SO,

while I was home this time around, I went over to one of the local HD dealerships and test rode a new VSRC V-Rod Muscle. I am in the market for a cruiser, specifically a "Sport cruiser", to fill the empty space in the garage beside the 14. Anyhoo, I ride the 14 over to the dealership and go inside to work out all of the particulars for the test ride. The rep was pretty nice, although he didn't seem to knowledgeable about the Muscle, and showed me the bike and all of the particulars. He had pulled the Muscle up near where I had parked the 14 and noticed it while he was talking to me. So he asked me was that my crotch rocket? I say yes and then he proceeds to tell me that while I was riding the Muscle I had better watch out because it could get away from me because it has so much more torque that "what I am used to".... WTF? I tell the guy that the 14 is not your typical crotch rocket, it's not a 1000 and assure him that I had the V-Rod pretty well covered... So another guy (customer) that was also checking out the V-Rod co-signs the HD rep and says "yeah, you'd better take it easy on this beast! It will take off on you if you are not careful, you don't have to rev it sky high like your crotch rocket..." The HD Rep chimes back in with some story about how he was riding the Muscle at a dealer show and he got to 150mph and didn't even realize it... I chuckled a bit (having already done my research on this bike, I already knew that it only has 122hp/86ft/lbs tq) and told them both that I always take it easy on a new bike until I get a feel for it and again that I had it covered.

So I take off on the V-Rod, pretty nice bike, but a little underwhelming from what I was expecting. First off, it has a very quiet exaust note compared to the typical HD. The look is very spartan, no real bells and whistles, just a plain looking speedo/tach display, other than a trick little fob you kept in your pocket for the keyless ignition, there was nothing to really set if off OR justify a 16k + price with ABS and alarm (the only options) but it's still cool looking. But If you want it to go, I mean get close to the ripping your arms off feel that we all get when we grab a handful of throttle on the 14, you have to really do a reach around on the throttle grip to get enough to make it do something and you still don't get the same rush, it took a little longer than what I am used to to get up to my normal cruise speed on the highway (this thing just doesn't pull as hard as a 14 does) - 150mph without realizing it!? Yeah in a wet dream, while this bike is fast - for a Harley, it ain't no stump puller and you will DEFINITELY know your doing 150mph, if it will even go that fast to begin with! At 100mph +, I felt like the Karate Kid getting my legs stretched apart by the typhoon gusts of wind blowing by the narrow front end - no wind protection at all for your legs so the wind forces your legs apart no matter how hard you squeeze them together! And like all HD twins, there's that pesky vibrating thing although, not quite as bad as the air cooled engine HD bikes. I do a few 4th gear roll ons at full throttle and some standing "drag race starts" to see if it "would get away from me" and was not overly impressed - this is supposed to be HDs muscle cruiser aimed at the drag strip and straight line performance! Maybe a track prepped bike would raise an eyebrow, but stock it's not all that.

Handling wise, it was as expected of a nearly 700lb HD cruiser bike (673lbs wet to be exact) all the normal things on a HD drag the ground on this bike too - it does handle a lot better than most HDs, but definitely not on par with the other bikes in this class - Yamaha V-Max (still trying to find a way to ride one!) and the Ducati Diavel (which I rode prior to this bike) - both of those bikes will solidly blow this thing away and the Diavel will out right run circles around this AND the V-Max in the handling department (it has a much greater lean angle and adjustable suspension to keep from dragging things) - in fact the Diavel will give most sport bikes a run for their money in the twisties! After a nearly 2 hr stint on the bike, I was a little let down from my initial expectations, but I still think it's a cool looking bike, with the big ass 240mm tire in the rear and the low and long stance that it has! Oh, did I mention that this thing is a gas guzzler?! I was amazed at how much fuel it used and how quick it did it! Of course me wringing the hell out of it probrably didn't help, but I could do that all day on the 14 and not visit gas stations as much! It drank up a half tank of gas in less than the 70 mile round trip I took it on! I was tripping the fuel warning light as I got back near the dealer and the needle was precariously close to the E, so I stopped and topped it off for them. A little over 5 gallons did it.

I get back to the dealership and pull up again near where I parked the 14. The HD rep was already waiting there and asked me "what did you think - it's a beast huh?", I laughed and said I'm sure it is for you Harley guys, but it's nowhere close to my bike! I didn't tell him the details of my test ride, but explained to him that my bike was a 1400 and it pulls a lot harder than he thought it did. I sked him when was the last time he rode "crotch" rocket and he said something about the early 80's - I proceeded to tell him how much has changed with modern motorcycles, power and handling wise and told him that if he got on my bike with his Harley mentality, I'd be scraping him up off the street at the end of the block, or he would scare the sh"t out of himself before he got that far! We walked inside to talk a few numbers and I told him that after a I had a chance to check out the other two cruiser bikes I was looking at (V-Max / Diavel) that I would get back to him. I've always believed that a lot of HD guys, the company, and especially dealership workers are out of touch with what's going on in the rest of the motorcycling industry. Most other OEMs are making advancements in their products while HD is still languishing away in their brand name. Save for a few "new" models with neat paint jobs and chrome and the addition of ABS to some models, they really don't have a lot to offer per price point to the other OEMs. I guess it's all in the name now and the claim to fame of being an all American brand name - which I am afraid is following the recent trend to out source and will soon produce bikes and parts in India... In little to no time, Harley Davidson will only be assembled in the USA.

* Last updated by: bigwilliezx on 10/6/2011 @ 3:50 PM *

You should have showed him THIS

But then again ignorance is...

Yup dragking ur right about that one! Ignorance... The Duc guys were much nicer AND smarter about the bikes!

They have a duc dealership in Austin, I'm gna stop there to check their new streetfighter and try to convince the wify she needs 1. I thought they would be snobbish but it can't be worst than the HD crowd.

* Last updated by: dragking on 10/9/2011 @ 2:12 PM *

The Duc dealer here will has a good selection of bikes for test rides and they're pretty good people... They let me take the Diavel Carbon, which starts at $19k with no problems, just a copy of my license and signature on a no fault waiver... Don't know about Austin's dealers other than Woods Fun Center.