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Powerful muscle cars, rock-n-roll music, baseball and motorcycles define the American culture. Nothing says that more than a Harley Davidson. Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Harley Davidson can be traced back to 1901 when William S. Harley designed a plan for a small engine (~116 cc) that would fit into a bicycle. With help from his childhood friend Arthur Davidson they created a motor-bicycle at a friend’s nearby machine shop. Although somewhat of a failure due to its lack of power to overcome Milwaukee’s steep hills it gave them a valuable learning experience which they then parlayed into a new prototype in 1904 and their first "real"” motorcycle in 1905. (HD produced 3 single cylinder 25 cubic-inch "motorcycles" in 1903 which is the year that HD considers to be their birth date - Ed) 

Fast forward over a century and you have a bike that William S. Harley and the brothers Walter, William and Arthur Davidson could probably never have imagined: The 2009 V-Rod Muscle. The V-Rod VRSC (VR= Revolution motor - SC = Street custom) line was introduced in 2001 for the 2002 model year. Since then changes have been implemented to keep pace with modern technology and new approaches to design.

The V-Rod Muscle's style is certainly distinctive starting in the front with the air box cover, trimmed fender, faux wire mesh air intakes, large radiator shroud and integrated LED turn signals in the mirror stems. In the rear a chopped fender with integrated LED turn signals/stop light and side mounted license plate finishes the look of the Muscle.

With a seat height of only 25.6 in. flat footed the V-Rod shouldn’t be an issue even for those sub six footers. The seat is a new design that is only found on the Muscle. Like every other V-Rod though you still need to get off the bike and lift the seat to access the fuel filler cap. This particular V-Rod Muscle had an accessory "sissy bar" for the rear seat passenger.
 
At the heart of the V-Rod is a 1,250cc Revolution Engine designed by Harley Davidson's Powertrain Engineering team and Porsche’s engineering team in Stuttgart, Germany. It is a liquid cooled, dual overhead cam, internally counterbalanced 60 degree V-twin engine producing ~120 HP at 8,250 rpm (redline: 9,000) and 86 ft lbs of torque at 6,500 rpm. This massive engine is rubber-mounted in a hydro formed steel perimeter frame to reduce vibration.

Whack the throttle and the V-Rod hustles to 60 mph quickly for a 673 lb. motorcycle (full of fluids). Third gear at 5,000 rpm is sheer bliss and I found it perfect for either around town riding or cruising on the highway. Sure there are two more gears left but trust me, keep it in third between 5-7,000 rpm and you’ll be as close to heaven as you can come without actually seeing the pearly gates.

The V-Rod utilizes Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI). Unfortunately the throttle sometimes stuck in the open position and none of the adjustments I made seemed to help. Even when I didn’t experience that problem I still had to grab almost two fistfuls of throttle to reach maximum rpm’s and that was cumbersome. I think there’s a balance between too much throttle sensitivity and a total dead zone but the V-Rod hasn't found it and falls into the latter category.