Harley-Davidson calls this the Revolution motor – and for once it's not media hype. In fact this is the Motor Company's first all-new engine since the prototype V-twin way back in 1908.
It was developed in conjunction with Porsche and is a derivative of the company's ill-fated VR1000 Superbike racing programme so can claim to be a genuine performance unit.
It's mounted in a chassis that doesn't look like any Harley you've ever seen, a sleek chrome-and-anodised aluminium perimeter frame with almost no decorative covers. It's unlike any of the Harley clones that have swamped the market in the decades since "Easy Rider" and is so avant-garde that it's almost a caricature of a futuristic cruiser.
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It’s so different from what most of the world thinks a Harley should look like that die-hard Hog riders the world over have said they won't buy one and at least one Harley-only motorcycle club in the US has voted not to admit V-Rod riders.
The V-Rod's makers intend to carve out a whole new market niche. Maybe that's because they're afraid their air-cooled clunkers will be shown up for what they are – dinosaurs.
And that's fine with Milwaukee – company management has stated that there is no intention to woo riders of traditional Hogs away from their laid-back lifestyle, from the image that sells more than 230 000 mechanical anachronisms every year to wannabe weekend warriors the world over.
The V-Rod's makers intend to carve out a whole new market niche to attract bikers who want to ride a uniquely American motorcycle bristling with state-of-the-art technology, riders for whom the alternative wouldn't be an air-cooled Harley but a Yamaha Road Warrior or BMW 1200C.
The V-Rod is built round its motor, a chunky liquid-cooled 1130cc V-twin with its cylinders set at 60°, distinctly oversquare at 100 x 72mm bore and stroke.
Counterbalanced for smooth running, it revs to 9000 and kicks out 86kW at 8250.
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