My Street Rod at St Mullins View in Kilkenny
Why? That’s on of the first questions I get asked most about my bike. Why did you buy the Street Rod? And its something I have thought quite a lot about. After all the Street Rod is not the most popular of the V-Rod range falling far behind the VRSCR & Night Rod in the number of sales, yet it suites me to a tee.
I’ve owned bikes for ages, buying my first in my early teens. It was followed by a succession of Japanese rides from trail bikes to big fours, and I enjoyed all of them.
By the time I turned my forties I was starting to think hooning about on a sportsbike was no longer such a good idea and would end in one of two ways:-
Either I’d win the Road Transport Offices lottery (Roll up Roll up! Just get 9 points on your licence and you get a free pushbike) or Id wrap myself round a tree. Not good options I reckon. Besides, this body can’t contort itself into the weird shapes sports bikes require as well as it used to be able to!
But what to replace it with? I wanted a bike that would be fun on the twisty bits, could cope with the lumpy bumpy roads, could commute to work 70 miles a day, eat up the motorway miles, be comfortable on a run and had a bit of style. I looked around but couldn’t see anything that fitted the bill. A friend of mine had also been searching for his own motorcycling nirvana. He had fallen in love with a Harley Ultra Glide then joined HOG. Now a big tourer isn’t my particular cup of PG Tips, but when he invited me down to Killarney for the 2006 HOG European Rally, I thought it would be a good week end if nothing else. I wasn’t particularly looking for a new bike and certainly didn’t think I would find a Harley to fit the bill.
While walking around the show I saw several V-Rods, and although I had seen them before I had never really taken much notice of them. Some of these looked fabulous though. I picked up some brochures and was impressed by the high spec that Harley and Porsche had put into the engine, frame, suspension & brakes. Talking to owners they raved that here was a Harley that not only looked good, but was light, fast and braked like a demon. Over the next few months I devoured all the information on V-Rods I could find. A visit to Brisbane, Australia in 2007 gave me a good excuse to hire a V-Rod VRSC and take it for a spin through the Queensland Mountains. From that moment on I was smitten. I spent days just riding through canyons and valleys, over mountains and through villages – all under clear blue skies, the sound of the big V-Twin rumbling beneath me. The icing on the cake was the looks and waves I received every time I rode through any town – large or small, and the number of people who came up to chat. I had never experienced anything like it before. There was no turning back.
All I had to do now was narrow down to what model I wanted. The forward controls made a big stretch for my short legs & I wasn’t a fan of the solid wheels. I searched around until I finally found the Street Rod, here was a bike that suited me perfectly. Before long money had exchanged hands & I was the proud owner of a 2005 black & silver VRSCR. As I pulled away into the traffic I felt complete in a way I had never done on a bike before.
We have now clocked up over 12 thousand miles and the Street Rod has never let me down. Whether hustling down the lanes or commuting through the city, riding hard on the motorway or burbling through town at 25mph – this bike does it all, and in a stylish way that cannot be compared. The fuel economy is good for such a quick bike, as is the comfort level, and a twist of the throttle lights its fire with a vengeance.
The next task is to sort some custom parts for it – lightweight wheels and lightened swing arm to improve the handling and fuel consumption, some new indicators and chrome parts to improve the looks, then maybe some Screaming Eagle pipes and gas flow to free up the engine a touch. Best I start saving before a trip to Waterford Harley Davidson!
Me & the VRSCR at Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, UK
