vrod2

Each piston pushes down on a connecting rod that's located next to its neighbor, spinning the one-piece forged crankshaft. Automotive-style full pressure bearing journals keep things steady while a single crank driven forged steel counter weight balances out the vibes. Power makes its way to the ground through a five speed transmission that features a hydraulically operated nine plate wet clutch before it feeds out to the fat rear tire through the familiar belt drive.
The Revolution motor is rubber mounted in Harley's first steel perimeter frame. It features hydro-formed main rails, bolt-on lower frame rails and hangs a polished cast aluminum swing arm off the back. The 49 mm forks poke off the front of the V-Rod at a 38 degree angle, contributing to the bike's long 67.5 inch wheelbase.

Hanging off the front of this newest Harley is what some might consider another minor miracle among Harley cruisers -- dual 292 mm disc brakes, each grabbed by a four-piston caliper. One of the rotors and one caliper reside out back and, thankfully, nothing is linked.

After looking at the specifications, one of the things that stuck in our collective minds was the fact that this new Harley is supposed to be able to attain 32 degrees of lean angle -- this, from a company whose bikes rarely get past upright without something dragging.
Running the motor up between corners means those four-pot calipers get a workout at the end of every straight stretch of road. They do a good job though, and get things slowed enough with a decent two-finger squeeze of the lever to allow you to safely toss the bike on its side and rail towards an apex. You have to work (ride quite hard) to get the V-Rod to drag any hard parts on left handers. Right handers, however, will drop the bottom of the lower muffler to the pavement, though this happens far later than we thought it would having grown used to comparatively poor clearance on a number of other bikes.