JRoc- if you prefer the Roadline to the Road King, more power to you. I prefer the Road King. Each to their own. The Roadliner compared well to the Road King, but what about other Japanese manufacturers, and what about other Harley models? Again, name me 21 Japanese cruisers with motors 1600ccs or larger, and fuel injection, and 6-speed transmissions. How about naming 10? Or 5? How about even 1? Name me five Japanese touring models with 1600cc motors or larger, fuel injection, 6-speed transmissions, cruise control, fairings, and lockable hard bags. Other than the Gold Wing, there isn't one of those either.
As for your opinion that the V-rod would get blown away by a metric cruiser, let's look at the numbers, all by the same testers:
MEASURED TOP SPEED
V-Rod: 137mph
M109: 128mph
Warrior: 125 MPH
0 - 1/4 MILE
V-Rod: 11.38sec
M109: 11.62sec
Warrior: 12.25sec
0-60MPH
V-Rod: 3.52sec
M109: 3.65sec
Warrior: 3.93
0-100MPH
V-Rod: 8.22sec
M109: 8.87sec
Warrior: N/A
POWER TO WEIGHT
V-Rod: 1:5.99
M109: 1:7.26
Warror: 1:9.10
BRAKING 60-0 MPH (FEET)
V-Rod: 109.5
Warrior: 114.5
M109: 135.4
Oops. Looks like the Warrior is a poor third. In every measure of peformance the V-rod is tops despite being 40% smaller, and other than braking the Warrior is behind the Suzuki M109 also. And you don't really want to open the aftermarket performance can of worms- you can walk up to the parts counter at the Harley dealership and order a 165HP V-rod crate motor, and racers are getting 200+ HP out of them.
No large fuel injected Japanese cruiser has a 6-speed. No Japanese touring bike other than the Goldwing has a large displacement motor, 6-speed, cruiser control, locking hard bags, a fairing, a radio, and other touring features found on Harleys. Which is why Harley is on a pace to sell nearly 5 times as many cruiser and touring bikes as Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Suzuki combined.
And Japan is taking notice. The new Suzuki C109T will have locking hard bags (FINALLY!) and maybe even a real fairing. Electronic cruise control may be an option. That would certainly compete better than the C90 does. I'd seriously consider a touring version of the Roadliner, should they equip it to compete with the Electra Glide Standard or Classic.
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Last edited by DrBob; 02-06-2007 at 02:18 PM.
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