[TylerP]

Hey guys, just wanted to say hello. I've been riding for about 15 years now, from my CB750 to CB1100F, then onto my VTX1300C. I'll be honest, I never liked Harleys before I tried the V-Rod. I used to run production for a machine shop that had a small motorcycle accessory brand in-house. We had all kinds of bikes in the shop, and I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to ride a lot of different bikes. I always liked the power of the Suzuki M109R but wasn't very excited about the handling or the overall clunkiness of it.

When we went on group rides they would always give me the "old man mobile" which was a Harley Road King. I remember that bike being really comfortable, all of the parts had a great level of quality and finish. Problem was, the first time I rode it... I thought the motor was broken. I remember asking the bike guru in the shop what was wrong with it. I said the thing can barely accelerate on the highway. He laughed and said "It's a Harley." I never realized before that Harleys didn't have gobs of power! Rode a softail after that, same thing. Rode the 1200 Sportser... it was fun enough... I would say it had "OK" power.

Anyway, I got into cruisers a bit and decided they were all slow, so I might as well get another trusty old Honda. The VTX1800 was fun but sort of funky to ride, and wasn't impressed with the engine that much. Rode the 1300 and loved the bike.

4-5 years of riding that VTX1300C with my girlfriend on the back and I wanted more power. I started the web search and came upon the V-Rod.

Test drove one and was just absolutely flabbergasted. There's no way this is a Harley! The finish/quality is all there, hand controls just feel so well refined and solid... but... the motor... oh my god the motor!

I came home with a 2008 VRSC Anniversary Edition about a week after test driving a V-Rod. Got her with 1,250 miles on it! Guy kept it in his garage under a cover, always waxed and shined up

I will not tell him how many thousands of miles I plan on loading onto this bike!


https://imgur.com/a/V2uMs0s

 

[karlbaxter08D]

Welcome to the tribe! Dont let the secret out on how awesome these bikes are

I too have ridden everything under the sun and the Vrod is hands down my favorite bike I have had between my knees.

 

[MotorMike]

Welcome to the 1130. Enjoy the ride!

 

[TylerP]

Thanks guys!

 

[Tie_One_On]

welcome to a porsche motorcycle design the only thing HD has done right in the past 100 years in my opinion

 

[KTXdm9]

Welcome! Nice looking bike.

 

[tbird113]

:vrodforu:

 

[MikeSez]

Welcome..I'm sure you will have many questions as the VROD is a unique machine with a few quirks that might puzzle you a bit. Great source of info here, and a lot of really knowledgeable people.

 

[inultus]

I've had at least 20 bikes and the only one I really liked was my Yamaha V-max. It was also the fastest non-sportbike which I've owned. However, I got sick of dealing with it being carbureted and I liked the look of the V-rod so I took the plunge and sold my trusty V-max and switched to the V-rod. It's not quite as fast as my V-max was but I love how it looks and it actually gets better mileage even though I know people here complain about the mileage.

 

[streetrodracer]

V Rod over a V Max, all day long.

Well inultus the V Max has always been a great Jap power bike, and I've got 3 off road Yamaha's I love but it's short on range - 80 to 100 miles ? And short on looks - OK on it's own - but compared to a V Rod ? No class comparison. My buddy put 85 K miles on one, and yea, it beat a lot of bikes and some V Rods but the V Rod has it all - looks, lower C.G., plenty of power and greater fuel injected range, it's better 2 up, and OH- and did I mention the looks ? much better - and little or no plastic and the classy looks ? Yea, Overall, I'll take a V Rod any day, looks like you did too. :blahblah:

 

[inultus]

Well I haven't ridden the Gen2 V-max, so I can't speak to that but so far I like the V-rod a lot. I will probably like it a lot more if I get one with the bigger tank and 02 sensors so I can play around with tuning it myself. The range is pretty close to the same on the bikes since I have the small V-rod tank. Honestly it's hard for me to compare the 2 bikes because the V-max basically has a crotch rocket engine in a standard frame. It sounds more like a V8 muscle car where as the V-rod being a 2 cylinder has a different note and different power band, though they both love to rev. If you look at a V-max when they came out in 1985 (the year I had) I thought it was a great looking bike, but they didn't really do any cosmetic updates until 2007 when Gen2 came out so yeah it was looking dated for sure. The V-rod doesn't look dated IMO because there are so few of them around, plus they made several different versions of them. My Night Rod looks completely different than my anniversary edition did.

 

[TylerP]

I looked at the VMax and Ducati Diavel as well. Definitely more power but did not look as nice to me, and I do a lot riding with my GF on the back... Those other two likely would not have worked! The more I ride this thing the more I like it. Coming from the VTX it feels like it has 3 extra gears! I might get a smaller pulley.

 

[Torchsport]

I never liked Harley either. Still don't. aper:
Love my V-ROD though. But everyone knows the V-ROD isn't really a Harley anyways.

Btw: I had a 1992 V-Max for 15 years. It was fun and all, but now that I do track days and know a bit more about proper suspension and brakes, I would not enjoy riding one of those death traps anymore!