Modern Vespa

Or maybe 'solid' wheels

(two types)

Very K.I.T.T.

Those look really heavy. I'd rather reduce unsprung and rotational weight than increase it.

depends how they made ... you are forgetting the thickness of the spokes

You're correct. They may be lighter than OEM wheels. If I'm spending the money to upgrade my wheels, they have to be lighter. They also have to look better. Of course that's subjective. But these don't look better to my eye.

HD Corse has made some really nice stuff in the past but these ain't ones. I'd rather go for the new rims by SC which are road legal too...

I know with motorcycles like HD Fatboy, solid wheels are sketchy on windy days especially crossing bridges and the like...

Yup. Same issue with the early V-Rods.

Correct, forgot about the Vrod....

Yuck.

Wheel covers

Trixie owned a 2003 V-Rod for a couple seasons about a decade ago, but I don't recall it being especially effected by crosswinds, though I'd need to ride one again in a sidewind to refresh my thoughts on that.

No doubt it's very long wheelbase and relatively low center of gravity may have minimized some of the potential negative effects of wind on it's solid wheels.

However, now that I think about it, I can remember that the solid wheels on her V-Rod could make for some added 'squirreliness' from the turbulence when passing a semi out on the Interstate highway.

She didn't learn to love her V-Rod, and thought of it as rolling art rather than a satisfactorily
functional machine. She absolutely hates forward foot controls on motorcycles, and struggled with the stock arrangement, finally spending hundreds on a mid-control setup, which moved them back sufficiently but stuck out so far that they were a real hazard when leaning into corners.

I owned a 1997 Fatboy and a 2004 VRod. I sure did not like those solid wheels. Crosswinds were very noticeable, especially big gusts.

Well, at least they were easy to clean.

Yes, they were.

I will say that I'm more than happy with the stock silver alloy wheels on my GTS, finding them attractive, and clean up like they were Teflon...which is fortunate because the rear wheel is amazingly dirty again in a very short distance. It's kind of 'special' in that way.

Sounds about right. As someone who used to have a painting of a V-Rod over his bed, I get it.

As someone who also used to use it as his primary vehicle and commute to work and back on it every day, I also get it. It's a lot to wrangle, and it's a motorcycle that WANTS TO GO.

It's not fun to try to contain. Those earlier ones, before they added the slipper clutch, that lever is so strong it'll give you forearms like your favorite 'roided up 80s wrestler.

It's impractical in every aspect. The battery takes 5 minutes to get to, you can't even fit a magnetic tank bag to it because it uses aluminum instead of steel, nowhere appropriate for tie downs, 18" rear is hard to find a lot of options for, mine was originally matte black (aka good luck keeping it clean)... The bike is bougie as fuck.



It sure as heck isn't fuel efficient, especially when you get yours mapped and dyno'd (although that does help it a lot at really low RPM vs stock). And because it only takes premium, it was basically almost as expensive to run per mile as my 4 cylinder Jeep.



Of the dozens of motorcycles I've owned, the V-Rod was admittedly not be the best, but she was by far my favorite.

Never would have guessed there were so many Vespa & V-Rod owners!
The bikes are practically polar opposites, but I guess that's why having one of each in the garage is perfect: Everything one is great at, the other, not so much, and vice-versa. Together they check a lot of boxes.

I think you may be on to something there!

Trixie ended up liking to look at it more than she did riding it, and it certainly did seem like a thirsty booger, aggravated by it's relatively small fuel capacity.

I'm almost certain that I could see the fuel gauge needle drop after a hard windup of the engine.

One thing that I'm convinced of concerning
this bike however is that it had a nicely performing engine that Harley completely dropped the ball on by not offering it in a more standardly configured chassis that would likely have significantly broadened its appeal beyond the non-Harley camp. I know they made a half-assed effort with the rather awkward and short-lived Street-Rod 'cafe' version, but it could have been much better than it was if it's full potential had been realized by HD.

On the other hand, they stuck with the V-Rod for at least a decade, so in spite of the negative scuttlebutt of the HD hardcore, it WAS a successful machine.

I wax poetic about this here:

If you get bored or need something to watch on your next poop break, unzip your pants and check me out lol

Besides the solid wheels, the small tank was one of my biggest complaints with the VRod also. I had to fill it up just about every time I took it out. I also felt the handlebars were at a weird wrist angle and I could not adjust them properly. Oh, and plus the seat. That bike didn't last too long in my garage.

Your Rocket is sure a beauty. My days of big heavy bikes are sadly behind me.

I will. Best offer I've had all year.

to me there is only one wheel rim God on the road and that are the classic Zelionis! unfortunatelly not produced any more

Enjoyed the video very much, excellent work, and I think you fairly assess the V-Rod.

My Rocket 3R came with the also excellent Avon Cobra tires, and they lasted on that 700 pound bike about ten thousand miles and it would handle and corner much better than one would think it might with that 240mm rear tire.

When it came to replace them both, I balked at the $500+ price asked for that OEM rear Avon and instead bought a Bridgestone 240 for it, and a Metzler front tire.

The Bridgestone rear was 55mm in height versus the Avon's 50mm, and as a result the Triumph does not quite corner as well as it did with the original tires, and I suspect that the slightly taller Bridgestone changed the bike's geometry enough to negatively alter it's characteristics.

It's ok, just not as sharp as it originally was.

Thanks! Is it 55 height or 55 aspect ratio? I raised the suspension half an inch on my Bonneville and it made a huge difference. Little changes go a long way.

Dude, is this 'art' over the headboard in your bedroom or some boutique hotel? Please say hotel. Either way, no. No. NO. TMI!

We're judging and shitting on people's homes now? Seems like a trashy thing to do but ok, I'll play your game.

I bought a three bedroom detached house in Toronto on my own when I was 25 years old. Yes, that was my bedroom.



Now it's your turn. You show me what the bedroom of the house you owned at 25 years old looked like.

YOU HAD TO ASK DIDN'T YOU?

If I had to guess, I would guess that Shebalba was being tongue-in-cheek here. I wouldn't take it quite so seriously.

Yikes! I was 100% joking at knowing an intimate detail about your sleeping quarters.

I apologize if I offended you.

My bedroom...as viewed from my wife's.

Solid wheels
Anyone machined vespa 5 spoke wheels into ten spokes ?
I'm wondering if you can machine the middle of each spoke for that custom look and save weight and save money over a pair of new wheels

Keep posting JB its the little things like this that give me a daily smile

Yeah, they're not good but they are ugly.

For all the complaints about the V-Rod, I was surprised it lasted as long as it did. I never owned one but rode a buddy's V-Rod one day when we switched off bikes on a day trip and was very impressed. I can only guess that the same people that gave it the thumbs down couldn't figure out that the machine was HD's version of a hot rod and it wasn't meant to practical - just pure fun. I hope they have better luck on the Revolution engine.

go look at the gts '2023' wheels

gross.

what's next some Brabus Monoblock II Blades?

those look like they belong on some jamoke's 1992 560SE who sells stepped on coke at the bikini bar

How about these??