V-Rod vs. XS11

[randy]

Did a 150 mi run with a couple of buddies this Saturday. One of the guys had a V-Rod. With my freshly-mounted Dunlops I was taking it easy in the twisties, even though I had washed off most (?) of the mold release before going.

I gotta tell ya, that V-Rod really gave me a run for my money. It's really fast out of the gate. So I waited. I knew there was a two-mile upgrade coming and when we hit it, he was already wide open in a high gear. I dropped down to 2nd and gunned it. I was over the crest before he found the right gear, and man my helmet wasn't wide enough for my grin!.

One of the guys said later that he saw brown smoke coming out of my exhaust when I hit the top of the hill? Do you think it was carbon? I hope so. Well, I know I haven't had any smoke problems before or since, so I'm guessing I cleaned it out real good. First time i've had it past 7 grand. What a rush.

Can't wait for July 4. See ya!

[John]

You just smoked a V-Rod, that's where it came from. Well done, ol' chap!
It probably as a little carbon being blown out.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Randy,

A little group I sometimes ride with also has a V-rod rider. I was able to talk him into a little roll on test. We were already doing about 50mph, I was in 3rd, we nodded, and off we ran, I was with him until I ran out of rpms, didn't realize I had hit 8.5k so fast, and he pulled away a bit, hit 4th and was catching up to him when he decided to shut it down, almost ran over him I'm hoping for a rematch some time this year. They do have good torque, but it was my inexperience in racing that caused me not to shine!
I'm pretty sure if we did a start from stop, that I'd definitely blow him away! Congrats!
T.C.