Are V-Rods a pariah?

[stetracer]

'59 Sportster - nice.

I'm a little more liberal than you. I would own a '60's also. Or the XR-750. (Or XR-1200.)

Very few of the bigger Harley's appeal to me.

Not just because the are super collectible only 947 made in 1959 but because it is the year I was born. I probably won't ever find one though that I can afford.

[stetracer]

What am I missing here, you think these kind of numbers will touch a new VMAX? Not even close! The new VMAX is running low to mid 10's in stock form, upper 9's with a few mods, same as the B-King. This is what that heavily modified "Warrior" was running? Not even in the same leaugue!!!!

"During my debriefing, I learn that my time was 11.809 seconds at 126.54 mph, fast enough to rank third among the journalists, yet missing first by 0.26 seconds (an eternity in drag racing). Like a newly minted junkie sniffing around for my next dose after the proverbial, "Sure kid, the first one's on me," I discover that Yamaha is developing a Speed Star performance kit for the Warrior. Priced somewhere around $5000, the kit will give Warrior owners over 100 hp at the rear wheel. Although this is good news for Warrior owners, I got more excited when I learned that Yamaha wanted to lure some journalists to another drag strip to sample the Speed Star package in a few months. Could be trouble...Jamie better be out of town."

Heavily modified Warrior by Patrick racing
For the second straight event, Mark Underwood, aboard his Nigel Patrick-tuned Yamaha Road Star Warrior, reset the national elapsed-time and speed record in the Hot Rod Cruiser category. A month ago in St. Louis the Patrick Racing Team found some hidden horsepower and was able to lower the mark to an astounding 9.44. This time at the AMA/Prostar Norris Cyclefest from Norwalk, OH, Patrick Racing surpassed their previous lap-time with a dazzling 9.42 at 140 mph.

"We had a phenomenal 1.33 60-foot time," Underwood said. "That's pretty good for a 750 pound motorcycle. I knew it was going to be good after it carried the front wheel past the 60-foot clock. It was as perfect as a run as I have ever had."

Not to shabby for a V twin

[Octain]

The Yamaha Warrior was the other bike I was looking at in 04 when I bought my Harley. Yamaha wouldn't let me test ride one so there was no way I was buying one. To this day it's still my favorite import cruiser.

I've seen some modified V-Max's that look pretty awesome. But in stock form, not so much.

[GS1150Pilot]

Yeah, the Patrick Racing Warrior would wax a new VMax-at least until the VMax was modded a bit, and it weighs about 100 pounds less.

[83GS1100E_Tornado]

Yeah, the Patrick Racing Warrior would wax a new VMax-at least until the VMax was modded a bit, and it weighs about 100 pounds less.

It wouldn't wax my B-King, and I guarantee I could buy 4 of them for the amount of money they sank into that ONE BIKE! Put that same money into a VMAX or B-King and quickly you'll be running 8's and have 300+ horsepower! Heck, you can take just about any POS V-twin, sink 20K+ into it and have a "relatively" fast bike! Harley has been drag racing them for years! I still don't get the point???

[GS1150Pilot]

Nah. That was the beginning of their work. It would cost about $8-10K plus a used Warrior to build a similar bike, so about $14-16K, which is less than one VMax, weighs much less, and is far cooler than the corpulent pig that the VMax became. I loved my 1st Gen VMax, but the new one is a wildebeest.

[Rob S.]

Harley has been drag racing them for years! I still don't get the point???

Exactly. There are people who race lawn mowers. Bar stools. I use my beer more wisely.

Actually, those mowers and stools can probably beat the HDs. But there's something about a Harley - the sound, the vibration. I plan on renting a Sportster soon. Maybe that'll get it out of my system.

[83GS1100E_Tornado]

I've already got HD's out of my system, it was called diarrhea and I'm glad I'm over it.

[Jedz123]

I've test drove the gen2 Vmax.... I will own one for sure one day. A bike that will just let the rubber loose in 2nd gear under hard throttle instantly spikes my testosterone... the demo guy wasn't very happy with me... That huge V4 with more displacement then my Yaris is just awesome... So much power. True my FZ1 would likely keep up if not beat a Vmax the Fazer is just a buzzy R1 powered light weight compared to the raw power a Vmax has. I love the engineering principle of lets make this brick fast by adding tons of HP and Toruqe behind it. I also love the way it looks too. It's ridiculous! And that's why you own a Vmax... It well rounded in ridiculousness!

Never ridden nor sat on a GEN 1 Vmax... BUT I'm afraid if I do one will follow me home. I got into a tiff with a Vmax last year while ridding my FZ1. The 1 was clearly faster but I just couldn't shake the Vmax off my tail.... It was an 87 and I was just shocked a machine that old refused to let go of the Fizzy's tail. Not many out there that can do that in example I know a b-12 cannot keep up with my Fazer... Not much can actually.

V-rod... Nah I hate forward controls on a motorcycle. The main reason I steer away from HD. If the V-rod was more of an upright and I felt like I had complete control over the machine I'd say, sure I'd give it a spin but I'm not saying I'm taking it home. But I love my Yammy for it's stone cold reliable... HD's, well I've only heard horror stories and generally when I pull over to help someone on the side of the road 3 out of 4 times its a HD...

My 2 cents.

[GS1150Pilot]

The FZ1 is fast, but just about every pure sportbike from the generation before it to today can keep up with it. I owned a pretty breathed on one (cams, jetted, full exhaust, etc.), and it still couldn't touch a GSXR 1000 or Busa. The VMax, with a little tweaking, is very much a 9 second machine. Trouble is, it's as fat as John Candy was.