Tell me

Before buying my bike, I always thought of Harleys as slow'ish lazy cruisers for distance touring.

When I bought the Night Rod, I assumed that this was a bike for faster touring and a more everyday type of use.

The bike runs great, pulls well and sounds amazing but I'm not sure that it is at all an everyday bike.

At the risk of asking a stupid question 'What were the Rod styles of bike designed for?'

Are they a different style of cruiser or are they designed for faster riding styles?

Maybe it's because I've only had it a couple of weeks and done about 250 miles, but in this weather, I'm not at all sure that I feel as sure footed on it as I was on my prevous bike (R1200GS).

I certainly rode faster on the GS but, again, this could be because I was more used to the bike.

Don't think the weather helps either.

[Rod Bod]

The original V-Rod was designed specifically to attract a younger generation of rider away from Japanese sports machines and into the brand culture of Harley-Davidson. A one-make MoCo race series in the states folded and H-D were left with a brilliant engine that was crying out to be detuned and a completely new bike package designed around it. When launched in '02 there was nothing quite like the 'Rod for looks or performance, and now the Japanese are producing look-alikes some of which are nearly as quick, but inevitably soul-less.
The original 'Rod has trouble when it comes to maintaining speed through the corners because of its low ground clearance, so beef up the rear suspension as firm as you can and try not to polish those pipes on the tarmac too much.
The original V-Rod had crap OE Dunlop tyres which a lot of riders lost confidence at their first encounter with a roundabout in the rain. I'm not sure what the 'Special is wearing, but I'd swap them for Avon Venoms as soon as you can, a brilliant tyre, inspiring confidence and never lets go whatever the weather. Have a look at the boots being worn by any V-Rod who's rider is prepared to ride his bike to the limit - Venoms every time.
Enjoy your ride, and can't blame you for getting it out even in the Winter. Mine was out all day today. Still smiling.

Rod Bod

[Roger]

You won't feel as sure footed as on the GS, which is probably the best general purpose motorcycle you can buy. It's designed as a cruiser, a musclebike, more in the V-Max sense than the traditional laid back Harley sense.

Stick with it, you'll grow to love it (or hate it )

If the riding position isn't right for you, you can move the footpegs 1" back with the reduced reach footpeg kit (pn 50270-02A); the gear lever, brake pedal and footpegs 1" back with the reduced reach control kit (pn 50360-04); the handlebars 2" closer with the reduced reach bars (pn 56150-04) or the seat 1.5" further forward with the reduced reach seat (51781-07)

The evolution of the V-Rod is somewhat more complex than any short answers you'll get here, but it was certainly not originally designed to be used as a tourer, what with the 3.7 gallon fuel cell and all. Harley are trying to maintain their lead in sales of big bikes while falling in line with US EPA restrictions on both noise and pollution.

Certainly Harley has an eye on non-traditional Harley riders, as well as people who have not been riders. But the Buell line is the one that focuses on the sport bike crowd, and the V-Rod is largely irrelevant to that end. Harley has done some tweaking (i.e., the street-rod) to provide a bike that would handle better in the twisties, but that was never the purpose of the bike. You're never going to get a 700 pound bike to handle like a 400 pound one.

The V-Rod was first, and foremost, a dragster. IMO Harley was surprised at the usage of the bike by people who wanted it for more regular use and touring. Thus, they were very slow at providing the necessary changes to accomodate those kinds of usage. For me, it is a very comfortable ride, whether around town or on the road, but comes up short in mileage (now resolved by the introduction of the five gallon tank) and in gearing for freeways (still only has five speeds - but I expect that to be corrected soon ). Harley has also been slow to accomodate other desires of V-Rod owners. One example is the absolutely horrible wheels they have for the bike - totally lacking in either style or design (although many would argue that this is consistent with all Harley products - including add-ons).

I'd be hard-put to trade my V-Rod in for any other bike - and if I did, it probably would either be a new V-Rod or another brand (e.g., Victory).