Will there ever be a day when we look back in admiration for what this bike brings to the HD family? I've owned em' all over the years..superglide custom, 1200 sporty custom, Crossbones, Road glide, and like T.G. Sheppard said "Loved em' Every One". Besides my 2000 Excelsior Henderson, there are few bikes that I'm drawn too like the V-rod. Let's here it from the purist(leave the water-cooled arguement out, been beat to death!) Why are we so hesitant to embrace...10 years later who would've thought it would still be around?

 

I do not understand why HD has not capitalized on the sport bike market. Are the Japanese that far ahead of us? Why should HD not become a company that fills the needs of all who ride? I know that I started out on sport bikes and eventually ended up on a Harley. Why not start the brand loyalty early and get some true sport bikes in the mix. Perhaps even some smaller bikes for beginners like a 650 or 750 something....
Fire away!

 

They can't compete with the japs in the sport bike category because they would have to charge too much for the bikes to recoup the costs of development. They also would have a few things going against them from the star. First, hd has too much of an old-school vibe to take off with the young sport bike crowd. It's not like there would be kids breaking down the door to buy an hd when they can get a top end huyabusa for 14 k. Sport bikes are cheap, relatively speaking. Hd's are not. Harley has an ice cubes chance in hell of succeeding in the sport bike market withe the young sport bike enthusiasts who are in college and on a budget. The japs have a lock on this market.

The vrod costs twice as much as a sport bike that has tons more power. It's not even a sport bike. It's a water cooled Harley cruiser that is very heavy and not that nimble. It's a drag strip bike. A college kid can get a used 650cc gsxr sport bike for 5k and it will outdo a Harley in performance ten times over. That's what the young guys are going for. Any attempt by Harley to try to market sportbikes would end up like the Buell fiasco. It would be an oddity in the market and a short lived blip on the radar. Harley has been and will always be identified with old school cruisers. Deviating fromh this would mean they are no longer Harley. Might as well expect Indian to start making sport bikes. It would be like trying to make nuts and gum go well together. It won't work.

 

I don't care about the Harley "purism"; I judge a bike on its own merits. If the MoCo made a V-Rod that suited my needs, I'd buy it.

 

I agree with RK4ME. I'm not against the V Rod technology at all. Just put it in a package I can use, like the Dyna or Touring family. I have no interest in sitting on my tailbone with the soles of my feet facing forward and a hump in my lower back. HD needs to realize that those of us who have the money to buy a V Rod don't want to be uncomfortable.

While they're at it; put a little clearance in the backbone of the frame so the valve covers can come off for the required shim under bucket checks. I know, there are guys who can do it without loosing the motor from the frame. However, it's downright criminal that with a completely clean sheet design (frame and motor) they put in a removable frame tube to drop the motor for valve clearance checks. I'm interested in what the bike could be but unless it develops into something useful, (to me) I'm out.

In my opinion, (and that aint worth anything), they better tie that platform into something that currently sells; in a hurry. Willie G aint around anymore to look out for a "weak sister" on the sales floor. Even before the internet, people were saying the EPA was gonna make air cooled engines a thing of the past. Yet, here we are riding 1.6 liter (and bigger) air cooled motorcycles in 2013. I wouldn't count on EPA regulation to make the V Rod a seller.

The EPA is run by government employees, HD is run by businessmen who know how to do business. In any contest, the determining factor more often than not is motivation. I'll pit the motivation of a guy who wants to get and stay rich over a civil servant everyday of the week

If they build it, I will come.

 

Of course the VRod will be a Harley icon in time.Over the years have seen so many vehicles trucks, cars,motorcycles,etc etc become icons.Look at the hot rod market some of the old cars people are craving now were total pieces of crap back in the day.
Time changes everything.

 

Agreed. You can sell a Vega or Pinto in original condition today for 2 to 3 times what it sold for new.

I am NOT comparing those to works of art to the V Rod though.

 

You hardly ever see a VRod in this area, and I don't know anyone who owns one. Just the way it is.

 

Rode my friends 2008 Night Rod Special, liked it and considered buying one until I found the Ducati Diavel. For basically the same cost, the Duc just offers so much more. There's also the V-max.

If you're looking for a sport/power cruiser, I suppose there are just better options.

 

Did a short test ride on one of the first in NJ, very short. It might have been fast for a Harley, but it sucked to ride. I always wondered why they never tried dropping that motor into a touring frame.

When it comes to two up, trailer pulling, cross country touring the GL 1800 has Harley all beat to hell. Except looks, sound and paint of course.

I think that an awful lot of the GL riders would have gone for a FLV-ROD. I'll bet that they would have sold more touring models than the overweight ill handling V crusiers. But that would have cut into the FLH ultra-super duper sales. And that is a marketing decision and H-D does marketing very well.