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Well another sunny day & another Test ride....this time on a V-Rod 'B' Model....With a Twist!

Today I enlist the help of a Mate of mine, Colin. He will ride the Triumph Rocket III & I'll ride the V-Rod B & we'll pit the two machines against each other!

After a short wait at the Dealers we mounted our bikes & headed straight for the Outback, no speed limit here so that's the best place to get a bit of speed up & see how these two machines compare.

You may have read in another Post that I had a bash on the Rocket III viewtopic.php?t=1435 well after hopping off the Trumpy, the V-Rod felt like a scooter, light, easy to manoeuvre & FAST!

Having reached the outskirts of town we didn't waist any time in giving these two beasts a handful! In a blink of an eye we were reaching speeds of 160KPH (100MPH) to 220KPH (137MPH) Colin passing me & Vice Verca. Half way thru the ride circuit we stopped & had a quick chat...."How's the Rocket Col, I said" "AWESOME" he replied! & off we Zoomed again.

All the way back Colin gave the Rocket plenty of stick & I managed to stay with him the whole time on the 1130 cubic centimeters (69 cubic inches) V-Rod which to me is quite impressive considering the 2.3 LTR Capacity of the Triumph, even Colin was surprised to see me in his mirror just off his right wing. Back in town again & now riding way more sedately we made our way back to Base.

This is the second time I have ridden a V-Rod & I'm now more convinced than ever that this machine ROCKS! Big time. Even without a windscreen I was able to hang on 'at speed' over some pretty heart pounding whoops in the road. Adding a deflector can only make this experience more enjoyable.

SO....considering the vast distances between towns here in the Outback & with the limited fuel capacity of the V-Rod, I'd say that the larger 'Tanked' Street-Rod may be the model of choice for us.
Hopefully I'll get to Test ride a Street-Rod & do a ride impression of it soon, but for now I'd have to say the V-Rod is truly a great step forward for Harley & should silence a few Harley Bashers if they'd just take the time to Demo one.

Regards, Outback AL

I'm sold on it! Well, street-rod actually, rather than the v-rod. How does the riding position feel and how tall are ya?

I'm 5'8" & for me when I sit astride the V-Rod I naturally assume a slightly 'lean-forward' position which is good since there was no windscreen on the bike I rode.

So the dealers let you and your buddy take the new bikes out for a test ride without even sending somone from the dealership to go along with you? If so, that's nice. It's great that you got to put the bikes through their paces and post about the experience here.

I'd like to get on a Rocket III one day, but I think i'll stick w/ my Streetrod aspirations for now. Thanks for the reviews!

I reckon the Rocket III would be perfect for 'big mile touring'....say, with a Camper Trailer on the back as any weight on the back of that monster would be no problem.

Apart from that I think my next bike will be a Street-Rod because I'm so impressed with the V-Rods awesome power, even compared with the Rockets Grunt!