I came across this article at the odd-bike web site. It's an interesting read about the history of H-D's VR1000 road race bike. As you probably know, the VR1000's engine formed the basis for the engine in the now defunct Vrod. Here's the link to the article:

http://www.odd-bike.com/2016/03/harl...own-voice.html

The bike showed potential and was blessed with numerous really good riders. But bad luck and apparent H-D underfunding doomed the project. The take away is ya gotta pay big bucks if you want to play with the big boys. With that in mind, I hope H-D adequately funds their latest flat track effort so that they can be competitive with Polaris and Kawasaki.

 

Pascal was right with the pace. Only things like sensors and minor things messed up his chances.

If HD would have ironed out the bugs, Pascal might have been able to finish a race.

I came so close to buying a VR 1000 when they were first offered. (I think it was $50,000.)

 

Very good write up. My neighbor was part of the factory development team. The lucky SOB got to ride those things around SE Wisconsin. I heard a lot of stories about things mentioned in the article. I believe he said the gearbox ended up being a custom Getrag unit, but I could be mistaken. I forwarded it on to him. It will be interesting to get his take.

 

Was this the machine that was the reason behind the Talladega Test Facility?

http://automaniagp.com/1994HDvr1000.html

 

AMA Superbike was my favorite sporting event. I miss those days.

 

Damn....wish I had 75k laying around for a bike purchase.

 

Great read! I was at Road Atlanta, where Smith's VR crashed and burned. When I finally made it to the HD museum in Milwaukee last year, I saw several VR body panels on display in the basement, plus, a few bikes as well. It's hard to say how many VR's the MoCo has stashed away, since they have rows and rows a bikes on pallets.

 

Man that is a great read!

I can hear Don Tilley telling me that story. He did so much but he really was proud of what they accomplished with Lucider's Hammer. He told me he did not like the bikes name but felt it was okay since they had a rider named Church.

Don told me he really needed support and reached out to the factory but the money was just not there at the time. The original group that bought Harley back did give their blessings and they all signed a book and presented it to him demonstrating their support even though there was no money available. You can see that book in the display case at Tilley's Statesville.

Thanks for bringing back some memories. We sure miss Don.

 

Excuse me the V Rod is not defunct. They simply finished their projected 17 model quantities and the line will start up again for the 18 model year.

 

I love to watch the Moto GP, WSB, and ITT races . Would love to see HD back in the format.