Speedtrip

Went to the local bike rally this week to check out 400,000 fo my close biker buddy's. After about 5 minutes of rally fun I got down to the real reason for my visit, demo rides.

Unfortunately there were only three manufacturers this year HD, Yamaha and Can AM.

I started at the Yamaha tent but after I signed up for the bikes I wanted to ride I had a couple of hours to kill, thats when I noticed a line of V-Rods in front of the HD area. What the hell.

The folks at the HD tent where friendly but oddly lacking knowledge of their own product. The girls were very cute with funny accents and had me signed up and ready to ride in 30 minutes. V-Rods were the only HD bikes that required an escort but the group was small and the escort spirited.

Overall I was surprised with the V-Rod, it was comfortable, besides the almost to forward controls it was a nice ride. The bike handled much better than I expected no hard parts touched down and was easy to flick from side to side. The brakes were great with good feel and smooth stopping power. Torque was plentiful and the motor never skipped a beat and unlike other HD bikes I've sampled it reved freely and didn't run out of breath.

Two thumbs up finally a Harley that I enjoyed riding!

Mean while back at the Yammy tent I was about to sample a real power cruiser, the stupid powerful V-Max.

This was my second ride on big V4 and I was just as blown away this time as last at the power this bike makes, can't even compare it to other bikes more like a Chevy smallblock. What a hoot this bike is. Only two complaints I have with this one. This bike steers and handles like a cruiser which is to say slow and heavy feeling. The other that bothered me the most was the seat or maybe the width of the bike left me feeling bowlegged and it hurt after 20 miles, I could not live with the stock seat.

Went to the demos to ride R1's and R6's and my next bike the FZ1, but had some real fun riding the cruisers. If I was in the market for such a thing these two would be on the list.

__________________
-Shaun-

motowebmaster

The only bike I did a demo on was a Harley Nightster. It was a stupid-fun bike that was easy to "gun around" and could turn you into a peg-scraper without any track time

Jamie

Agree with your comments about the 1700cc V-Max. Having owned one for 5 weeks (the experience prematurely ending with a crash, a distracted lorry driver having sent me airborne and having sent her off road) , let me add a couple of --hopefully useful-- "prospects beware"-type messages:

1) The bike's single major shortcoming is -increasingly notoriously- its pathetic fuel autonomy. Not only is the "under-the-too-wide-seat" gas tank ridiculously small (15 liters), but the all-mighty V4 is a compulsive gas guzzler. The result? 60 to 70 miles of enthusiastic riding, NO MORE, before starting to panic (litterally, in my case) about stupidly running out. Granted, an after-market supplier has since come up with a will-fit tank worth an extra gallon of capacity. But it's terribly costly... And a mere extra gallon won't quench the bike's thirst for long.

2) The rear end is too easily/rapidly overwhelmed by said all-mighty V4. At less that 2'000 miles (of spirited riding, I'd admit) my rear tyre was virtually shot and the rear shock absorber was seemingly less willing to... absorb. Granted, there's now an optional (offered in the US), wider rear rim to fit a 240-size tyre. But it's terribly costly... and requires special rear wheel bearings BTW.

So, you want (can afford) the most awesome café racer in the world? The 1700cc V-Max will satisfy your soul.

If NOT, forget it!

(No regrets on my part)

Jamie

motowebmaster

In today's economy, it would seem that owning a Ducati would be less expensive then a new VMax.

I did see an older VMax at the BB-BBQ Rally, a good looking machine.