hardly riding

[virgil]

OK, let the flack start...

Am in chicago mid July and have swung a weekend pass from Mrs Virgil to stay the weekend so I can hire a Hardley for a ride up and around the lake with a couple of guys from the office there. At my request, they've sorted me out this to pick up the friday night...

http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content/Pages/2...

...a night rod special. It's the coolest thing I could find on their website - not at all bling bling.

My question is: What are the things to look out for (black corsas excepted) when riding a harley over a sports bike...without wanting to look a prize pillock, how should I adjust my riding style...are there any harley specific things to look for other than the weight?

Cheers,

Virgil.

[black-k1]

Avoid corners!

[virgil]

So stop and push it round at junctions till I'm out of town, then I should be fine!

Cheers...

[The Tramp]

How about a beard???

[black-k1]

I've not ridden a Hardly but have ridden a couple of the Jap cruisers so I assume that the issues are likely to be the same. All you have to do is take it a little easier in the corners, but then the riding style encourages that. The weight should not be too much of an issue as you are closer to the ground. Relax and enjoy the scenery and you will be fine.

[Rawwr]

You could start shagging blokes, I suppose.

[virgil]

The Tramp said:

How about a beard???

Hmm...good like, though not sure I aprove of the lack of proper protective clothing...what would his mother say?

[virgil]

Rawwr said:

You could start shagging blokes, I suppose.

I was going to say "you've not seen the two blokes I'm riding with!" but that makes it sound like if they were better looking i'd consider it....

Edited by virgil on Thursday 14th June 14:30

[308mate]

Fear not.

Those things go round corners (they tip in VERY easily) and they accelerate bloody well too.

• Dont ride it like a jap four - its got torque, use it or you'll be forever changing gear.

• Wear sturdy boots, if you corner it to its capabilities, you'll likely find the pegs touching down. You can use your boot heels as a lean-o-meter if your nervous about dragging pegs.

The brakes arent great so leave yourself some extra room for that!

Other than that - enjoy. I defy anyone not to love riding one of those.

Edited by 308mate on Thursday 14th June 15:46

[rsv gone!]

Rawwr said:

You could start shagging blokes, I suppose.

...and biting the heads off chickens.

[aeropilot]

Pretty much what 308mate wrote really....

V-Rod's arn't real Harley's and do quite well in the corners, and they have much better brakes than the air-cooled Harley's and do stop reasonably well....sound naff though without liberated exhausts.

You won't find it too much of a shock riding one coming from a sports bike as you would riding an air-cooled Harley, the lower centre of gravity might catch you out at first momentarily, and the extra weight is the real get used to factor, but you should soon get used to it.

Harley's are actually piss easy to ride.....and I defy you not to actually enjoy it.....

[anonymous-user]

I rented an 883 Sportster ('Sportster'? Ha!) at Easter which turned out to be fun - probably nothing like the Night Rod. There was no ground clearance and I ended up grinding through a jubillee clip that was holding part of the exhaust in place without even trying!
No revs but easy to ride in only 3rd or 4th and use the torque and engine braking to make progress. I must admit I missed my sportsbike on the twisties, but once I'd calmed my urge to hoon it everywhere I enjoyed the cruising experience!
The Rod will be a blinder I should think!

[A1ec]

308mate and aeropilot have virtually said it all.

I ride a Yamaha Royal Star so I'm used to riding a cruiser and I can assure you that you will definitely enjoy yourself as long as you don't expect it to be identical to riding a sportsbike.

Take it easy to start with and just don't try to get your knee down on the bends (if you encounter any) until you see how it handles on them.

One difference you will find is that with a much longer wheelbase the rear brake is much more important and needs to be used a lot more than you might expect.

[aeropilot]

A1ec said:

One difference you will find is that with a much longer wheelbase the rear brake is much more important and needs to be used a lot more than you might expect.

Ah, yes, very good point, and important to remember. When I first got my Harley it was a bit of a shock coming from the one finger operation of the Ducati's Brembo's, but I was told that because of the weight and long wheelbase I needed to get used to appyling a 50-50 split braking effort between front to back as the rear brakes work very well and it's pretty hard to lock them up on dry tarmac.
This wasn't too difficult for me to re-adapt to this as I had been used to this years before when I owned my pre-war BSA.

Edited by aeropilot on Thursday 14th June 22:08

[bimsb6]

aeropilot said:

A1ec said:

One difference you will find is that with a much longer wheelbase the rear brake is much more important and needs to be used a lot more than you might expect.

Ash, yes, very good point, and important to remember. When I first got my Harley it was a bit of a shock coming from the one finger operation of the Ducati's Brembo's, but I was told that because of the weight and long wheelbase I needed to get used to appyling a 50-50 split braking effort between front to back as the rear brakes work very well and it's pretty hard to lock them up on dry tarmac.
This wasn't too difficult for me to re-adapt to this as I had been used to this years before when I owned my pre-war BSA.

no problems on a vr series brakes are quite powerful front and rear .and that engine is a sweet power plant .

[aeropilot]

bimsb6 said:

no problems on a vr series brakes are quite powerful front and rear .and that engine is a sweet power plant .

Yes the V-Rod's use a 4 pot caliper unlike the air-cooled Harley's.

[A1ec]

aeropilot said:

bimsb6 said:

no problems on a vr series brakes are quite powerful front and rear .and that engine is a sweet power plant .

Yes the V-Rod's use a 4 pot caliper unlike the air-cooled Harley's.

Yes, my Royal Star also has very good brakes (a triple-disc brake system the same as the V-Max, with four-pot calipers on dual 298mm discs at the front and a single 320mm disc at the rear) but you still need to use the rear brake more because of the long wheelbase.

More powerful brakes will just make that the front wheel locks up easier if you don't.

Edited by A1ec on Friday 15th June 01:48

[virgil]

Cheers for the replies guys...just didn't want to get on it in front of two experienced Harley riders and fall over on the first corner!

Sounds like it's gonna be fun, though I think I'll leave the bat heads and bum-love for the locals...

Next stupid question - do you take all your own gear with you, or hire stuff out there...textiles and a full lid are gonna look pretty stoopid on V-rod...No?

[aeropilot]

virgil said:

Next stupid question - do you take all your own gear with you, or hire stuff out there...textiles and a full lid are gonna look pretty stoopid on V-rod...No?

Better check with the dealer hiring.
To save carrying a lid etc on a flight etc., I'd guess it would be better to hire if they offer.
But, no wth a V-Rod, textiles and a full face won't look stupid, Harley do a huge range of textile clothing which is quite popular with the V-Rod riders as are full face lids.
The riding position of a rod allows this more because of the lower flatter bars and seat position.
I can't ride my Dyna Super Glide with a full face purely as the higher buckhorn bars and lower seat mean shoulder checks are pretty much impossible because of the chin part of the full face lid clashing with your shoulder.

Edited by aeropilot on Friday 15th June 10:16

[virgil]

Ah, thanks.

Will see what they can offer...