2016 Harley-Davidson® V-Rod Muscle®

There’s a quarter-mile of asphalt in its family tree.

It took dragsters, superbikes, maybe even a little board track inspiration from deep in our racing heritage to bring together the motorcycle you see here. A liquid-cooled 60° V-twin engine ready to breathe a little fire onto the street where you live. A fat rear tire and styling details that scream American muscle. Some worry about the corrupting influence of absolute power. We say hit the gas and give it a try.

Take a good, long look at a V-Rod motorcycle. Massive rear tire. Low, aggressive profile. Dragstrip-inspired handlebar. If you have a hard time figuring out where the performance leaves off and pure style begins, you’ve got the right idea. The V-Rod family was our first line of liquid-cooled motorcycles, and when we experienced the explosive power of the Revolution engine we knew we had something very good on our hands. So we went deep into our racing heritage for the fire-breathing looks. The big 240mm rear tire enhances the dragster styling. It’s also the only way you’re going to harness all the off-the-line power. The pipes are a big part of the performance equation. They’re also proof that a performance exhaust doesn’t need to look like it’s welded out of coffee cans. Notice how even the radiator is styled to become part of the design instead of an interruption to the flow of the eye. Speed bumps, even of the visual variety, are not allowed.

Like everything on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, there’s a story behind the 1250cc Revolution engine powering the bikes in our V-Rod series. This one starts on the racetrack, with the company’s VR1000 superbike engine. Watching it roar around the track got the gears turning on a way to bring the same sort of high-end performance to the street. So the story takes us to Germany, and a unique collaboration with legendary automaker Porsche and their world-renowned team of engineers. The final result? Dual overhead cams. Four-valve heads. Liquid cooling. A velvety smooth delivery of power all the way up to redline. In short, the industry’s most perfect blend of torque and horsepower in a revolutionary high-revving V-Twin design. There couldn’t be anything more uniquely Harley-Davidson than that.

A machine like a V-Rod motorcycle doesn’t happen without putting massive amounts of technology into the effort. As you might guess, we do it our own way. The Revolution engine itself is not only a marvel of modern engineering and metallurgy, but of grueling performance tests. That’s how it delivers the ironclad durability and low-maintenance worthy of a Harley-Davidson V-Twin. The performance Brembo brakes also include an Anti-Locking (ABS) system. But we stylized the sensor, so you see the clean lines of the bike. With all that comes with a V-Rod motorcycle, you may want to take technology even further and add the optional H-D Smart Security System. Stick the fob on your ignition key ring and it arms and disarms the electronic security system automatically. One more example of the attention to detail that makes Harley-Davidson® motorcycles unique.

With all the power exploding out of the Revolution engine you expect a long list of enhanced handling features. And that’s what you get. It starts at the front end of your V-Rod motorcycle, with inverted forks. This is a racetrack inspired design that reduces the unsprung weight of the bike and keeps turning tight and responsive. Scrubbing off speed comes courtesy of high-performance Brembo brakes.