The latest addition to Harley-Davidson's VRSC family mates the low saddle height and raked-out frame of the V-Rod with the pumped-up 120-horsepower motor and exhaust system of the Street Rod roadster and then rolls in some detail touches all its own. The complete test is available in the October 2005 issue of Motorcycle Cruiser magazine. Here are some initial impressions from our first rides on the bike.
The Night Rod offers both mid-set rider pegs and highway pegs as well as that little fairing. To seal the deal, it asks less of your wallet than previous Harley Rod series motorcycles, although the entire VRSC series enjoys a $1000 price reduction this year.
Combine the V-Rod's solid handling, formidable performance and strong brakes (now Brembos), each of which ranks at or near the top of the range for performance cruisers, and you have an impressive motorcycle, one that will easily leave the those tubby mega twins reeling in its wake. It's even good-looking if our sample, which included the $495 chrome engine package, is any measure. In fact, it's the best-looking of the V-Rod series, and as well as the most affordable.
We like the way Harley has come at the power-cruiser concept. While other brands have been building ever-larger V-twins that owe much of their style to Harley, Milwaukee's own performance V-twin broke away, using a comparably meager 1130cc. Harley's "little" V-twin relies on efficiency rather than displacement, with liquid cooling, overhead cams, eight valves and the will to rev a bit. That approach yielded better than a horsepower per each 10cc. With the introduction of the Street Rode earlier this year, Harley extracted another handful of horsepower with a new exhaust system. Now that 120-hp engine has been coupled to the cruiser chassis to power the new Night Rod for a bit more punch. The October 2006 issue of Motorcycle Cruiser will have a cover test with the performance figures and additional depth on how the Night Rod works.
The new bike gets the V-Rod frame to hold the saddle height down to that bike's 27.1 inches. Most of the other chassis components were also donated by the V-Rod. The Night Rod uses the 3.7-gallon under-seat tank and has 4.0 inches of suspension travel at both ends. The steering head remains at the 34 degrees of the V-Rod, but Harley steepened the fork angle by two degrees to 36 degrees from the V-Rod's 38. This juggling actually gives the Night Rod the most front-wheel trail in the VRSC trio at 4.6 inches, though its steering is still considerably lighter and more precise than the average cruiser's. It also has a bit more suspension travel and control, slightly less weight, and more lean angle that cruiser normal, all of which make it handier on a winding road.
Source:http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com