Friend and fellow rider Brian also participated in the recent Harley Demo Day at South Side Harley. He rode the Night Rod Special.
His report: "Pretty much the same configuration as the VRSCAX I rode last year, except a funky little shield above the panel, and that black and orange paint job.
His report: "Pretty much the same configuration as the VRSCAX I rode last year, except a funky little shield above the panel, and that black and orange paint job.
"I liked it a lot. Haven't ridden cruiser style much, so it took me half the ride to figure how to get my feet of the ground.
"Had lots of power, and wasn't Harley loud."
Musings on the nature of Motorcycle Reviews...
Brian is pretty laconic in his review, but it still contained some useful information. As the owner of a BMW R1150R, Brian's favorable review of the power is noteworthy. It helps to know where the author is coming from. If it had been reviewed by someone whose regular ride was a VT500 shadow, I'd say the reviewer would be "easier to impress" in the power department than the author whose regular ride is a larger, more powerful bike.
Regular reviewers, professional authors who ride bikes and write about it for a living, are able to draw from a wider basis of comparison than your average rider. But, I imagine, it helps to know the biases or the preferences of the author when reading their review. Those are a little harder to discern. Journalists strive for objectivity, or the appearance thereof, though as humans we cannot help but retain, at our core, simple, subjective feelings that color -- to some extent -- even our so-called objective reports.
Back to the example at hand, Brian's not really a Harley fan. He's happy to have as his daily ride, something different than the plentiful Harley cruiser. So, for him to overcome this neutral or slightly negative view of Harley Davidson to write favorable remarks about the Night Rod -- this also says something.
It must be good. They must be doing something right. To lure someone who typically would not consider a Harley Davidson into test driving the bike, and afterwards, to have only positive things to say.
Will this translate into sales for Harley Davidson? Penetration of a new market segment? That is their hope for the V-Rod line. Will it work?
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