V-Rod

["Tom Brown" <tbrown@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Robert and Others:

All this "tragic V-Rod" talk reminds me of another engine I love in need of 
a good, comfortable bike.   The Aprilia/Rotax 60 degree, dry sump V-twin.. 
Although the Mille is comfortable for a race rep bike, it's really not 
comfortable for sport touring.   I've done a few weekends with it.  Storage 
is a real problem.  I have to stuff everything in a double height tank bag 
and in the compartment under the back seat.  Not much room at all.   I 
bought a Corbin for it.  They're not my favorite seat, but there's was the 
only one available.   I recently put some adjustable bars on it.   These 
helped a little, but a lot less than I hoped.

The Futura is supposed to answer the call for a sport touring Mille, but it 
really doesn't hit the mark.  It looks goofy and is plagued with electrical 
gremlins.   My test ride of that found less wind protection than I'd liike 
and truly boring handling and a very tamed down engine...different FI and 
exhaust.   During my whole demo ride, there was a warning light of some kind 
showing and the dealer had no idea how to fix this short of cutting a wire 
or pulling a bulb.   No clue as to the root cause of this problem.

The Mille engine is So Fine.   It has a marvelous sound, goes like stink and 
has twin balance shafts that really kill vibrations.   It's just such a fun 
bike.   All it needs is telelever, paralever, upright seating position, 
storage, a bigger powered windscreen......In short, BMW ergos.


Ducati's ST series is pretty good, but again, the frame geometry is really 
conservative and it doesn't really supply all the virtues of a BMW.   I 
owned an ST4 and didn't think it was much more comfortable than my Mille, 
which is easily twice the fun.    I sold the Duc and was happy I did. 
Maintenance on those bike is really scary to me.   I do my own valves and 
throttle synchs on the RT and enjoy the excersize.  Can't say that about the 
Mille, but it really requires very little service.   Just spritz the chain 
every couple tanks of gas.   The Italian idea of a sport touring bike 
involves the face shield in the wind.   I've been spoiled by my RT with 
large windscreen.  I just love it when I get home from a thousand mile 
weekend and see all the bugs on the screen that weren't able to reach me. 
This is a terrific feature of the RT that I have a real problem living 
without now.   Also, because the jugs are out on the sides of the bike and 
in the wind, the heat buildup is never as severe as with a water-cooled 
V-Twin or inline 4.   The Mille, the V-Rod and the Yamaha YJ1300 all put a 
bunch of heat somewhere near the rider.  The RT's fairing design allows the 
engine to stay cool without baking the rider at all.

Oilheads are pretty special bikes, I guess.    Everytime I ride something 
else, I remember why I like them so much.

When will these companies see the light?    Not soon, I fear.   The Yamaha 
YJ1300 is not a great seller in spite of its virtues.  I think part of the 
problem is that it just looks boring and a little cheap in spots.  BMW guys 
are used to pretty high build standards and this bike just seems to miss the 
mark.  The Honda ST1300 has better build quality, but they made it too heavy 
and thick and then put some goofy stying elements on it.   I have seen a few 
of these really well accessorized that look terrific, however.   Perhaps a 
few bugs still need to be ironed out of these bikes before people warm up to 
them?

I'd expect Harley to get into a sport bike, Buell type of thing or maybe 
just a super-standard with the V rod engine before sport touring.  The 
market for sport touring bikes is just not there and it would be a lot more 
work and money to put together a good sport touring package.    Since Buell 
is pretty much the sport bike arm of Harley, we might expect a Buell sort of 
product with this V-rod engine.   I think that might work if they don't 
over-engineer it to be some sort of future-bike with every silly geegaw 
possible on it...like oil in the frame and a tiny size.    If they'd just 
make a bike that people could ride, they'd sell a ton.

- -TB

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