"That's not a bike, it's a mid-life crisis!" were the words uttered in disbelief by so many of our unenlightened friends when they first clapped eyes on the latest addition to our stable. Whilst not quite the religious experience claimed by some when taking delivery of their first Harley-Davidson motorcycle, it certainly represented the launch pad for of what will probably be a lifelong journey. Two phrases are popularly associated with Harley-Davidson ownership:

General Motors is acknowledged as the world's largest car company with revenues exceeding the Gross National Product of many countries. The Harley-Davidson Motor Company™is even bigger than General Motors! H.O.G., the Harley Owners Group is the factory-endorsed official owners' club. It has over 500,000 members worldwide and is by far the biggest owners' club of any of the automotive marques. We see ourselves as members of a huge family. Many are so loyal they tattoo the company's Bar & Shield logo on their bodies as an act of devotion. I don't think I've ever seen a Honda owner do that!

Our first Harleys were a pair of FXDWGs, better known as Dyna Wide Glides. This model took its styling cues from the chopper, a bike customised in the Easyrider style of the 60's. Whilst our bikes looked identical upon arrival, such is the penchant for the Harley owner to personalise his bike, they became two very different animals in a short space of time.

Bron's States Blue Wide Glide followed the original lines adding more obligatory chrome and changing the exhaust to give the impression of a longer bike. The 3-D skull air cleaner cover gave the bike a harder image.

My Cobalt Blue Wide Glide sported a single seat, super-thick pullback handlebars and pseudo upside down forks. Chrome was liberally added just about everywhere.

In 2002 Harley-Davidson released their first water-cooled bike. The engine came from their circuit racing bike which they gave to Porsche to detune and make suitable for the street. The resultant VRSCA V-Rod turned the motorcycling world on its head! They had unleashed one of the fastest accelerating road bikes on the planet. And the styling was just drop-dead gorgeous. The demand for the bike was such that the first available models were trading privately for up to 50% more than their retail price! It was immediately bye-bye Wide Glides for us. Bron was lucky enough to get one of the first bikes to arrive in the country. I remember taking it down to Covent Garden one Sunday afternoon - it caused a veritable riot with people trying to photograph it! I held back from changing my Wide Glide for a further 6 months until the 100th anniversary model arrived, again in a quest to differentiate the bikes slightly.

It was not long before the personalisation bug had bitten again and Bron's bike was treated, amongst other things, to a red ghost flames paint job. Trying to preserve much of the limited-edition 100th anniversary styling, I opted to just swop my airbox cover for a one-off custom-painted variant of my own design. Et voilà! - two very different V-Rods.

Probably because of their price, even 3 years on, V-Rods are still a somewhat rare sight on the road. Two together are guaranteed to cause a stir wherever they go. Keep an eye out for "Too HOT" and "Too BAD". They shouldn't be Too HARD Too MISS.

© TUF E. NUF Productions 2005