Total Motorcycle Community Forums

All - I'm looking at possibly purchasing a HD V-ROD, can I get your thoughts/reviews on this bike by folks who currently own or have owned one in thew past - positive or negative.. Thanks in advance...

great bike man...i love my vrod. It was the bike I wanted when I first started riding.

Positives:

Built well. Nothing on the bike feels cheap. The motors are pretty bulletproof and seem to like being beat on. The sweet spot for these bikes is between 5K and 9K RPMs.

Power. You'll be hard pressed to find another cruiser to beat this bike in acceleration (really, only other power cruisers can match the bike in terms of power). You certainly won't find many aircooled HDs out there that can outaccelerate a stock V-Rod. It'll put a smile on your face everytime you blast open the throttle.

Good aftermarket availability. There are a ton of vendors out there with custom V-Rod parts. The bike is relatively easy to work on so customizing isn't a problem. Just be aware that prices for V-Rod parts (OEM or otherwise) aren't cheap. You'll go broke pretty quick.

Looks. Speaks for itself. I think V-Rods are among the best looking cruisers out there.

Community. The V-Rod community is great. I realize most bikes have a pretty loyal following and you can find a great group of people willing to help you out when you have a problem. If you haven't already, check out 1130cc.com. They're very very supportive of fellow V-Rod owners.

Negatives:

Dealer support. This is somewhat spotty. I've heard of dealerships providing the worst service (both in the servicing of the bike and in customer service to the owners) to V-Rods. Also, if you need a part from the dealer, be prepared to special order and wait.

Cornering/Handling. Depending on which model you pick up, you will likely find that the V-Rods with 240 rear tires need to be muscled into turns. Forward controls restrict cornering (I drag my pipe and pegs a bit too often).

This is all i can think of right now and I gotta run...i'll come back to this when I get the chance.

Nice feedback and good info, thanks koji52. Wow, I thought I'd have more responses from v-ROD owners...

I don't think we have very many V-Rod owners on here, for some reason. One of our other Mods who lives down under has one, but I haven't seen him on here for awhile.

Don't take offense and I will be as gentle as possible but................one day recently I was at the MOCO dealer and they asked me if I wanted to take advantage of there test ride program. I said I'm not looking for a bike but what the heck.. I took a VROD muscle. I hated it. I guess being use to the Ultra's the Muscle made me feel very uncomfortable. And it fely chincy compared of course to the Ultra.

I had seen a VROD with a roadglide fairing on it and was starting to get interested in that...not any more.

badinfluence63 wrote:Don't take offense and I will be as gentle as possible but................one day recently I was at the MOCO dealer and they asked me if I wanted to take advantage of there test ride program. I said I'm not looking for a bike but what the heck.. I took a VROD muscle. I hated it. I guess being use to the Ultra's the Muscle made me feel very uncomfortable. And it fely chincy compared of course to the Ultra.

I've always loved the whole idea of the V-Rod, even though it took a while for the styling to grow on me. But after sitting on one at a dealership several years ago it was immediately apparent that mine was not the body style the designers had in mind when they built it. I found it uncomfortable as hell. The wife took a Night Rod out on a demo run a few years back, she LOVED the performance and handling but it was a real stretch for her to reach the controls and she ended up with a small burn on the inside of her lower right leg from the exhaust. If I was a young, immortal 22yr old again I'd probably be on one, but as a fat and cranky 49yr old it just isn't the bike for me. The Road Sofa fits me like a glove and that's probably what I'll be riding for years to come.

Gummiente wrote:

badinfluence63 wrote:Don't take offense and I will be as gentle as possible but................one day recently I was at the MOCO dealer and they asked me if I wanted to take advantage of there test ride program. I said I'm not looking for a bike but what the heck.. I took a VROD muscle. I hated it. I guess being use to the Ultra's the Muscle made me feel very uncomfortable. And it fely chincy compared of course to the Ultra.

I've always loved the whole idea of the V-Rod, even though it took a while for the styling to grow on me. But after sitting on one at a dealership several years ago it was immediately apparent that mine was not the body style the designers had in mind when they built it. I found it uncomfortable as hell. The wife took a Night Rod out on a demo run a few years back, she LOVED the performance and handling but it was a real stretch for her to reach the controls and she ended up with a small burn on the inside of her lower right leg from the exhaust. If I was a young, immortal 22yr old again I'd probably be on one, but as a fat and cranky 49yr old it just isn't the bike for me. The Road Sofa fits me like a glove and that's probably what I'll be riding for years to come.

Initially when I seen a picture of the Road Rod I was excited because I thought the Road Rod conversion of the Vrod was the perfect single rider tourer. The RD fairing looks great on the VROD.

They've even made trike VRods.

Someone at 1130cc.com did this one...