Words and pics by Alastair Walker
The 2008 Harley-Davidson Night Rod is a special edition of its drag race inspired V-Rod machine, with some extra blingy bits – moody black paintwork, red coachline on the wheels, restyled saddle etc.
All well and good but it’s the 121bhp, fuel injected, 1130cc V-Twin motor that makes this bike a real kick-ass slice of Americana to ride. The Night Rod is ferociously quick off the line, and there’s no shortage of grip from the 240mm wide Dunlop rear tyre.
Because it looks like a typical cruiser/lowrider to the average Joe in his Vectra, nobody expects the thing to take off like a space shuttle. So traffic light GP starts are a big part of the fun. Its dark, slightly rakish looks also have an appeal for ladies – especially non-biking women - who just see the Harley badge, a Black Magic dark motorbike and a dramatically dressed rider.
You see, wearing kit that’s a bit out of the ordinary would be compulsory on this bike. Full face lid and basic leathers would be so wrong – even if it is the safest option. No, think Lemmy from Motorhead crossed with Aragorn from Lord of The Rings, and you’ve got the right outifit for the Night Rod.
Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t just a posers bike, but ageing attention seekers like me will love the Night Rod.
Bit of a Hot Rod
Like a customised Mustang, Dodge Viper or maybe a 70s Corvette muscle car, the Night Rod has the kind of instant lunge that really stirs the blood. With a motor designed by Porsche you’d expect that. But it handles and stops decently as well.
Harley have blended some modern technology with their good ol’ fashioned twin cylinder grunt. Hydro-formed frame rails ( it means bent and folded under water pressure ) and exhausts curve with an engineering precision that shows you why this bike costs over 11 grand.
There’s triple Brembo brakes, digital fuel injection, self-cancelling indicators, proximity activated security device – the Night Rod has plenty of slick features for the money. But it still has some soul, a lairy kind of edginess too.
The boys who raced Hogs along Hollister’s main street, way back in the 40s, inspiring `The Wild One’ movie, would have loved this grunty missile.
However, truth is, the Night Rod is hard to handle sometimes, with its kicked-out forks. U-turns can take longer than reading a Harry Potter book to a seven year old.
It also weighs a bit more than some of its rivals and it could use a better heat shield on the curvaceous exhausts. My leg kept burning through my Gericke Tricky leather pants – not nice having to set your foot at some odd angle on the footrest, just so you don’t BBQ your calf muscle…
Buy One or Bye-Bye?
OK, so it isn’t a practical bike you can use every day – at heart, this moody looking mother is for sunny Sundays only. The Night Rod uses unleaded at a fair old rate once you open the throttle as well – but then who wouldn’t when there’s all that oomph ready to be deployed?
Rivals include the awesome M1800R Suzuki, which is cheaper and also looks like it came from NASA’s R & D lab. But the Suzi might depreciate faster than the Night Rod…? Then there’s Yamaha’s new V-Max in the pipeline, with an Autumn 08 launch on the cards.
That could be well worth waiting for, depending on the V-Max’s RRP, but for now, I think the Night Rod is still The Daddy when it comes to performance cruisers.
Test bike supplied by; Harley Davidson UK
Related Link:
www.harleydavidson.com
