RoadCarver Motorcycle Reviews
2004 Harley Davidson Softail Deuce & VROD
Take two bikes from the Harley range carrying roughly the same $30k price tag – and you really are comparing apples and oranges. Best is to see what you get for that fat wad of dough.
Who would pay $30k for a bike? Plenty actually. Hd’s sales seems to be breaking records left right and centre. So if you want the damn price to come down, stop buying them!!
Both of these bikes look and feel like a yearly pay packet in the flesh. For head turners, you won’t find much better unless you have a topless blonde on the back of it.
The Deuce appeals more to the traditionalists and the VROD catches the attention of just about everyone, especially the Star Trek buffs.
The Deuce is a big bike by all standards, but visually is slimmed down by the light raked forked and stretched tank. Compared to lets say a Fat boy, it looks like the younger, slimmer brother of the family, but take a look at the numbers and there’s not a massive difference.
Plenty of chrome all over the shop – perhaps too much - if there is such a thing on a Harley. This was a problem on the deuce if you had the sun overhead. The light would reflect off the flat riser straight into to your face often enough to be annoying – but hey at least you’ll get an even tan. This thing is extremely well finished off right down to the last bolt. No loose fittings or rattles here.
Ergos are pretty similar - Feet forward, easy rider that is comfortable (not to mention cool) but puts a fair bit of pressure on your tailbone. Riders with longer arms will find these positions more natural.
Fire the beast up stock standard and most Harley lovers will be disappointed as the engine sounds fine but is pretty quiet. You’d have trouble convincing the novice that you have a quiet Harley. No choke to fiddle with being EFI and it works great. No drama starting at all and the engine runs really smooth – again maybe a tad to much for the traditionalist. There are plenty of window smashing pipes available for you to fit on the Deuce, so loud bike lovers can rest easy.
One thing we were all really impressed with was the quality and feel of the controls. No crap plastic fiddly buttons in sight. Grips, break levers and indicators all had a chunky smooth feel with a seemingly unbreakable finish. 5 stars all round here for quality.
Out on the road both bikes had had thundering power, but obviously with such a difference in engine technology the power delivery was poles apart. The VROD begs to be abused, pulling hard and fast, roaring all the way to the 9k rpm redline. Even after two days on the bike and 700kms, it was always a surprise how much the VROD hammered.
The Deuce on the flip side, pulled like a freight train; smooth, quiet and deceptively fast. It was a lot easier to remember your speed on the VROD with all that roaring going on. Stock standard the new Deuce is actually quite a strain to hear wile riding unless you really give it a flogging.
We thought the Deuce was fast until giving the Rod a Wrap, but it is unfair to compare them being in opposite end of the riding spectrum.
We all expected the VROD to handle well, and it did, apart from the limited ground clearance on the right side – but the Deuce was a bolt from the blue in the handline department. While no sports bike, the Deuce seemed to have endless ground clearance….Way better than the VROD in fact and I don’t even know if any of us managed to scrape the thing. This is usually a big issue on cruisers and teds to be a nuisance to see sparks flying at the slightest corners.
In the numbers, the deuce doesn’t seem to be high at all, and looking at it you’d be afraid to go over the average speed hump…so buggered if I know how they did it, but who cares – it’s great. It has one of the highest lean angles among the Harley Line-up. The Deuce held its line really well and the cornering at speed initially fel more natural than the VROD that just flopped into the corners. This aspect of the VROD was a bit unnerving to begin with, but disappeared with a bit of time on the saddle.
The Deuce, being a big bike was a reasonable handful at slow speeds and in the car park. The VROD was no lightweight either, so buying either of these bikes for the daily peak hour commute would not be ideal – but always possible! Once moving though, the pounds floated into thin air. Ground clearance on the ROD was a little disappointing but not such a regular problem to cause you grief. Both rides has firm shocks that soaked up the bumps well. It was only at high speeds that the Deuce wallowed around a little bit, but again we were wrapped with its stability and could ride through bends at speeds unheard of on most older HD models.
After eating up some solid km’s we established that “fuel economy” and “VROD” are not to appear in the same sentence. Plainly put, on the VROD the range is a shocker. Understandable when you look at the size and shape of the tank under the seat. The thing that looks like the tank is the air box. This peanut tank combined with the highest performing HD engine to date keeps you friends with the fuel pump at regular intervals. Unless you plan to cruise around Australia this probably won’t be too much of a hassle because your butt always welcomes a break from the firm seat.
The Deuce’s range was excellent; I reckon we filled up the VROD 3 times to the one full tank on the Deuce. Really great economy for the 1450 contraption letting you easily do 300kms on a tank while cruising.
In a classic Harley fashion, the Deuce had a sledgehammer gearbox. We are used to HD’s needing a bit of oomph to shift, but the Deuce seems extra clunky. Some might like it, because you can be certain when you change gears and there is nothing flimsy about it. Far from smooth though. Having the torque spread on the Deuce the only time you really need to do the changing is at the lights. The ROD had it sorted, a solid change but smooth and precise.
Testing the lights in the evening, we found the VROD had a cracker of a headlamp. Probably the strongest we’ve seen that kept us wandering if it was legal. It put up a bright white wall of lite in a solid 90 degree band. In comparison, the Deuce was pretty average but sufficient. Even in the day you could see a massive difference in the strength of the two lights.
All up, both great bikes with a hell of a lot off appeal if you have the budget for this end of the market. If you are just looking for performance, the VROD is your bike. The Deuce is for the customer that has known HD for the bikes that made them a success, but wants it in a updated / refined package.
Bike Supplied by Harley Australia and the Good people at Blacktown Harley.
