1983 kz1100 vs 03 vrod

I can say that riding all summer long beside my brother s v rod and me on my spectre 1100 that his bike pulls harder at higher mph. I messed around with him a few times marking out a nice quarter miles run. I have been riding for a few more years than him and he was fairly new to the rod but I can say it was all in the launch. If he spun his tire to much I would get him. If I rode a wheelie he would get me. He would even agree that for a every day rider the two bikes are equal in the quarter mile but anything over he will pull past me fast. I actually won more than I lost but again i have been riding for more years and have owned my bike longer than he had his vrod. I ran him with my 2009 concours and he did well but could not touch me at any speed. I am selling my Spectre 1100 for 1500. I hate to but i have to sell two of my bikes and I can not part with the connie at the moment.

Not selling to buy a Vrod? I think part of the gratification is the money, a 30 yr old bike worth £1500 hanging with a vrod at whatever they cost. Even a new rider on a fast bike will beat the old bike fairly easy, so if you were beating him the vrod can' be that fast. My gran on an r1 will beat me on a 30 yr old kawa.

if you think about it, the vrod is basically a vmax minus two cylinders.
the owner at my last job had one of the first ones ever built and I would eat him up when I was on my vmax. he beat me when I was on the zn1100. don't be fooled, these things can go.

the best part was after we got done screwing around one day I hopped off the max and leaned down near his motor and did my best to look concerned. then I walked over to the other side and did the same.
he kept saying " what ? what ? "
then I told him he needs to take the bike to the dealer, it sounds like it's only hitting on two cylinders.

A very, very heavy V-max.

kawsakiman wrote: if you think about it, the vrod is basically a vmax minus two cylinders.
the owner at my last job had one of the first ones ever built and I would eat him up when I was on my vmax. he beat me when I was on the zn1100. don't be fooled, these things can go.

the best part was after we got done screwing around one day I hopped off the max and leaned down near his motor and did my best to look concerned. then I walked over to the other side and did the same.
he kept saying " what ? what ? "
then I told him he needs to take the bike to the dealer, it sounds like it's only hitting on two cylinders.

LOL! :woohoo:

kawsakiman wrote: if you think about it, the vrod is basically a vmax minus two cylinders.

The V-ROD's a 4 valve per cyl. DOHC V4.

zukdave wrote:

kawsakiman wrote: if you think about it, the vrod is basically a vmax minus two cylinders.

The V-ROD's a 4 valve per cyl. DOHC V4.

Nope, V-twin.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-Rod

I still have the kz1100 and if it does sell I would not be to buy another bike at the moment. I have three and their taking up room in my garage I hate to see them set like that. I do try to take them all out here and there but hard to walk past the concours 14. Hard time to sell a bike winter settled in quick here in michigan.

Your Buddy got mad :ohmy: And he went and spent a $250,000 :woohoo:
He wants to race you now :laugh:

I like the V-Rod simply because it is a Harley that is the first to see an engineer since 1983. Harley markets a brand very effectively and a lot of people who can't change their own oil buy into it. The V-Rod departed from that brand considerably and IMO offers a little more performance than the standard HD. The fact that the HD crowd doesn't like it tells me that Harley is doing something right with it. I don't think HD will ever offer a true performance bike and I don't expect them too. But I do expect them to design their bikes using current materials and manufacturing and design capabilities and the Vrod is closer to that than a sportster or a dresser.

CruisingRam wrote: My V65 Sabre- a 1985 bike with 200k miles on it, absolutely destroys the V-rod in any hot rod category, from a standing stop, roll on, 1/4 mile and handling. Vrods are a fast bike, when compared a bike from the 70s, or for being a H-D. A V65 Magna or Old Kawi Eliminator positively rapes a V-rod. Only can beat a 30 year old + bike really LOL

I had one of those:


Was the only bike I have owned (over 20 bikes) that truly scared me.