I picked up my bike on Friday. Here are some impressions I have in my first 350 miles. I fully expect this to be less of a story and more of a bunch of thoughts thrown down in this post. Please don't expect A+ composition/grammar/spelling. : )

A little background on my riding history. I started riding on a 2000 Honda Nighthawk 750. It was a pretty quick bike. Very easy to handle, kind of a jack-of-all-trades bike. It did everything well, but wasn't excellent in any category. I traded that in on 2006 FXSTI. I had the stage 1 done to this bike and had it dyno tuned. It made almost exactly 79HP and 79lb/ft torque after the tuning. Not too shabby forstage 1 88-incher. It also had the V&H BSS exhaust with the quiet baffles. even with the quiet baffles I set off car alarms. It rode well, but loafed around turns and could never be considered 'sporty" by any definition.

OK, so on the VRSCDX - WOW! I got the black denim paint with the vivid black stripes. I had no idea how much I was going to love this bike. I am still in the break-in so I have not had her over 7K RPMs, but the power is incredible, especially on the highway when rolling on. The handling is taking some getting used to though. I envisioned easier turning and smoother handling from a lower center of gravity, but I think the 240mm tire is slowing down the responsivness here. Perhaps I just need to get used to it...like I said, I am only 350 miles into life with this bike. By far, the most impressive aspect of the bike, to me, are the brakes. I was never happy with the FXST brakes. I could squeeze the hell outta them and never get the bite I wanted. The VRSCDX brakes are perfect.

Out on the open road, wind is not a problem. I thought for sure I would become a 6'2", 230 pound parachute out there, but anything under 80 MPH is easy for me to handle. I get looks everywhere I go and the three times I have filled up, people have walked over to talk about my bike with me. It really is an attention grabber. I love the fact that I have not seen another one on the road. I love Harleys, all Harleys, but I get tired of seeing the same old Softails and baggers everywhere I go and I didn't want to be another number, so I am thrilled with my decision.

I actually had a guy in a parking lot tell me my bike isn't a "real harley". I knew I'd hear this eventually- Not air-cooled, engine developed by Porshe, etc...I asked him why he thought that and he pointed to the engine being designed with Porshe. I asked him how that is possibly a BAD THING? He didn't have an answer except that it wasn't 100% American. Then he got into his Hyundai and drove away. I had to laugh.

OK, back to the riding report. I live in Milwaukee, so a lot of my driving is stop and go and I must say the clutch pull is about twice as difficult as my Softails. I didn't expect this. I will get used to it, but my hand was pretty damn tired by the end of the day. I like the stock seat...it seems to fit me well and I can't report any soreness or fatigue based on the seat. An hour on the highway did numb my hands with vibration though, something I have found to be impossible to avoid on any of the bikes I have owned, even the ultra smooth Honda inline-4 would cause the hands to numb over time. This is probably just a fact of life for bikes and something I can live with anyway. As for the exhaust. I like the sound when I'm on the throttle, but it really IS too quiet. I have gone back to keeping the engine a gear lower than normal to keep the engine screaming when I am around traffic...just like I used to do on the Honda. I want something between setting off car alarms and just enough for people to hear me while beside them or in a blind spot.

Lastly, I have been getting about 33 MPG.

 

nice report

how about a photo of your bike?

 

Glad you like it.

Not to get off on a different subject, but how old are you and what do you do for a living? The reason I ask is because the VRSC is probably the smmothest riding line of Harleys and the fact that you mentioned numbness of the hands makes me wonder if you're not suffering from a little CTS. My Dad's hands do that and he's on a Goldwing, but he is also mid Fifties and a carpenter. Might be something to have looked at. That or you have something wrong with the bike causing too much vibration.

Enjoy your ride and I would imagine that you will end up doing something with those pipes. I had to.

 

I am 31 years old and work a corporate job...so I don't expect there to be anything physically wrong with me. I played a lot of sports growing up and I lift weights regularly and have never had any issues with my hands or joints. The numbness only happens on the highway at high revs, maybe I just have really good nerves that are sensitive to vibration. Regardless, it certainly doesn't take away any enjoyment.

As for pipes...I'm sure one day I will be wanting to do some performance modifications. I assume that if I replace the exhaust and add a high flow Air filter, I will need to remap my ECU. I hadthe SErace tuner on my softail...I assume I'd need the same thing with whatever I choose to do...then I'd have to set up dyno time to make sure it is tuned properly.

I should be able to be satisfied with 120HP for a while.

 

The SERT is an excellent way to go, along with the PCIII or the Daytona Twin-Tec. I wouldn't go with any of the systems utilizing "pots", but I have heard that some are effective.

Now all you have to do is post some pictures.

 

I know what you mean about loving the new bike. I got mine on Saturday and it's rained here in the Dallas area every day since. I'm going crazy wanting to ride it, but I don't want to get it dirty yet! haha. I got the VRSCAW v-rod witholive pearl/vivid black paint just like on the brochure and web site. I've been going out to the garage to look at it about once an hour. The thing is a work of art.

The last bike I had was a Suzuki motocrosser when I was in college 25 years ago. I used to race a lot. The v-rod has forward pegs. My instict is still to put my feet right under me like on a motocross bike so I'm searchng for those pegs all the time. Funny how yourmindremembers even after 25 years.

I agree about the sound. I was worried that it would be too loud, but just the opposite (see my post "tab pipes?" in this forum). The dealer let me test drive a 2007 v-rod which they had added pipes that looked like those from the VRSCDX. Much nicer sound. They said they want $1,100 to install the same pipes on my bike. That seems a little pricy, plus I like the looks of those curved pipes I have now. Maybe I can remove the baffles like Easy suggests.

 

I have a backrest and removable luggage rack on backorder, as well as black hand levers. Right now, the only thing they had for me was the grips...took less than 10 minutes to install those.


Here are a couple pictures of my new ride:

 

Nice.

I have 900 miles on my bike ( 2007 VRod).

I had a Reinhardt exhaust system installed and really like it.

I hada small sissy bar installed and think I may want to replace it with a better backrest system. I'd think something like this;

http://www.harley-davidson.com/gma/g...bmLocale=en_US

CJKCyclone; do you have a link or photo of the backrest that you are considering?

[IMG]local://upfiles/26051/DE779DCFE26944A5B580AB4D244B9C58.jpg[/IMG]

 

My ol' lady says the the sissy bar you are looking at Rocks is alright, but it's clearly not for the long haul. I have three different sissy bars I interchange for their intended purposes.

That one is probably the best all-around sissy bar that combines some support with style. Can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

There is wisdom .

Thanks!