hi folks,

on vacation for a couple of weeks, and was lucky enough to be in Maui-first time there. best roads I have ever seen. there is one road there, 41 miles, 617 turns, and during a weekday, very little traffic. when you start, you are beach side, and by the end of the route, you are in a tropical rainforest-incredible.

there are several other fantastic roads that run you up through mountain passes as well up to a 10k foot volcanic crater.

so, I rented a Rocker for the first week and a V-Rod for the second week. My wife followed me around everywhere we went in the rental SUV! I know, not very "green" to take two vehicles everywhere you go, but I had to get a bike onto these roads. Plus I had not been able to ride my bike back home for over 6 weeks due to the weather.

I did not rent a tourer for both of us to ride, as my wife will not ride on the back of any bike since she bought her own.

I have new respect for the Rocker. I always thought with that 240mm rear tire and extended front end, it would probably handle like a pig-boy was I wrong....turn-in with this bike is great, laying it over side to side through numerous combination S curves was no problem.

Now, it's not a sport bike for sure, and I did have to slow down through some turns, as I scraped the peg feelers fairly often, but for a 700lb. cruiser, it was impressive how I could slam it through the turns.

I'm sure the low mounted drag bars help the handling, as well as the low seat placement, similar to my Custom.

You Rocker owners have got the total package-a bike that looks great and handles the same way.

Don't get me wrong.....it's NOT a ST Custom, but it's really nice:-)

 

i went to maui in 2003.. i rented a duece for a week.. i often refer to it as 'the best week of my life'.. the road to Hana was a good ride.. i also went up to the crater.. also there is a 30 mile +/- road from kahului around to laheina on the northern coast. it was marked as no rental vehicles because 9 miles of it is only one lane on the mountain side.. but i risked it thinking a cycle would be easy enough to manuever.. i made the right choice as it was some of the most beautiful and untouched views of the island i got to see.. plenty of twisties and scenic views.. even a little village with a black sand beach, that i got the idea that not many tourists will ever see.. lots of places to stop and enjoy.. i cant stress enough to you guys, if you havent been, put it high on your todo list.. MAUI WOWIE~!

just thinking about it now makes me want to go back

 

Sounds like you had a good time...especially not being able to ride back home...good comments on the rocker

 

got my first bike when i was 16. street bikes. I'm 46 had 12 different bike from Yamaha's to Harley's . but buy far the rocker is the funnest bike Ive ever rood .I'm very happy with her & vary glad i got one. I Love my Rocker. the rocker rocks.

 

i would have to agree on the rocker rockin! I WANNA ROCK!

 

glad you had a good time man. I wanted to rent one when I was there, but my kids and wife were with me, and we only had 5 days!
nice place!
that black sand beach was awsome

 

I have been riding sportbikes for years and I am also surprised at how good my Rocker handles so I agree with you.
As soon as I took my Rocker out of the dealer I scraped the pegs taking turns, so it leans pretty good even with the raking and 240 tire.

Sounds like you had a great trip.

 

Ahhh yes...the Road to Hana....One of my favorite places in the world! I absolutely love Hawaii...Been there a few times, Maui, Kauai, Big Island, Oahu, and I plan on going back and back and back. Harley's and Hawaii is anyone's dream. I gotta say, Jeeps are fun in Hawaii too...especially if you go off-road.

 

only downside was spending several hours a day on the Rocker-wow this is a young man's bike! after about 3 hours or so, my back was getting to me, and my a** was numb!

I'm used to riding on a couch, that is my Custom seat........

But the bike left me wanting more every day, so getting up the next day and hopping on for a new adventure was great....

BTW, I am someone who really likes the V-Rod on paper, great technology and looks really good in my opinion. terribly handling bike....turn-in is slow/that LONG front end does only wants to go in a straight line, low speed maneuvering such as that required on the western loop of Maui where you have steep switchbacks requiring a lot of friction zone work, is really bad, to the point of being scary-it does not inspire confidence. even after 4 days on the V-Rod, I was never comfortable on mountainous, twisty sections of road...

That sucker is fast as hell though.

It's a shame. my wife and I were considering getting a used one as our shared "racer bike".

 

yes, my wife was driving a Jeep Commander rental, and we found some pretty cool places to pull of the Hana road to explore. Some great places on Rt. 31 on the southern part of the island are great off road destinations as well.

we have already started saving our pennies to ensure we get back every single year. If there's a greater place in the world, I'm going to need a lot of convincing.....and going in the dead of winter here is actually their off season. fewer people and prices are pretty reasonable..........and they have Harley's!