| 2010 Harley-Davidson V-Rod Muscle |
 After about three weeks worth of horrible weather, I finally had a perfect day to drive down to the local Harley-Davidson shop and get my hands on the new 2010 Harley-Davidson V-Rod Muscle. I absolutely love the styling, HD opted to integrate the front indicators into the mirrors, at the rear your tail light is integrated into the fender, this creates an uncluttered look from the front and rear of the bike. HD’s website describes the exhausts as “Satin chrome, dual side exhaust system with turnouts”, to me they just look plain awesome. Instrumentation consists of a fuel gauge, speedo with an odo and a rev-counter. The top digits are a bit difficult to read in direct sunlight otherwise I cannot fault this interstellar cruiser’s cockpit. I really love the keyless ignition, you have a disc that you just keep in your pocket and when you’re on the bike simply fire it up. Walk more than 10 feet away from it, and the security system engages. If anyone tries to tamper with it, the alarm will sound.  Seat height is around 650mm and the first thing you notice after mounting the beast, is how much you have to lean forward to reach the handlebars. I always thought that I have long arms, but today I had to ride with my arms fully extended just to keep a firm grip. Obviously you can shift your bum a bit to the front, but with the raw accelerating power of the V-Rod Muscle you soon find yourself pinned to the back of the seat with only the small backrest keeping you in place. This is thanks to a 122bhp, liquid-cooled, Revolution, 60° V-Twin engine with a 1250cc displacement. The V-Rod is aptly named ‘Muscle’. The motor just keeps on going. Redline is at 9000rpm, but I doubt if anyone will have the guts or the need to exploit that. Two-up, uphill, in top gear, 120km/h, she ticks just shy of 4500rpm with loads more power instantly available. One would expect a bike of this size to handle clumsily. The Muscle weighs in at 303kg and total length is 2397mm. At the first bend I was a bit apprehensive and took it easy, ground clearance is 127mm and more  than enough to ensure a decent lean-angle. Even with my arms fully extended to reach the grips, the bike handled superbly. There is no need to throw it into a turn, no need to manhandle the bike. She effortlessly glides wherever you point the front wheel. The breaks are decent and so is the suspension, eating up any imperfection in the road with relative ease. The exhaust note is quite muted, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There is almost zero vibration through the entire bike, which makes not only makes your mirrors more stable, but reduces fatigue on long distances.The 2010 Harley-Davidson V-Rod Muscle is my new favourite hooligan bike. The exclusivity of owning a piece of HD engineering, combined with the awesome power of the engine, and the extreme, almost futuristic looks, make for a total package that is hard to beat. This bike would appeal to pretty much anyone. I’m so confident you’ll like it, that if you take it for a test-ride and afterwards you’re not ready to sign the cheque, I’ll eat my socks. 
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