Hey, I’m not dumping on V-Rods or their owners, matter of fact, it’s just the opposite. I actually am a fan of the engine and I’ve met a lot of V-Rodders who love their bike. The V-Rod engine after a major re-work by Porsche prior to production is a nice power plant in search of a purpose other than the VSRC versions you see getting dusty on showroom floors. I just wish development continued to produce something that isn’t yesterday’s newspaper even if yesterday’s newspaper was a particularly good one. It’s still yesterday’s news.
Luckily there are builders out there who’ve taken on the challenge of taking a V-Rod and taking it on a different journey other than adding some throw-over bags and a windshield. David Garwood of Garwood Custom Cycles in Lexington, North Carolina, is one of those take-a-chance V-Rod customizers and it’s a bit unusual as he’s known for his outrageously painted, fat-tired, extended-swingarm Hayabusas, not Harleys. Maybe that’s where new V-Rod inspiration has to come from ─ builders who have no set-in-stone Harley background.
In case you’re thinking that I’m suggesting The Motor Company build something like our feature bike, you would be dead wrong. But, you gotta admit this rather outrageous double-fat-tired piece of water-cooled Harley sure grabs your attention whether you like it or not. Obviously this is strictly a show motorcycle as I can’t even begin to fathom what it’d be like to ride on humungously wide 360mm tires front and rear. Even the track-focused beast of a Dodge Viper SRT TA sports slightly smaller tires and that’s on a car and not a bike. The only 360 tires I’ve ridden were at the back of a bike and I can’t honestly say I enjoyed riding them more than three or four feet. After that, it’s work!
Obviously David is not the eternal sissy I am and not only chucked one in a widened swingarm, but matched it up front just to make sure I know my place. Now it’s one thing installing one of those behemoths on the back and all the chain line and other problems to successfully pull it of, but up? That’s a whole ‘nother matter. First, you’ll never find a set of trees in anybody’s catalog I know of that are t-h-i-s w-id-e and if you do, I wouldn’t exactly suggest ordering them before you really think of what you’re getting in to. They are the redwoods of triple trees. But, if you’re like David, you’ll just have a set whipped up by some machinist who will keep asking if these are really the dimensions you want. Maybe this is just a case of making sure nobody notices there’s a radiator on board as the front end makes it look more oil coolerish than radiator. Possibly the first time in V-Rod history that the radiator would not be brought up in a conversation.
There definitely have been some cosmetic changes compared to stock and what’s been done is pretty decent all around, but it’s impossible to get by the wheels and tires and the necessities involved mounting them. Overall it’s an eye catcher in the retina-searing, almost-neon orange that David’s used to showcase his customized bodywork. Nobody at any show will walk by this bike and honestly be able to say they didn’t notice it and that’s one of the reasons it exists. If David’s the least bit interested in attracting attention from VSRC owners looking for a bit of customizing, his aptly-named bike he calls Juggernaut is a great calling card. Just in case you don’t know the meaning of juggernaut, here you go ─ “a massive inexorable force, campaign, movement, or object that crushes whatever is in its path.” Yeah, I’d say that’s not a bad moniker to hang on this roided out V-Rod that does what it does well, capture attention and hopefully make some other VRSC owners step up to the plate with a more rideable custom. I’m sure Garwood Custom Cycles has some less incredulous versions they’d love to do with the Harley that no one speaks of except in hushed tones.
For more info on Garwood Custom Cycles, visit www.garwoodcustomcycles.com/.