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.
Feeling deflated as I contemplated my stupidity, I called around all the car hire companies in Melbourne, Australia looking for a fun car to rent for a road trip along the Great Ocean Road. Even that wasn’t working out because I wanted a convertible, and of course everything over there is air conditioned so very few convertibles were available. Ok, the reason for my discontent? Well I was here in Melbourne just a couple of hours drive from Philip Island where they were running track days that week! I’d known this for months, yet chose to leave it until the last minute and now there was no places left. Being on the waiting list for the last few days was to no avail, and my consolation was going to have to be a PT Cruiser convertible instead.