Harley-Davidson Chrome Cherry Is the Most Cheerful V-Rod You've Ever Seen

In my view all of the above goes for all Harleys currently made, but it applies the most to the V-twin racing street custom family of bikes it used to make. Allow me to explain.

Harley gave birth to the breed that was to become known as the VRSC or V-Rod with a single goal in mind: take on the Japanese giants for a piece of the muscle bike market. It had no room for mistakes and even turned to Porsche Engineering for help with the development of the Revolution engine.

Looking back, Harley seems not to have made any mistakes with the V-Rods, as they came out at the other end of the development process as incredible two-wheelers, pieces of technology so exquisite they're still highly appreciated even today, six years after they've been pulled from the market.

The V-Rod had impressive style, packed a mighty punch, and like all other Harleys ever made, was highly customizable. They never got rid though of that image of bikes that just had something to prove.

That's why almost all of the custom V-Rods we've featured here on autoevolution these past few years had not a single playful gene in them, only a seriousness akin to top brass going to corporate meetings.

Knowing that, I didn't quite expect to ever come across a V-Rod that looks… happy, for lack of a better word. Yet here it is, staring at us in all its chrome and red glory.

The bike is a Night Rod of an unspecified model year, modified over in Russia by a crew called Gaz Custom. The oldest reference to it we were able to find dates back to six years ago, but that doesn't stop us from bringing it back under the spotlight for a little while, because it clearly deserves it.

The bike was put together for a local customer, and doesn't stray too far in terms of custom parts used from what we're used to seeing. We get custom wheels of undisclosed dimensions, Ohlins forks, carbon bits here and there, and a powerful-looking exhaust system with an unfinished look.

The thing that sets this bike apart from all others is of course the paint job. The frame of the thing shines in pure white, making it look like a skeleton. The shiny bits all over have been drowned in chrome, and quite a lot of it. And then, the body parts (covers, fenders, fuel tank) have been painted a shade of cherry red so cheerful it's bound to put a smile on your lips.

We don't know where the bike currently resides, or how much it is worth in this modified form, but that doesn't stop us from enjoying it as the most optimistic V-Rod we've seen so far.