend ferry it over from the PO's house last night. Interestingly, the PO lives less than ten minutes away from me, yet it took my friend over an hour to make it back. Gee, I wonder why...

This is actually the PPO's plate. It is equivalent to an out of state plate for where I and the PO live. The PO is new to Japan, so he didn't realize the bike was still registered in the PPO's name. Cleaning up the paperwork will be my task for tomorrow.

Glaringly empty spot where the EPA certification should be. Well, at least I assume it is, since the other side has the FMVSS certification label.

Japanese warning label on brake fluid reservoir:

 

[HoneyB]

Looks good!
How did your friend like it?:stilpoke:

 

[Vambo]

Nice. congrats.

I see a few changes from stock. Windshield, seat (pillion), front turns/ relocated ,rear turns, dogs-ass has been trimmed and a braided coolant line from what I can see. Good luck and enjoy.

 

[KVD]

Love those anodized 02's. Hope you can get all the paperwork sorted out and be riding soon

BTW :welcome::vrodforu::welcome: Welcome to the forum

 

[W-P Bill]

Looks good!
How did your friend like it?:stilpoke:

He liked it a lot. At first, he was expecting something like my Shovel, which he's ridden, with gobs of torque way down low. So, he stalled it a couple times. Once he figured out where the powerband started, he was OK and had great fun with the bike. He just wished his legs were a little longer, he never got comfy with the forward controls.

Gripes were hot rear header, low cornering clearance, large turning radius, and the front brakes were kind of soft. I seem to remember reading somehwere more modern V-Rods come with Brembo's. Is that so?

Oh, he also mentioned the front end tended to "float" a lot...

 

[wolf102]

sounds like you need to clean the front calipers.I had soft brakes on my 04 a caliper cleaning fixed that.

 

[wolf102]

Here are the diy videos that rscrod made for caliper cleaning.

part 1

part 2

 

[W-P Bill]

Thnaks for all the info and advice!

I've got the rcsrod video site bookmarked, seems to be a lot of good tech videos on there. The brake lever going in about 3/4 of the way is exactly what my buddy mentioned.

 

[jon1zc]

:themVambo) also I believe that all of your pegs/forward controls are non stock too

Bike looks nice

 

[W-P Bill]

:themVambo) also I believe that all of your pegs/forward controls are non stock too

Bike looks nice

Bummer, since those are going to have to go. I'll be installing rearsets. This is my muse, below. For more pics of the bike, go to the linked webpage, scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the V-Rod, then click on the underlined five red goobledygook characters followed by >> just below the picture of the V-Rod. I won't have the wide rear tire, plus I'll have to mount the rearsets elsewhere to support my longer-than-the-average-Japanese-dude's legs. And a more neighbor friendly exhaust. The one pictured seems to have a V&H baffle in it, I've a similar V&H baffle in the ProPipe on my Fat Boy back Stateside, its much too loud for my neighborhood in Japan, though.

I wonder if I can mod those pegs/controls now on the bike into rearsets...

http://ttandco.com/hp/gallery/gallery-bigtwincustom/index.php?page=2

 

[jon1zc]

Those pegs will fit the front or rear. I had them on both front and rear (http://www.1130cc.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=58354&catid=member&imageuser=29835) until I switched to the Batisttini's for front and went with folding floorboards (chromed) for rear... So are you going for the dark side or are you going to create a chromed/anodized version of the DX you are admiring?

 

[W-P Bill]

Those pegs will fit the front or rear. I had them on both front and rear (http://www.1130cc.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=58354&catid=member&imageuser=29835) until I switched to the Batisttini's for front and went with folding floorboards (chromed) for rear... So are you going for the dark side or are you going to create a chromed/anodized version of the DX you are admiring?

Thanks for the ggod news about the pegs. I'd sure hate to lose 'em.

I am going to go for something pretty funky. You see, part of me is also a Kawasaki "Z" fanatic. Therefore, to me the movie Mad Max is a religious tome. When I first saw the silver finish on my V-Rod, I thought of making it into a Main Force Patrol themed bike.

Whitehouse Customs here in Japan makes a good replica of the Parisienne fairings used on Goose's bike and that of most of Toecutter's gang in the movie. The fairing has two outer vertical slots that will hopefully mesh up with the scoops.

To top it off, here in Japan you can use steady blue lights for daylight running lights.:deal:

For those unfamiliar with The Goose (v.Mad Max, not v.Top Gun), here's the man himself:

and a pretty good replica using the Whitehouse fairing:

Will it work? I dunno, I have a sneaking suspicion the fairing is too tall for the V-Rod. I 'm also concerned the front header might run too close to the fairing. We'll see...

I'll have two good fab guys helping me out, I posted a thread in OT which has pix of their two shops. Thread title starts with TOKYO.