THIS TOTALLY WORKED ROD COMES FULLY LOADED AND READY TO RUMBLE...
- Story by Doc @ Heavy Duty Magazine - Pics by Lou Martin

Hot as a Pistol, Keen as a Blade. That was the title of a 2006 release DVD featuring Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint, but I reckon it suits this hot-as-a-bunch-of-chilli peppers bike so well I stole it. Reviewers of the DVD said that the horn players were “out of this world”, and I think you could make a case that this sexy, sassy orange ’Rod is right there with ’em. Horny too. And just like the horns in the DVD, this V-Rod is also blown.How blown you ask? Well how about 150 prancing ponies at the rear wheel, proven on a Dynojet 250 dyno? That’s blown with a capital ‘B’ … Twist the wick and hold on baby, ’cos you’re heading for the stratosphere at warp speed.

This is a V-Rod on steroids; a seriously pumped muscle bike ready to demonstrate some ’roid rage by shredding the rear tyre with a mere flick of the twist grip. This is a bike whose stance spells ‘go’ and whose colour spells ‘danger’ – it’s ready to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. From the inverted Mean Street forks up front to the legendary Legend Air suspension at the rear, this bike has attitude – attitude plus – written all over it.

This is a V-Rod that’s received heaps of attention both cosmetically and thematically, and it’s one which has also spent serious time in the Department of Insane Horsepower. At the heart of this orange flash is the double overhead cam V-Rod engine, no slouch in its own right, but in this instance it's copped a Trask Turbo, fitted by Chopperworks chief, Jeff Richardson. Ah yes, Trask Turbo, another example of engineering genius hailing from the Land of the Long White Cloud. Yes folks, Nick Trask, turbocharging mastermind, hails from the Bay of Islands, but moved to the USA to get his business squarely centred on the world horsepower stage.

When you have a spare moment check out the Trask site (www.turboyourharley.com), where you’ll find a complete history of the product and plenty of useful information. But for those of you who may be somewhat new to the incessant search for ever more horsepower, I’ll quote a small section on turbocharging from the Trask website in the accompanying sidebar (opposite). But let’s wind back a bit and look at the bike, section by section.

Firstly the frame – which at a casual glance might appear to be the stock silver finish – but isn’t. No sir, the frame has been chromed in its entirety for an unusual but very fitting touch. And so as not to be outdone in the Department of Shiny Things, we find that the swingarm has also been chrome plated.

Up front in pride of place are those massive Mean Street forks – they’ve got a diameter of 56mm and have been fitted with a Chopperworks custom front guard; a Renegade Newport wheel sits snugly underneath. Bolted to that wheel is a pair of Renegade brake rotors ready to be grabbed by twin calipers from Lumpkin County Parkway in Dahlonega, Georgia, where brake engineering maestro Mark Thompson and his crew at Hawg Halters Inc manufacture some of the sleekest and sexiest calipers to be found anywhere. Hawg Halters not only look good, but they work a treat too.

A top shelf customising job needs top shelf parts all the way, and when we think of top shelf headlights there’s only on decision to make: which Headwinds headlight to use. Old mate Joel Felty is the founder of Headwinds and was the first to perfect the custom spun billet headlight. Joel is considered by many to be the ‘Godfather’ of custom headlights and his lights dress up many a bike worldwide.

Topping the forks is a set of – what else? – Burleigh bars, the Aussie standard for tough-as-nails bars that also look damn good. This set features 1.75in diameter tubing to perfectly complement the fat forks. Mirrors are given a token nod to legality with a pair of nicely styled Heartland USA items, although I think they’d be more useful to check out your wrist hair patterns than what’s behind. But they look cool and besides, you don’t really need any on a bike this fast, do you?

Performance Machine’s cool Contour Machined grips add the final custom touch to the handlebars, wrapped as they are in genuine Renthal rubber. What’s so hot about Renthal rubber, I hear you ask? Well Renthal rubber is an advanced synthetic rubber compound, specially formulated to achieve the optimum combination of strength, tackiness and shock absorption. The proprietary technology used in making the rubber ensures the maximum retention of tackiness under exposure to sunlight and weather, and its raised diamond surface pattern provides excellent feel and really soaks up the vibes. Besides, when you’ve got a turbo strapped to a V-Rod, you need all the grip you can get! With the Hanging on for Dear Life Department under control, there needs to be a stylish solution to resting the feet, changing the gears, braking and so on, and this wasfound by fitting Performance Machine forward controls and footpegs, which sweetly combine style and function.

Now one of the controversial aspects of the original VRod’s styling is the clamshell instrument cluster, which on stockers sits way up top. However, move it somewhere else and incorporate it into the overall styling of the bike, as Jeff has done here, and you’ve found a solution that works well. In fact, I think the makeover of the whole airbox cover adds a great deal to the styling of this rampant orange ’Rod. With its dished intakes and multiple compound curves, this airbox cover has been taken to the next level of design with a sweet combination of form married to function, and is an aggressive makeover of the somewhat boring-by comparison stock unit.

Now let’s cast our minds back to the fact that this bike spools up horsepower at warp speed – provided you can achieve the desired effect from those wild ponies by getting it to hook up on the pavement. Sitting there spinning the rear wheel is good for burnout competitions and the occasional Friday night hoon display, but to launch hard and fast you need a good tyre contact patch. Hence the original 180mm rear rubber was swapped for a 240 of Metzeler’s best, wrapped around a Renegade Newport rear wheel and rotor. That fat back hoop sits under a Chopperworks rear guard, which adds to the clean, custom look of the bike and is helped by tucking the rego plate and taillight off to the left side of the rear axle, just forward of the Legend air suspension shockers. Those shocks have been canted to something of a crazy angle to enhance the ready-to-pounce look of this custom ’Rod.

TURBO 101: How does A
turbocharger work?

The engine produces exhaust gases that exit via the exhaust ports of the cylinder head. These gases flow through the exhaust manifold into a turbocharger, and then enter the turbine housing. The velocity of these gases spools (spins) a bladed propeller, called the turbine wheel. As this begins to spin, it turns and drives a common shaft. This shaft has another propeller-type wheel, called the compressor wheel, on the other end.

The compressor stage of the turbo begins to suck air in as the compressor wheel begins to spool. The compressor wheel spools faster and faster and the air becomes compressed, charged air. The faster the wheels spin, the faster the shaft speed, thus the greater the pressure. From the compressor stage of the turbine, the charged air exits at a greater velocity and makes its way to the intake side of the engine, through an intercooler, or simply the intake plumbing.

An intercooler is a huge heat exchanger, which is like a radiator, but for air. It cools the intake air temperature as it enters the engine. Because intercoolers have to be so large in size to work to their full potential, it is often hard, if not impossible, to plumb an intercooler to the side of a motorcycle without hurting the overall appearance of the bike.

As more air is forced into the motor, an additional amount of fuel must also be added. The amount of fuel must be proportionate to the amount of air that is supplied to the motor. More air, plus more fuel, equals more power. Turbo boost: a turbocharged engine revolves around one central idea and that is boost.

Boost is defined as the increase in manifold pressure above atmospheric pressure. Boost is a gauge measurement of a turbocharger compressor’s discharged pressure. This basically means the value (amount) of charge pressurised air coming out of the turbocharger. The higher the boost, the more air will be forced into the motor; therefore, more horsepower will be made. Boost is measured in PSI (pounds per square inch), or bar (inches in mercury level).

Courtesy of Trask website www.turboyourharley.com

GUTS & BOLTS ENGINE Capacity:...... ...70ci 2003 Revolution Cases/crank:................................. H-D Bore:.................................................3.9" Stroke:..............................................2.8" Compression:.............................11.3:1 Cams:...........................Dual overhead Valves:...........................Four per head Fuel system:....Electronic Sequential Port fuel injection Cooling system:........................Liquid Oil pump:...............Gerotor, wet sump Oil:...............................................Mobil 1 Ignition:.......................................... H-D Air cleaner/exhaust:.................. Trask Power:................ 150hp, dyno proven Maximum revs:..................... 9000rpm TRANSMISION Type:........2003 H-D VRSCA 5-speed Gearchange:....................................PM Clutch:............................................. H-D Primary:..........High contact ratio spur Rear:.........................................H-D belt SUSPENSION Front:.......Mean Street 56mm inverted Triple Trees:......................Mean Street Rear:.....................................Legend Air WHEELS & TYRES Wheels:............... Renegade Newport Tyre F:.............. Metzeler 120 21 x 3.25" Tyre R:.................Metzeler ME 880 240 Caliper F:........................Hawg Halters Caliper R:........................................ H-D Rotors:................................. Renegade Brakelines:..............Russell stainless FRAME Model:.......................H-D 2003 VRSCA Seat:.................................................. H-D controls Handlebars:....................Burleigh Bars Grips/levers:......................................PM Master cylinder:............................... H-D Switchgear:...................................... H-D Mirrors/taillight:........... Heartland USA Headlight:...........................Headwinds Footpegs:...........................................PM Master cylinder:............................... H-D Speedo/tacho/oil pressure: Reset in airbox cover by Chopperworks GUARDS & TINWORK Guards:...........................Chopperworks Air box cover:..................Chopperworks Paint:...............................House of Kolor Colour:.............................Candy Orange Painter:......... ......Steve (0412 720 952) Chrome:....Huntingdale Electroplaters

Now I’ve described this bike from front to back and right to left, and while there are many items and stylistic aspects to admire, at the heart of this heavily customised V-Rod we come back to that turbo, and the sinuous twists and snaky turns of its plumbing. The Trask turbo is right out there; you can’t miss it and you can’t mistake it. It shrieks horsepower, mechanicalness and toughness and is a metal sculpture in its own right, but when combined with the chrome frame and chrome-clad engine it’s pretty damn stunning from any angle. Sweetly complementing the chrome and polished alloy is the House of Kolor candy orange. Interestingly, psychologists say that orange, a close relative of red, sparks more controversy than any other hue. There is usually a strong positive or negative association to orange and true orange generally elicits a stronger “love it” or “hate it” response than any other colour. Which, when you think about it, is the same response the V-Rod family of Harleys generates among bikers. Jeff sends thanks all the guys at Chopperworks (www.chopperworks.com.au) and especially to Nathan. Now while Jeff and the Chopperworks crew had a whole lot of fun constructing this turbocharged beauty, there’s no doubt owner Darren has a whole lot more fun riding – or perhaps we should say piloting – this two wheeled hot rod. Article Courtesy of Heavy Duty Magazine