Re: Should I Buy A Vrod??
ian said:
I own a Vrod had quite afew harleys now,but the vrod is not like any other harley,it is more like a jap bike.you would not have to repair it or even can any tools with you.They do not have the bottom end torque of say a Fat Boy ect,very difficalt to carry any luggage,the rear suspension is very poor and will bottem out with any weight on.The engine is very powerfull just get used to using a few more revs than the air cooled motors.
The VRod in the UK will loose money like it has gone out of fashion,I paid ?14000 for mine they were ?18000 when they first come out and now you can buy a new one for about ?10500-?11000.A second hand one ?7000 two year old 3000-4000 miles on the clock.Iam six foot tall and mine gives me a bad back after a long journey. Would I buy one again,no I dont think so but i cant sell it with out making a major loss:( .I am just buying my self another Buell so happy day are here again.
To be accurate: the price over there was
seriously higher than it ever was in the U.S. I bought my V-Rod in 2004 for $18,000 - the equivalent quid value at that time was about ?11,000, and is now about ?10,000. So it appears the current price over there, while still high, more clearly reflects the price they always should have been selling for over there, but were apparently ripping you off (a tactic I am given to understand is the chosen path for dealers over there). Anyone who paid ?18,000 for the initial bike should have gone into counseling first. If the price over here was anything like that, or probably even ?14,000, I never would have purchased it.
The price drop does also reflect MoCo's cynical side, where they used a higher initial price as a hedge on their investment, recognizing that initial sales would capture an audience of enraptured Harley owners, non-Harley riders and people new to motorcycling. Since there was likely to be substantial fall-out of initial purchasers, a future reduction in price would deter them from selling. It should be noted, that having amortized their investment, Harley has dropped the price over here too (about $1,300 for my model), but sales are higher than ever!
MoCo gouged the initial purchasers (including me), which should come as no surprise. Now that those initial purchasers have been drained, the current market buyers are more restrained (wiser), and MoCo has also reacted wisely.:(
Nevertheless, saying the V-Rod has gone out of fashion flies in the face of sales figures. Europe has become the primary market for the V-Rod with dramatically increased sales. In the U.K., this may not be entirely the case, as can be seen from the general reluctance of members of this forum to move into a more modern approach to H-D in biking.
As for comfort, I am more than satisfied with the V-Rod. In fact on rides of over 200 miles, I experience no feelings of being tired nor do I experience any pain (back or otherwise). When I compare its comfort with, say, my wife's Sportster, it is so vastly superior that it defies comparison! I should add that I'm no youngster, so problems in these areas would likely be intensified in my case.
The V-Rod does ride and handle differently from other Harleys - and certainly is
not a crotch-rocket. The V-Rod was never meant to be a Buell - if that's your cup of tea then that's the bike you should buy. The V-Rod was intended to be a dragster (and does extraordinarily well in that regard). Its use as a touring bike must have raised eyebrows at MoCo. They have responded, however, by making a variety of models available to cater to the various markets that it is reaching. There are distinctive differences between the VRSCA, the Street Rod and the Night Rod. You should evaluate each carefully to see whether any of them is suitable for you.
The issue of torque is misleading. The V-Rod was built for speed, not house-moving as many of the old Harleys are. If you want to truck all your belongings around, perhaps you should be looking at an RK. The V-Max is just another house-mover.
The point here is, you need to decide for yourself whether or not the V-Rod meets your needs and desires. It is certainly not for everyone, but, I, for one, am delighted with it. And now, with the appearance of an after-market five gallon gas tank, the only real problem I had with the bike is being resolved.
