With loads of details on its Internet site, Harley-Davidson U.S.A. today announced its power cruiser featuring a liquid cooled, V-twin making 115 horsepower at the crank. Known as the VRFCA V-ROD™, Harley has coined the phrase "born on the track — raised on the street" to describe its lineage.
Don’t mistake this for any prior Harley motorcycle. Its 1130cc, sixty degree "Revolution" engine has peak horsepower at 8,250 rpm, with redline at 9,000 rpm. Featuring dual overhead cams and four-valve heads fed by electronic fuel injection, the Revolution engine has a forged crank and forged pistons.
Harley describes a combination of rubber mounting and an internal counter balancer, which isolates the revolution from the frame and delivers "silky smooth power to an all new transmission."
The new, perimeter frame provides "an uncompromising level of chassis rigidity" and features hydro-formed tubes. An under-seat fuel tank contributes to mass centralization.
Featuring aluminum body panels, the V-ROD™ styling is raw and powerful. The frame has 67.5 inches of wheelbase and a thirty-four degree rake with a thirty-eight degree fork angle. Harley claims the extreme rake of the bike nevertheless results in a good compromise of high and low speed handling characteristics. The press intro/ride review published by MCN earlier this week agrees that the handling is quite good despite the raked out look.
Contributing to the rigidity of the main frame, Harley utilizes massive 49mm front fork tubes and a new one-piece polished cast aluminum swingarm. Modern, powerful brakes (including dual discs clamped by four-piston calipers in front) compliment the other performance characteristics of the V-ROD™ .
Harley promises this is the "first in a new family of performance customs." Looks like a winner, with a U.S. MSRP of less than $17,000.
Here is a link to Harley’s web page devoted to the new V-ROD™ .
