I bought my 2016 HD VRod Muscle from East Coast Harley Davidson in Glasgow with a Stage 1 setup – V&h 2-into-2 competition exhausts, SE air filter and a bespoke map. I drove up to Scotland with a few friends to pick the bike up and rode the bike back to Nottingham.
The VRod was one of the 5 bikes I had on my list (I own 2 from this list now)…
- Yamaha VMax
- Ducati Diavel 1260S 2019 / xDiavel S
- Harley Davidson VRod Muscle
- Triumph Rocket 3, and,
- Indian Dark Chief… (in this list purely for its looks and feel-good factor)
I’d made my mind up to buy a Ducati Diavel/xDiavel S… and I would have too, if the Ducati salesman in Nottingham knew how to take the money! His loss.
Then the VRod Muscle came up… :)… and I can say this as honestly as I possibly can – I would’ve made a mistake if I’d have bought the Duke. The brotherhood that the Harley brings with it, is just a completely different level.
Given the NRS and Muscle are exactly the same bike with different tins, I loved the aggressive and different look of the Muscle. The thick drag aluminium handlebar, LED mirror indicators, side panels on the tank, twin exhausts and the chopped rear fender with LED indicators of the Muscle were exactly what I wanted. To my, as yet inexperienced eyes, the NRS looked similar to other bikes (in partifular the Suzuki Bandit’s tank and side covers). Maybe because I may have seen many of them? But, the Muscle – even in it’s stock trim, was just nothing out there… A sight to behold. As they say, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.
On the way back from Glasgow to Nottingham, bearing in mind that I hadn’t ridden a bike in 20 years, let alone a powerful super cruiser, I got into a situation where I had no option but to accelerate to get to safety. I was riding at about 65-ish overtaking a truck, in the middle lane. Medium traffic; vehicles around me. I must’ve been in the truck’s blind spot because it just indicated and started to move out in front of me. My only safe place was in front of the truck, as there were cars on my right, in the 3rd lane. I had to accelerate myself out of an accident! I dropped a gear and twisted the throttle… the result completely shocked and thrilled me at the same time! The rear wheel spun wildly, burning rubber, before it plummeted me forward… This happened so quickly, I left my guts behind!
If there was ever any doubts in my mind about my bike, they had utterly and completely dissipated. I was hooked. I was in love. This was bliss!
I’ve never really given a second thought to looks. My customisation journey had been purely performance, practicality & functionality oriented. My plan was that once I’ve got the bike almost how I wanted it, I could always “pretty it up” later.
Here’s a list of what I’ve done up till now:
Comfort / Looks
- Budmans riser – brings the handlebar closer + higher by 2″ each
- HD mid-sport windshield – keeps the wind from buffeting off my chest
- Progressive Suspensions – Front with 15W fork oil for a stiffer suspension
- Progressive Suspensions (444) – Rear
- Cobra Chrome 260 rear wheel + Cobra Chrome 130 front wheel
- Bronze Powder coated NRS front & rear wheels
- Galfer brake rotors – Front & Rear
- LED headlights with NRS headlight cowl
- Tin Set 1 : Punisher with webbing theme – Custom Black with Navy Blue webbing background and Blue/Turquoise Blue flakes throughout
- Tin Set 2 : Stock Denim Black tins with Punisher decals
- HD Muscle Sport windscreen
Performance
- Oxford Cruiser heated grips on the MoonSMC Billet aluminium 1/4 Turn throttle
- Airbox modded with a Cultwerk vent to allow for more air being RAMmed into the air filter
- K&N Air filter with my own “topless internal airbox” mod
- K&N Oil filter with a custom concoction of 4 – 4.25 quarts Amsoil 20w50 fully synthetic engine oil and about 0.75 quarts Bestline Engine Oil additive
- RMStator Mosfet Regulator/Rectifier
- Full de-cat Akropovic free flow headers & exhaust
- Dynojet Power Vision – for complete ECM control & map customisations
- Dynojet Target Tune module – runing closed loop fuel control on wideband O2 sensors
- Fully bespoke map
- Airbox side covers’ plastic backs modded to ‘RAM’ more air through
- V-Tec billet aluminium short clutch & brake levers
- DOT 5.1 brake & clutch fluid
- 28T front sprocket & 151 tooth belt
- Oberon clutch slave cylinder
Check out some of my favorite pics from various rides (PD2018, Veghel 2019, PD2019, PD2020, GY2020, etc) and some fun pics!
