I BOUGHT The CHEAPEST and ROUGHEST Harley-Davidson V-ROD In The COUNTRY
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- čas přidán 16. 04. 2022
- I've always wanted a V-Rod, the ultimate Harley, power, looks, an engine designed with Porsche... so when a clean title one popped up for thousands less than I've ever seen one sell before I bought it in a heartbeat. This 2002 Harley-Davidson VRSC has had a very rough 34,000 mile life and it shows. Almost everything is broken or hurt except the motor and boy, oh boy does that engine run. Not a hint of vibration, after 20 years on the road, and it still makes good power. I'm going to save this old muscle bike and make it safe and as close to OEM+ as it can be.
MERCH: shopWatchJRGo.com
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Common Questions:
What motorcycle do I ride? A few. Ducati 1198, Honda Goldwing, Honda Grom, Honda Ruckus
What do I do for a living? Make CZcams videos.
Can you wheelie? No, I suck.
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Where can I keep up with you off the bike?
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Do you go to school? College, for 2 classes.
Why do you ride so dangerously? What do mean? I was doing 25.
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#VROD #HarleyDavidson #CheapMotorcycle - Auta a dopravní prostředky
I just bought one of these off of one of my customers. Rich guy, needed garage space for his wife's Tesla. Literally told me to bring a trailer and $1200 and get it out of his garage. The bike had 223 miles. After sitting almost 20 years I had to clean the tank and put a fuel pump in it, tires, and maintenance stuff. I couldn't get to the atm and U-Haul for a motorcycle trailer fast enough. Didn't even give myself time to tell the wife lmao. She wasn't the happiest, but God dang I was/am.
Well, if you ever need to make space in your garage, hmu
JR only thought his was the cheapest LOL 1200 is cheap
Lucky bastard!
😲😲😲😲😲😲😲
Yah, even with the problems, there are times you just find a smoking deal and all you want to tell the seller is "Take my money!!".
Bought my 2002 used in 2003 and have had it ever since. Only Harley I ever wanted. The gas tank is too small, the forward controls, not the greatest for long trips and as cool as the solid rims look, you get blown all over the express way with a stiff cross wind. Still, I love this bike. It was the “red headed step child” of the Harley family and most Harley people hated them. Maybe that’s why I love the bike even more.
Side note: The Discovery Channel did a series titled “Birth of the Vrod” Very interesting watch and tells the genesis of the bike and Porches involvement. Harley actually designed the motor, Porsche made it better
Have you ever tested a streetrod version.
There's a kit to change to a 5 gallon tank on vrods he's on utube Freddy
I bought mine new in 2006, converted to the larger 5 gallon tank, custom Harley wheels with wide tire kit so I don’t have the solid wheel wind problem. Opened up the exhaust, still love the bike.
I'm guessing you haven't ridden another V-Rod with open wheels? I was also blaming the solid billet wheels for blowing me around but.... After riding another one with open wheels I realized it's just because it's so light and has no venting to equalize the wind around it. The model I rode with chrome 5 spoke mags actually blew around even worse than the solid billet aluminum wheels. I was also surprised. It's counterintuitive to what you would think but.... That's how it is lol.
Love that new bike. Like you, that's the only gasoline Harley I've ever been interested in acquiring. For the longest time I just assumed that all V-Twins were crude, low-powered and vibration-prone. Then I helped a friend buy a Suzuki Intruder and quickly discovered that they could actually be smooth and powerful. This bike deserved a better reception than it received.
I look forward to more videos on this project.
Bought a 03 VRod 2 years ago and it had sat outside on the side of the road under a tree for almost 3 years. It had the original tires on it with 15k miles on the clock. Paid 1500 for it. Put front and rear tires, battery, changed all of the fluids and tore it down and spent 2 days cleaning it. Have about 3200 in it now.
Sounds like a smokin deal man, I've got my eyes open for a deal like that.
Hey JR, congrats on the VROD. Just picked one up myself recently as well.
When you took the air box cover off, someone removed the top half of the box and installed a K&N air intake. I didn’t see a tuner on the bike (maybe I missed it?) and these bikes run lean when you do performance mods without a tune. Also, check the mufflers to see if they’ve been “V-Modded” (the baffles removed from the exhaust).
These bikes are amazing and built to last if well taken care of. I’m looking forward to seeing you put on the brembo kit as I’m curious about swapping my VRSCB over to brembos as well!
Love to see you fix this. I remember when these came out being fascinated by them. Especially the vid that showed how they hydroformed the frame for these bikes, Which was fairly new for road vehicles when these came out. Well according to Harley marketing. 😅
Why you're not over 1 million subscribers is beyond me.
Great content 👌 as usual!
Good looking bike despite all of the work it needs. I'm looking forward to all of the content it will provide. My "always wanted" bike is the Honda Magna. I'll be lucky to make it through the series without shopping for one.
It runs and looks decent on camera. Should be a great series as you figure out all the issues and fix it back up.
Already have the Brembos on the way, this bike will rock again! 🍻
@@WatchJRGo It doesn't sound bad so far and if you have the good brakes coming that's a big improvement right there. It's already marking its territory and proving it has oil in it...
Cant wait for the bike rebuild
Such a great bike, can't wait to see if all fixed up!
Not a fan of forward controls. I don't feel like I have control of the bike. But that's a sharp bike. I threw floorboards on my bike and it made a major difference with forward controls. Much more comfortable
@@Beauloqs with forward controls??? I'm not sure if I understand. I've ridden bike for about 40yrs and always had mid controls. My current bike has forward controls, so it really really felt awkward having my legs out front. Like John said it's uncomfortable to shift. And I didn't feel like I had strong stance while riding. Once I put the floorboards on, I could bring my feet and legs back. I feel more squared up and one with my bike now. I'm 50yrs old I do not need to be doing stupid things. I will still drag pegs here and there. But I ride a cruiser for going cross country and enjoyment, not for stunts. It's all about the wind and scenery for me now
I'm The same way, I'd rather my legs hug the bike especially when curving!
It's the only kind of Harley that ever appealed to me too,... Except maybe the XLCR in the late 70s, it looked amazing.
I've been searching for one for years in just about any condition to restore, just one badass bike.
Glad you bought one. I have a 2016 Vrod Muscle. Amazing bike when maintained well and not ruined with flames
Looking forward to this project. Please don’t put any camouflage on it like that other bike. It looks horrible. Like your channel.
I taught Catia V4 advanced surfacing to the designers and helped them loft the tank. It's nice to see they are still around.
Congrats man. I just got something similar to your VRod, the Yamaha Warrior 1700cc as my second bike. I got right away into removing the previous owners “mods” which included slamming it and making it practically un ridable. They look so much better stock.
I bet that throttle cable happened when it was laid down. Honestly, I'm looking forward to this.
This will be interesting, I'm anxious to see what the current cheapest only Harley I'd own is selling for these days.
I own a 2003 that has no modifications. Front turn signals on that bike are in original location but the lenses have been changed. The gear shift lever has been moved way down from factory position, the exhaust sounds like the baffles are removed and yes you have to remove the entire lower half of the air box to change the battery. Just put a new battery in mine last month. I am very interested in the brake system work you are going to do. Been watching JR go for years. I like the wide range of content with always something new to learn every video. I wish I lived closer in order to have two V Rods on video at the same place. I am always the only one every where I go with mine here in Florida.
Seeing the first one advertised in my father's Newsweek magazine as a kid, really made me want to learn to ride.
I just bought a 2003 for 5K, felt the same about most everything, Mine only has 11.5K and the more I ride it the easier it shifts. I've found it does not like to be short shifted. I also own a 2019 RG Ultra, but really enjoy the raw visceral feeling from the VROD.
Solid front wheel?
Decades ago, I was watching an Olympic bicycle race and a commenter asked why the bicycles had solid plastic rear wheels in the back, but regular spokes in the front wheels and was told a solid plastic disc wheel in the front acted like a rudder, stopping the flow of air through the wheel, making the bicycle unstable. A few years later, I saw these Harley-Davidson motorcycles with solid front wheels. Typical! The designers KNOW this makes them unstable, but it looks cooler, and in the design bureau at Harley-Davidson function takes a back seat to form every time.
this has had the Airbox cover delete, there should be an additional cover over the Airfilter, but alot of people pulled the top and but K&Ns on them to increase air volume and temps, also sounds like the inner baffles have been pulled from the mufflers. With some minor mods that bike will run down the road at 95 all day with no issues. Also Harley removed a lot of the fins on the rad cover to fix a cooling issue they found in testing yes you have a loose cover but that may just be a screw that fell out. Lastly the forward controls take some getting used to but once you do they can be comfortable. See if you can find some Night Rod controls as they are a mid control.
Best of luck looking forward to watching this build 👍🏻 love the VRod it’s a beautiful reliable bike
I have had mine for a year now. I get about 30 mpg, going easy. You're missing the top of the air box, and the stock mirrors are the same, you gotta lean to see. Cant wait to see you fix it
It’s simple. When JR posts, I stop what I’m doing, crack a beer and relax 💪🏽
I have a 2006 Harley V-rod vrscr. One of the rarest versions of the Vrod in my opinion. Mine leaked oil out the rear head on the rear left side but not a big deal. Mines up to about 17k miles. Mine makes 124 to the tire with a dyno jet tuner on 91 plus octane boost. Only one I've seen in my version was for sale in my town, I never saw one at the Sturgis bike rally. I will never get rid of mine.
JR, nice buy, will be a nice transformation I'm sure once you put your magic touch on it!
Not a Harley fan, but i do like the v-rods. Excited to see what you do with it.
Same, I love how they took lessons from Buell and applied it to this bike. It just wasn't harley and potato potato enough for the masses. Indian makes a better bike now.
Wow, great-looking Harley. Again amazed at the span of things we work on.
Definitely excited to see progress on this one. My fiancée wants a Harley and seeing how this project goes will help me and my lady make a decision in getting one lol
Been a super fan of the vrod since it came out and finally picked up a ‘15 night rod mid last year and still in love with it to this day.
My buddy had one of these. It was amazing to ride. Only downsides for me was too small a gas tank and a valve adjust was an engine out. I think the valve adjust wasn’t until 100k miles though. Wish I had bought his when he sold it!
About time a you did a motorcycle video.
You better keep that bike.
It's going to be a collector
JR, used stock Harley parts can be found cheap. Mainly because the owners put all that crap on them. It looks like the switch controls are standard Harley as well, so some of the bits may not be VRod specific
Good luck. I am curious to see what you do with this.
I can't hardly find crap for my 04 VROD.
I've been searching for one of these bikes for a excellent deal for years, and it seems like there is deals out there by reading some of the comments, just have to be in the right place at the right time. Just waiting to see what you get into just in case I find one. Thanks for the video. Dig your channel man keep up the good videos.
I'm not a Harley guy either, but the V-Rod sporty sleek look and especially the engine has always been on my bucket list. that engine sounds like it should be powering a space ship, magic
A Harley is very similar to a Mercedes in one very important respect: a cheap Harley is the most expensive bike you can buy. That was one of the reasons my brother went with a new Fatboy, while I spent over the odds for a W210 wagon with an extensive service history.
Not a 1995 wagon? We must be related.
@@the_last_man_standing9805 I did have a 1990 W124 wagon. I wanted desperately to like that car, but even after having spent 7K on the car to start with, it nickel-and-dimed me to death anyway. Welcome to to the Wonderful World of Mercedes-Benz!
@@billh230 They’re classics.The style and quality is unmatched, every man deserves his dream car ( even when sometimes it’s seems like a nightmare) but the end, as long as you’re satisfied, who cares what someone else thinks.
Beautiful bike, very excited to see this on the road again all shiny
I have always liked these I’m excited to see the series on this!
loving the bike content...can't get enough!
Man I love the v rods!! My dream bike!!
Me too, so happy to finally find one 💯
I'm not a big fan of Harley's, mostly because of their notorious loud exhaust. But I like this because the exhaust is a nice rumble and I like the general design. I would be fine with less horsepower. I wouldn't need to go that fast. That's something I would love to ride down Hwy 1 to maybe Big Sur with that. Great buy! I look forward to follow ups.
The loudness is purely the Knick head riding. Most have been pretty quiet from the factory for years but some equate sound with performance
Good to see a bike build! Love the video! Keep it up!
My first Harley was a 2004 Dyna Wide Glide and one of the previous owners went all out on the Live to ride logos. I had every one of them except the primary chain adjustment cover. Grips, bar clamp, mirrors, timing cover (I had 2 of these he put one on the air cleaner as well) derby cover, and sissy bar. Yea, one is OK, but this was over the top.
lol.......I've ridden Harley's since 1974....only 4 of them but all old school loud rattle traps....lol. Being in the biker community for so long and only hearing, that V-Rod's where not Harley's and guy's that would buy them caught a ton of grief .....and all would soon change to a traditional Harley !!! Like you, I thought they were a great change for HD and I love the bike.......but for me and my old bones, not comfortable enough.....leaning forward kills me !! Anyway, great buy and enjoy.......your channel is very cool as is your family......your Dad makes me smile.......great dude !!! Cheers from Daytona Bro !!!
That looks awesome! I picked up a '04 for 6k but it had only 600 miles on it :D
I remember this era of HD. The Night Rod was the best Rod.
Looking forward to more episodes with this bike!
Looking forward to seeing this one progress.
Love this model. It is stylish and design flows great! I will be on the hunt for one!
Finally, motorcycle content! Clicked on notif
Love all the great content, always super entertaining
I have a 2003 FXSTI. It has never dropped an oil drop on my floor. Even have changed out the factory covers for HD Chrome ones and still no leaks.
I was laughing so hard about all the Joe Dirt/Pep Boys flames! Lol Good luck with this one JR🙏
Bet the shifting issue (besides that janky shifter set up) is the hydraulic clutch system is full of sludge. Same with the brake system..
Oil leak is stator wire, very common. While you're in there you need to do the "triple sprocket bolt", they can back out and cause low oil pressure and toast the engine. A little loctite and proper torque you won't have to worry about it.
Another thing to check is the water pump gasket, the weep hole allows water in (a design flaw) and it rusts and can damage the block and/or water pump itself. Better to catch before leak.
I purchased a very clean low mile night rod and it had ALL of these issues surprisingly.
I'd love to have picked that up for that price, a great project!
JR, not to be critical, but a few corrections. While production began in 2001, 2002 is the first model year of the VRSCA. There were no options for the first model year. The body is anodized aluminum, not polished. I suggest using non ammonia glass cleaner on it. If you replace the front brakes with the later BREMBO versions you’ll need to replace the MC as well. They use DOT4 while yours uses DOT5.
2005/2006 saw CVO versions and 2008 was the first year of ABS. 2017 was the last year of the VROD line.
I had a 2002 that I put 50k miles on in seven years. Miss that bike. Looking to buy a used one soon.
I'm so happy the title was "Porsche Powered" because every time I see a VRod, I think Porsche motorcycle engine. Super Cool!!
I remember when this bike came out. My landscaping boss but it brand new. I liked it then and still now. Keep the flames
Loved those back in the day. Harley did Buell dirty when they denied him the Revolution motor for his bikes.
We used to joke back in the day that the solid front wheel was their anti wheelie technology 😂
Love the muscle bikes. I have a Honda VTX1800N, great for the straight lines... not great for corners... still a blast to ride!
For those dents in the fake tank cover, you can beat it out, I just did it to mine with a rubber mallet. I didn't get the dent completely banged out but it looks alot better than before, I got 2 smaller dents that seem creased and I can't get those worked out, but for the eyesore bigger one it came out 80% fine.
Cool bike. The only car youtuber I watch that isn’t afraid of bikes.
I am not a motorcycle guy at ALL, the V-ROD is the only bike I ever had a positive reaction to, co-worker had a matte black with red stripes, absolutely beautiful
Very nice bike. Looking forward to this series.
I had a denim black vrod with mid controls like that, was such a great ride, just quiet. Called it the hardly davidson 😀
They don’t have a kick stand safety switch that’s probably how the tank happened
Those engines only leak from two places.. the rocker covers vent o rings and hoses and the grommet for the stator wires. Both get dry and cracked over time and are very easy to fix. I have an 06 VRSCR Street Rod and it was the first of the V-Rods to come with Brembo brakes, inverted forks and the 5 gallon fuel tank. For the solid wheels there are companies that cut them for a custom look. The best thing you can do for the clutch is to put the Screaming Eagle Slipper clutch in it. The later years with the 1250 engine make more power but they aren't as fast because with the 240 rear tire and 5 gallon fuel cell they are actually heavier. The Street Rod has almost the same power 120 as the 1250 engine and all Harley did was put a different exhaust on the 1131 that flows more.
Looks like a great project for you, could be a really cool bike for under $5000.
I clicked on the video to see your new bike but I only saw a black car. So nice!
McLaren GT in for detail. Made an appearance in the outro of a video the other day
@@TheBarberShopScott Omg so sweet! Looks better close up. The Sky is nice too, but not as nice.
You got a gem in the rough. I have a ‘15 Muscle and love it! Consider a body kit. Jango makes a good one. You might as well make it custom. Switch out all main grips, levers, pegs, brakes, etc. I figure you can drop another $3-4k to get it nice, $5k for a great ride. Still a bargain for an awesome kick ass bike.
I’m not into bikes, but this will be an interesting series. This is the only Harley that I think looks good 👍
Very very interesting quick project 👌🏻more please 😍
Nice bike, also the 2nd gen VMAX beautiful muscle motorcycles
Flip the mirrors under the handle bars (using the turn signal holes) and run fork mounted ring LED turn signals. You’ll improve visibility through mirrors and clean up the front end!
Ugghhhh so much chrome. I rode a friends 2011 Night-rod for a week and it was a great bike. Had a 300mm rear tire and cornered like a brick but hey, it's essentially a drag bike. Gonna be a cool project and anything sub 5k is a steal for these.
Believe this or not but I worked with a guy in 2003 that bought a new anniversary V-Rod and it cost 19k. So these bikes were not cheap when new and should last a long time.
Dude I'm not a bike guy, But that thing is pretty sweet. Looking forward to this one.
I worked for the company that made 16 pieces for these, including the gas tank cover. American trim LLC/superior metal products (in Wapakoneta, ohio plant 4). I didn't work directly with them, but seen the prototypes/samples of certain parts. (The stainless body panels iirc)
HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE
Wow ! That’s amazing ! That’s a crazy crazy deal! It is still one of my dream motorcycles to own ! Epic epic !
Awesome video JR.
Good to see work on a bike!
Those aftermarket grips reminded me of my first Honda it also came with those useless shiny metal fidget spinners that came straight off and went in the bin to be replaced with original rubber ones.
Congrats JR, for the price and start point, that's a sweet score, easy to work on also. Oil in the air box is normal, PO did what is called a "Topless" mod. Should be a ripper when you get done.
I happen to own a 2012 VRSCF Muscle with the 1250 motor and custom dyno tune, very fun bike. Again congrats.
I didn’t realize how much better the later ones were until now… a 2012 is light years ahead of this old thing 😳
@@WatchJRGo all good, if you want to really make it a beast, look into Fitzgerald racing products. They also sell a 5 gallon fuel tank since your bike has the 3 gallon. Thankfully as mentioned in other comments, stock OEM parts are plentiful and cheap cause most Vrod owners swap them out. Look to see if the bike has a tuner of some sort, cause with the high-flow filter your bike has with debaffled exhaust, it's probably running a bit lean, unless it has a tuner.
@Jim jibroni haha, no shit! The m109 is a bad ass machine, I would love to have one. I enjoy my Vrod though and I bet JR will enjoy his.
subbed to your channel only to see this project grow. (have an '03 model myself) very interested what you gonna do.
If I could review the Harley-Davidson V Rods with Watch JR Goes and 100 Percent Jakes I would drink the shot of whiskey and the cold Bartle Skeets and puff on the Cannabis Cigars with them and get all schmoked up
Can't wait to see more on this ☺️
It's a cool looking bike. Nice score!
I had a 2006 a Vrod and still regret selling it! I’d change the wheels too if I were changing the brakes? Mine had the solid wheels but at high speed any small gust of wind the front end would wander.
Literally thought the bike I bought today was this bike until u said the miles lol. Picked up an 02 same everything, needs tire and left grip is loose lol
3k 18k miles runs like a champ tho!!!
The "Street Rod" version of this bike, the VRSCR is the one to absolutely buy without hesitation if you can find one. It's basically a Vrod but with mid-controls and I think a very small bump in HP. Didn't sell well and it's still not considered a collector (yet) so they are out there but Harley didn't sell a ton of them so they are more rare than regular Vrods. The mid controls make a huge difference too as you're really able to lean it over better and be more aggressive with it although I imagine the roads in Wichita are probably the same as down here in OKC, that is to say boring.
The street rod is awesome! 40 degree lean angle on a Vrod, and mid controls. That's a fun Vrod!
Favorite channel on CZcams.
I had a 2005 v rod that I bought new. Never had a leak or any problems with it.
Owners manual recommends checking oil often. Idk why; mine didn’t use any. Definitely can hear the pipes have been drilled.
If ever I was to own another motorcycle it would be a V-Rod. I've always wanted one.
Usually not a bike guy, but this thing looks good.
I absolutely love that bike so much, I have 3 Harley V-Rod's. I fine ass model, 1 project and 1 for spare parts. They are fairly common here in the UK 🇬🇧🇺🇲🇬🇧🇺🇲
That is the only Harley I have ever desired, you got a good buy on that bike. 👍
Congrats! I loved my Night Rod Special (2009) Great Bikes.. Forward Controls are hard on your butt for longer rides...
You may need to bleed the hydraulic clutch...