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Harley Davidson VRSCA V-Rod

Harley-Davidson stunned the world motorcycle press when it unveiled its V-Rod in California recently, the first all-new Harley in 50 years!

"If you do it properly, a burnout won't hurt an engine. Just hold the throttle on about six five, hold the front brake on hard, and pop the clutch."

It certainly was a novel way to introduce a new model to the international journo contingent, and a definite first in the eyes of this hack. Here we were being actively encouraged to abuse the crap out of Harley-Davidson's new V-Rod, time after time after time after time.

And with all the big knobs from Harley watching on what's more - including Willie G Davidson (Vice President of Styling and grandson of the company founder), Bill Davidson (Director of Motorcycle Product Development and son of Willie G) and CEO Jeff Bleustein.

Burning Rubber
The scene for all this burning rubber and tortured clutch plates was the eighth-mile drag strip at Irwindale Speedway, just outside Pasadena in California, and the man giving the spiel was H-D's Gene Thomason, a US drag racer of some note. And the very first time I was going to sample the V-Rod was in front of Irwindale's Christmas Tree.

In fact, the first time any of the journos were going to sample the V-Rod was at full throttle bouncing off the rev-limiter down the dragstrip.

That's right - no familiarisation with the controls, no acclimatisation ride to check the handling, no practice run to find the gearchange points. Just rev 'er up, and power off down the 220-yard strip as soon as the light turned green.

And all this at a Harley launch. The whole world's gone stark ravin' crazy.

Mean and Aggressive
But the V-Rod is not your stereotypical Harley-Davidson, no siree. First there's the look - long, low, mean and aggressive. There's no other motorcycle that looks like a V-Rod. And believe me, it looks even better in the flesh than it does in photos. This could well be an award-winning custom showbike rather than someting off a factory production line.

Then there's the engine - four valves per cylinder, fuel-injected, downdraft induction, double overhead cams, gear primary drive and around 106ps at the rear wheel from the liquid-cooled 60-degree 1130cc V-twin (claimed horsepower is 115ps at 8250rpm).

And the chassis? How do 49mm-diameter front forks, one-piece cast-alloy swingarm, 120/70 and 180/55 Dunlop D207 rubber, aluminium body panels, braided-steel brake lines, four-piston calipers and fat solid-disc wheels sound?

And the list goes on, from a tacho needle that turns red at redline, to an underseat fuel tank that not only keeps weight low but also allows for a nice big airbox where the tank would normally reside.

Plus the whole damn bike is metric rather than AF. That's right - a Harley which has all metric fastenings.

In fact, this is the first all-new Harley-Davidson since the K-model of 1951, with the V-Rod likely to herald a whole new family of models in coming years based around the new powerplant. There's a buzz of excitement around Milwaukee these days.

Buzzing Tacho
Speaking of buzz, that's just what the tacho was doing on my V-Rod as I smoked the rear tyre in the burnout area and then moved into the staging area for my second run. The first had been a 'familiarisation' run - if you call hitting 145km/h at the end of 200 metres familiarisation!

With both staging lights on, the tree started its countdown. And with the words 'if you see the green, you've lost' ringing in my ears I was off on the last orange.

An elapsed time (ET) of 7.696sec was commendable, as was a top speed through the eighth mile of 92.03mph (147.25km/h). But my reaction time of 0.575sec had my 'opponents' stunned – there's obviously still life in the ol' fella. Pity about the wheelspin off the line though!

US drag racer Todd Canavan (representing US mag Hot Rod Bikes) was the only one with a quicker reaction time at 0.522sec, but his ET was 'only' 7.735sec (with a terminal speed of 95.34mph).

Sadly however my form didn't continue into the next round of runs, as my fellow three Aussie journos kept reminding me for the rest of the day after they'd collectively risen to the challenge and kicked my butt in round three.

Canyon Capers
As for the rest of the day, that consisted of a 200km return ride along Highway 39 into the San Gabriel Forest Wilderness, climbing nearly 5000ft to Bear Canyon in the mountains north of the Speedway.

Whether the bears at Bear Canyon actually shit in the woods I can't answer, but I do know that yours truly nearly did when I came upon the Los Angeles County Sheriff hiding in the bushes near a 40mph speed restriction sign.

'It's okay, you're not in trouble - I'm waiting to apprehend an offender with a domestic violence violation order on him, explained the armed member of LA's finest, waving a shiny pair of handcuffs in my direction.

The road was a mix of long straights, fast sweepers and tight tightening-radius turns - something more suited to 996s and R6s, rather than a lowslung dragster with a 1713mm wheelbase and 38-degree fork angle.

However, that seemed to be the theme of Harley's launch strategy for the V-Rod - abuse the living daylights out of it at the strip, then take it into sportsbike territory for a spirited fang. Talk about extremes.

Long and Low
While on the topic of extreme, the V-Rod's seating position is low and stretched out, but surprisingly comfortable.

However, there is one drawback - this is one bike where scraping your heels around corners comes way before toes or knees. Platform soles or stiletto heels are definitely out.

The hand levers aren't adjustable, and may cause problems for those with small paws, but the controls are light, and the front brakes powerful enough to chirp the front tyre. There's also plenty of stopping power via the rear disc, helped by the weight bias of the stretched-out V-Rod.

I was amazed at just how hard the V-Rod could be pushed in the tight stuff. Sure, the pegs will grind, as will the rear end of the muffler and even the leading edge of the alloy radiator shroud, but lean angles are far greater than I would have imagined.

I didn't even manage to bottom the suspension, and couldn't even get a hippy, hippy shake out of the frame. Straightline stability is excellent.

Unsettling Feel
What took a bit of getting used to though was the 38-degree fork angle married to a 34-degree steering-head angle. The 38 degrees is the magic figure Harley decided on for styling reasons - the V-Rod had to look just right. However, to make the steering quicker and lighter Harley married that to a 34-degree head angle.

I found it all a bit strange at first, with quite an unsettling feel from the front-end whenever I wanted to change line, as well as when tipping into tight corners. The bike wanted to flop into slow corners, just as a mid-angle lean was approached - which made for some interesting antics as the cavalcade of V-Rods peeled on to the freeway entrance ramp the first time. Smooth flowing corners however weren't a problem.

But I learned to adapt. By day's end I wasn't giving it a second thought, and the less tentatively I rode the V-Rod the better the front-end felt. Strange- but true.

Sheriff Proof
I guess any bike with a 38-degree fork angle will feel strange after a diet of 24-degree sportsbikes. And I dare anyone to hustle a 'chopper' with a 38-degree rake through Bear Canyon as fast as the V-Rods were hustled. I've got a Sheriff who'll attest to that!

Unfortunately I only got to sample the one V-Rod during my one-day ride in the US, but a follow-up conversation with an overseas colleague suggested that some variation in the tension of the steering-head bearings on the testbikes may have helped cause the trait I observed.

He'd sampled two bikes and only one displayed the flop tendency, but without the opportunity to adjust the head bearings I'l just have to wait for a local V-Rod testbike to be made available before passing judgement.

Great Donk
But the V-Rod' chassis is only one part of the equation - and primarily the part to assist in 'the look', something not to be taken lightly.

It's the V-Rod's engine that is the jewel in the crown, and the VR1000-inspired donk is a beauty.

It combines low-down grunt with top-end power - lug along at 2500rpm, or hit the rev-limiter at 9000rpm. It's at home on both counts.

There's an evocative induction roar as the revs rise, and a pleasant V-twin lilt from the twin pipes which gives a hint of what awaits with a freer-breathing system fitted. And there's no increase in vibes as revs rise, nor is there the on-off light-switch feel at the throttle that many fuel-injected bikes exhibit.

The gearbox of my prototype testbike was a bit notchy, but with only 125 miles on the odometer when I headed off (hey, we were in the US after all), I guess that's to be expected.

The V-Rod's engine would be perfect for a ballsy nakedbike. And it's seemingly bulletproof.

Dragstrip Shenanigans
It's worth emphasising that the dragstrip shenanigans only involved two bikes, which were constantly circulated among the 20-odd journos in our group, as well as various H-D personnel (including Willie G himself) having a gallop down the strip.

The only modifications to these two V-Rods were a set of Screamin' Eagle street pipes and a recalibration of the injection system to suit - which gave an extra 8ps.

Every journo got three runs down the strip, so each bike chalked up around 35-40 consecutive eighth-mile runs without so much as the ignition keys being removed - including some pretty ham-fisted burnout attempts by novices to the art of smoking rear tyres! But that's a feature story in itself...

These same two bikes had also seen duty the day before with the first group of journos to pass through the V-Rod launch program (I was in Group Two, with two more groups to follow), including one Japanese journo who insisted on slipping the clutch the whole way down the strip.

Despite this out-of-the-ordinary (ab)use, there were no overheated engines, oil leaks or fried clutches. Absolutely bulletproof. I can think of a number of European and Japanese bikes that wouldn't have stood up to that sort of carry-on. I was impressed.

Bristling Technology
The V-Rod is an amazing motorcycle in its own right - but even more so as a mass-produced vehicle and especially so for a company like Harley-Davidson. For a company that has carved a niche (and a bloody large niche it is too!) in cruiser production with an emphasis on nostalgia, here comes a model that bristles with technology.

The V-Rod concept was born in 1995, development commenced in earnest in mid-1996, and now we have the beginning of a new model line-up from Harley to complement its Twin Cam 88 range.

There isn't a Japanese cruiser that is as technologically advanced as the V-Rod, nor any mass-produced motorcycle that has openly created a new category like this. There are hints of Yamaha's Vmax, and even a hint of the Hunwick Harrop Phantom 1500, but the V-Rod has taken it to a new level. Plus it's got that undeniable cred of the H-D name on the tank. And while that badge commands a premium price, it also brings with it strong resale value.

Impressive Quality
Also impressive was the quality of finish of the V-Rod testbikes. Harley has long had paintwork, chrome and polished alloy that has been class-leading, but with the move to metric has come a move to higher-quality fastenings, with little evidence of the hardware-shop garden bolts that seem to make surprise appearances on the Twin Cam 88 and Sportster ranges. Add in the classy anodised aluminium panels, and the V-Rod is without doubt the best-finished Harley yet.

The bolts on the underside of the mufflers look a bit daggy, but as these were pre-production bikes I'll give Harley the benefit of the doubt - and assume they'll be fixed come September when the production lines start rolling.

The $29K question
Whether there's a market for a dragster-inspired power cruiser like this in Australia remains to be seen. Harley will certainly be hoping so as it sees the V-Rod as the vehicle to attract younger buyers to the world's oldest motorcycle company.

Production of the V-Rod starts in little over a month, with a price expected to be close to that of the Deuce - currently $28,500.

The only question remaining unanswered is whether V-Rod demo rides from Harley dealers will require a compulsory burnout outside the dealership. Here's hoping...

Source Bikepoint.com