Flash Back!

FLASH BACK!

Harley-Davidson's 10th Anniversary V-Rod

DON’T LET THIS 10TH ANNIVERSARY Harley-Davidson V-Rod fool you. It is, in fact, mechanically identical to the current Night Rod Special, despite being a spitting image of the original 2002 V-Rod. The Motor Company took advantage of MotoGP’s visit to America’s heartland and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this past August to give journalists a taste of the 2012 tribute model.

Harley’s choice of venue made perfect sense. After all, H-D has a virtual lock on middle America, and Indy’s main drag, Meridian Street, was lined with race fans and their motorcycles as far as the eye could see, and a huge percentage of those machines were Harleys. With a pair of 10-lap AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 races accompanying the three GP classes at the Speedway and a private tour for journalists of Vance & Hines’s race shop—where the Screamin’ Eagle NHRA Pro Stock V-Rods are built—just a few miles down the road, the weekend felt very Harley-centric, despite the Euro headliners.

As for the 10th Anniversary V-Rod, tweaks to the chassis and riding position were made to improve handling and er-

gonomics. Up front is a new 43mm inverted fork in place of the previous conventional unit. Front-end geometry has been altered, too; fork angle was pulled back from 36 to 34 degrees, while trail was increased from 4.5

to 5.6 in. Wheelbase, as a sures shorter, result, is 67.0 and 0.2 in. now in. Seat meaheight is identical to the Night Rod’s at 26.7 in. and features the same 2.9 in. of rear-wheel travel. New five-spoke cast aluminum wheels weigh 8 lb. less (combined) than those fitted to last year’s Rod, further contributing to the bike’s nice steering manners, despite the monster 240mm rear tire.

Ergonomic changes include a new pull-back handlebar that is 3.0 in. closer to the rider and forward-foot controls that are 1.25 in. more rearward. The combination provides a much more comfortable seating position, especially when tackling curves that one might find when riding a lap around, say, the Speedway’s infield road course, as we did aboard V-Rods on Friday afternoon. With their identical mechanicals, both bikes ride and feel the same. For buyers,

then, the decision boils down to the Brilliant Silver Pearl 10th Anniversary V-Rod ($15,999) or the Night Rod Special ($15,299 to $15,609) in Vivid Black, Black Denim or Sedona Orange.

Blake Conner

www.cycleworld.com