Hey guys,

i'm a newbie here...just joined up. i've currently been riding a '98 Sportster 1200 for the past year, it was my first street bike. i love it, but i'm ready to move up to a bigger bike. i'm considering getting one of two totally different bikes, and i'm a crossroads and really just dont know what to do. i dont ride fast (under 80mph on interstate, 60mph on other roads). i do ride hard and i do like getting to those speeds rather quickly. i ride the mountain roads of East TN here, as well as the city roads and interstates. nothing majorly twisty honestly. i do ride with my girlfriend doubled up often with me as well, but there is quite a bit of solo riding too.

the two bikes i'm looking at is an 04 V-Rod VRSCB and an 09 Super Glide. i've test road them both, on the typical roads that i ride on, and i love both bikes. i love the low end torque of the Super Glide, i love the high RPM speed of the V-Rod, they both ride and feel good to me and nothing immediately points to one or the other. see my dilemma?

given all this, which would you chose for the average 100 mile day trips with occasional 300-400 mile weekends? i'm figuring for cruising around town, i'm going to be equally happy on either one...its the longer trips that worry me. oh yeah, and they both have the nice Sundowner bucket seat on them, which is pretty similar to the Mustang seat i have on my sporty at the moment...

thanks for any thoughts, opinions, advice, sarcasm, anything!

happy and safe riding!
Chris

 

A V-rod, any V-rod, will get you to 60mph in under 3 1/2 seconds. Get a Sundowner seat and you can ride all day. Add Arnotts air ride and your significant-other can ride all day with you. The V-rods handle a lot better in the twisties than they have a right to (especially after you add the air ride).

 

From a performance perspective, they're not even close.

Even when you "feel" that low-end torque, you're not actually accelerating quicker "on the low end" than one the V-Rod. The the more aggressive gearing and lighter weight means that even on the lower-end of the VRSC's rev range, you're getting more power to the pavement.

Aesthetics are personal: I obviously can't tell you which bike looks/sounds cooler to you.

But I would basically frame your decision in terms of comfort:

Does the comfort of the Geezer-glide out-way the V-Rod being better in every other aspect?

For me, if I were one the road for days at a time, all the time, it would. For daily 100+ mile rides (I commute 130 miles round trip regularly on mine), and the occasional loooong ride the VRSC is fine IMHO.

I will say that the big twins do a good job of creating the illusion of quickness, all that low-end torque (even with how little of it reaches the pavement with that gearing) really make the bike feel like it's pulling hard.

 

Posting a question like this is a V Rod forum will get you some one sided responses. Try posting in gen chat or somewhere a little less biased.

 

thanks for the replies. i've posted it in both sections, hoping to get responses from both crowds...

 

well I test rode a vrod and have a sporty atm. I LOVE the vrod and you can feel when it hits the power curve as it shoves ya back into the seat.

For any distance you WANT an 07 or newer. The previous models had the 3.3 gallon tank so about a 100 mile range. The newer models with the wider tire have the 5 gallon tank. That is a HUGE thing imo and one reason you see the older bikes going for so cheap. Yes you can get a tank mod but its a pita to shoehorn in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harley-Davidson_VRSC

I know several that do long rides on the rod. I hope to get one once I get working again. Many have turned them into baggers (my plan too) I love the looks and style and while I don't need the speed, being able to jump on it to get around traffic or out of a tight squeeze will be nice.

Once I get my rod then I will get my proper bagger down the road.

 

I ride a Electra glide Classic and while it was in the shop for a week i drove one of the dealers V-Rod with a windshield and all i could keep saying was Holy S*it i would get a ticket or kill myself on this..But WOW....The biggest negative i could find was the MPG. Other than that with a good sundowner seat and some decent spacious saddle bags it would be OK to do some touring here and there...The power is very addictive. You can get really good deals. The flip side is the Dyna is a great priced platform to make a really nice touring bike with great MPG and availability of accesories out the freakin wazoo from a lot of aftermarket companies.
Both nice but it boils down to your personnal preferences. Where do you want to go, what i mean by that is ...do you want to customize, transform, ...will you keep it for a long time...Solo or two up...If 2 up i would go Dyna. if Solo the it's a tossup...

 

The 02-06 V-rods have a 3.7 gallon tank and either tank mod (5 gal or 5.4 gal) is VERY easy to do. The 07 and newer have a wider frame and the rear fender is way too fat IMHO.

 

+1 on this. I put the 5.4 in and went to a 250 rear on a 06. looks alot better than the wide fender to me.

 

thanks guys for all the replies. i went with the Super Glide, it just fit me and my riding style better...