Any Old Schoolers? Harley V-Rod Discuss Any Old Schoolers? in the Motorcycles forums; Don't get me wrong, every other bike I've owned was air cooled. We wanted to get a Sportster in '83, but it was $4,800. We got a single-cylinder Yamaha 500 ...

[DesertSpeed]

Don't get me wrong, every other bike I've owned was air cooled. We wanted to get a Sportster in '83, but it was $4,800. We got a single-cylinder Yamaha 500 instead for $1563.00. When you're a new E-5 in an RDF unit and NEED a second vehicle 'cause your first kid is on the way, you get what you can afford.
After riding both air cooled and water cooled in Phoenix, I don't see much chance in going back to air cooled.
My son is riding an '82 Honda GL500 that he bought in Phoenix. It's water cooled also.

[Twinpeaks]

What is it exactly about a water cooled engine that is unfavorable? I can understand not liking the V-Rod aesthetically or wahtever but hating on water cooled?
1haugster1340 mentioned sounds and smells. Sounds and smells? Someone elaborate on this.
The big thing beside the obvious advantages is the ability to build an engine with very tight tolerances. AC's just need a lot of extra "play".

[1haugster1340]

I am not knocking V Rods. The V Rod engine or something similar will be powering all Harleys in the future. I know there are advantages to water cooled bikes. Such as riding in the desert heat, even here in Southwestern, PA the heat can cause problems for air cooled engines, especially in traffic jambs. My Shovel hated hot weather in bumper to bumper traffic. It would load up and start to back fire. This was due to the hemi head design of the combustion chambers. The Evo's take the heat well.

The government is what is causing the air cooled engines extinction.

An air cooled engine is noisier than a water cooled engine. You can hear the engine parts moving when it is running. At least for me I can smell the oil and metal heating up. All of my Harley's, that is all I have ever owned, have had the same smell. From my 1926 JD to my 1995 Heritage.

The love the smell of a Harley in the morning!

[Twinpeaks]

Originally Posted by 1haugster1340

An air cooled engine is noisier than a water cooled engine. You can hear the engine parts moving when it is running. At least for me I can smell the oil and metal heating up. All of my Harley's, that is all I have ever owned, have had the same smell. From my 1926 JD to my 1995 Heritage.
The love the smell of a Harley in the morning!

LOL!!

Well damn, I can tell you that the V-Rod is anything but "quite". I can hear the engine working (stock) louder than any shovel or Evo I've owned.
You wanna hear an engine working? Remember, 8 valves and 4 overhead cams directly under you, lots-o-sheet goin' on up in there. The small water jacket does little if anything in terms of sound insulation. As far as smells - well it smells, but I never thought about who smells better ...or worse? - LOL!!

Oh ya, With an airbox mod (the airbox is where conventional bikes have gas tanks mounted, the intakes are directly under you) you can really hear the chatter even louder, along with the intake sucking air and the velocity stack butterfly's working. That was a new twist for me, I thought something was focked the 1st time I took it out after doing the modification.

[1haugster1340]

Originally Posted by Twinpeaks

LOL!!

Well damn, I can tell you that the V-Rod is anything but "quite". I can hear the engine working (stock) louder than any shovel or Evo I've owned.
You wanna hear an engine working? Remember, 8 valves and 4 overhead cams directly under you, lots-o-sheet goin' on up in there. The small water jacket does little if anything in terms of sound insulation. As far as smells - well it smells, but I never thought about who smells better ...or worse? - LOL!!

Oh ya, With an airbox mod (the airbox is where conventional bikes have gas tanks mounted, the intakes are directly under you) you can really hear the chatter even louder, along with the intake sucking air and the velocity stack butterfly's working. That was a new twist for me, I thought something was focked the 1st time I took it out after doing the modification.

I have never ridden a V Rod but I have been around them while they were idling. I have never heard a quieter Harley. Maybe the ones I have heard were oddballs. I have never rode a V Rod so I do not know what they smell like. I do know that all of the Harleys I have owned thus far have all smelled the same. Smell is hard to describe. Does anyone else know what I am talking about?

[shovelmike]

You must have a better nose than I do. The last Japanese bike I owned, 81 Yamaha 550 4 banger smelled like an overheated aluminum cook pot after a hard run (not real pleasant).
My Harleys don't exhibit a distinctive smell (no hot aluminum smell, fortunately- a better grade of alloy I believe)
Have a great evening and God bless. Sincerely: Shovelmike.

[unclepsycho]

Oh Yeah! Rich exhaust, Hot oil, leather, chrome, oooooh man I gotta go out and hug my bike...

BRB

[CrossBonesRick]

While some love the V-rod and some hate it, most agree that it is a fast stylish bike. I am not a big fan of the v-rod because to me the style is not not pleasing. I like the old style tank and engin look. The v-rod has a fake gas tank like a Asian bike does and the radiator just takes away from the look of a motorcycle to me. I like old school looks. Also, the thing that bugs me is that the motor was designed by Porche. Not that it is a bad thing. Porche makes some very high quality designes, but to me that makes it more of a Porche motorcycle than a Harley motorcycle. I give the V-rod kudos for being fast, tough (more resistant to high heat) and stylish, but it is more euro looking than American in my book. I don't like the look of sport bikes, be they Honda, Buell, or v-rod. They look like what they should be used for, race bikes. Not street bikes. Always amazed me that they allow motorcycles built for the track on the street, yet you can't buy and drive a formula 1 race car on the street. Kind of a double standard.

But for my friends who do ride v-rods, more power to you. And I am not knocking them or their rides. Believe me, I get lots of hate or dislike for riding a Cross Bones than many may think. Just read a few of the replies in the Cross Bones thread on the Harley Twin Cam forum on this very site. A posting from jwp883 (obviously a sportster rider) says what I have heard about the CB from the start.

No matter what bike you ride, others are more than willing to tell you what a bunch of crap it is. You just have to stand tall and tell them to go intercourse themselves.

[Twinpeaks]

Originally Posted by CrossBonesRick

While some love the V-rod and some hate it, most agree that it is a fast stylish bike. I am not a big fan of the v-rod because to me the style is not not pleasing. I like the old style tank and engin look. The v-rod has a fake gas tank like a Asian bike does and the radiator just takes away from the look of a motorcycle to me. I like old school looks. Also, the thing that bugs me is that the motor was designed by Porche. Not that it is a bad thing. Porche makes some very high quality designes, but to me that makes it more of a Porche motorcycle than a Harley motorcycle. I give the V-rod kudos for being fast, tough (more resistant to high heat) and stylish, but it is more euro looking than American in my book. I don't like the look of sport bikes, be they Honda, Buell, or v-rod. They look like what they should be used for, race bikes. Not street bikes. Always amazed me that they allow motorcycles built for the track on the street, yet you can't buy and drive a formula 1 race car on the street. Kind of a double standard.
But for my friends who do ride v-rods, more power to you. And I am not knocking them or their rides. Believe me, I get lots of hate or dislike for riding a Cross Bones than many may think. Just read a few of the replies in the Cross Bones thread on the Harley Twin Cam forum on this very site. A posting from jwp883 (obviously a sportster rider) says what I have heard about the CB from the start.
No matter what bike you ride, others are more than willing to tell you what a bunch of crap it is. You just have to stand tall and tell them to go intercourse themselves.

I can respect differences in taste, needs, wants and the value of nostalgia.

I only know of only one other motorcycle with an "airbox" placed where the gas tank is on a conventional bike.
As far as Porsche, they did not design the engine, they helped, mostly research and development. They have a sister company that hires out for this kind of thing to a whole lot of builders/manufacturers. No one knows for sure how much input they really had, but safe to say Willie G. and his large team of Harley engineers had plenty to say about this engine. It was derived from the existing VR 1000.
Speaking of Porsche, they have had a working relationship with Harley since the AMF days. In fact, the heads on your Evo, among other recent improvements were developed by AMF along with Porsche back in the late 70's. AMF was thin on money and the project stalled, after the buyback Harley resurrected the design and We know have the Evo, however, I wouldn't call your crossbones a Porsche motorcycle or an "AMF".

[DesertSpeed]

TwinPeaks, don't forget the sound the injectors make! It drives most new V-rodders nuts until they find out what it is.
My bike is essentially stock. The coolest sound it makes comes out from under the airbox at 81 mph in 5th. You just get this really pleasant rumble from the velocity stacks. I think it's the Revo's way of reminding you it really is a Harley.
As for the airbox, I'm sure if H-D wanted to, they could have put a gas tank up there and hung a little tiny air filter off the side. There's plenty of room where the tank is now to all the electronics, battery, etc. I'd rather have my monster K&N filter. The air filter on a V-rod is huge. I don't mean for a bike. I mean for anything. It probably has close to as much surface area as the filter in my pickup.
EVERYBODY has a realtionship with Porsche Engineering. They are the largest automotive engineering firm in the world. The Evo, Revo and Twin Cam aren't the only Harley's that have benefited from Porsche engineering. The Revo IS NOT a Prosche design. It's Harley design. It's the VR-1000 race engine that has been streeted. Porsche just helped make the engine more reliable.
To answer the big unasked question: VRSC; V-twin Racing Street Custom. I asked Willie G. at AZ Bike Week in '07.
Lastly, being a V-rodder means laughing your butt off when the airheads start bragging to each other about riding their bikes at over 100mph. How about climbing "the Rim" on I-17 north of Phoenix, with my wife on the back seat, in third gear geat just to piss-off a Mustang GT?
I wish I had a Harley before the V-rod, but I would still own a Night Rod now. I'm seriously thinking about the the new Sportster just for kicks. That thing looks like a curve-eater. Not that I'm complaining about the D.