German Custom Shop Creates VRSC Sun Rod

A Night Rod reimagined for the roaring ’20s.

We’ve featured the work of German custom bike builders Thunderbike before. Thunderbike builds the kind of stuff we wish that the factory would. Their creations are subtle and sensational, all at the same time, and all of the visual upgrades work with each other seamlessly. It’s clear that their creations are very well thought-out. Thunderbike really seems to have an eye for detail.

Auto Evolution turned us on to their latest creation, which is based on a 2006 to 2008 Night Rod, a variant of the VRSC V-Rod. Thunderbike dubs their custom creation the Sun Rod.

It looks as though it came straight out of an alternate universe in which Harley-Davidson didn’t stop V-Rod production in 2017, instead modernizing the bike and reintroducing the Night Rod. That sounds like a great idea to us, actually. We hope that the folks in Milwaukee are paying attention.

Attention to Detail

The big changes on this Night Rod are the air ride rear suspension, the massive rear wheel, and the exhaust. Several small detail changes, like controls and turn signals, make up the rest of the package. Apparently, the upgrades cost roughly $4,400.

While that money would buy you a decent used bike, it wouldn’t get you one nearly this nice. Like we said, this thing looks like it could have rolled off of the assembly line yesterday. We wish it did – we really miss the V-Rod.

Many custom bike builders go way over the top, and honestly, we love those kinds of builds. They’re a total flight of fancy, an out of this world creation the likes of which we’ve never seen.

At the same time, we like the more subtle stuff like this, something that looks like it could be a factory bike – or something we could build in our garage if we had the talent.

We know why they dubbed this one the Sun Rod. Youd want to make sure you brought this thing out in the daylight, so that everyone could see it. Sometimes, it’s okay to be a bit of a showoff.

Photos: Auto Evolution/Thunderbike

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Cameron Vanderhorst

Cam VanDerHorst has been a contributor to Internet Brands' Auto Group sites for over three years, with his byline appearing on Ford Truck Enthusiasts, Corvette Forum, JK Forum, and Harley-Davidson Forums, among others. In that time, he's also contributed to Autoweek, The Drive, and Scale Auto Magazine.

He bought his first car at age 14 -- a 1978 Ford Mustang II -- and since then he’s amassed an impressive and diverse collection of cars, trucks, and motorcycles, including a 1996 Ford Mustang SVT Mystic Cobra (#683) and a classic air-cooled Porsche 911.

In addition to writing about cars and wrenching on them in his spare time, he enjoys playing music (drums and ukulele), building model cars, and tending to his chickens.

You can follow Cam, his cars, his bikes, and his chickens at @camvanderhorst on Instagram.

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