Photo: Bad Land
If there is one Harley-Davidson model I would love to see brought back to life in our day and age, that's the V-Rod. Granted, the line was not discontinued all that long ago (it was phased out in 2017), but seeing how often the muscle bike family still makes it in the news kind of makes me wonder just how much we're missing out on with the thing no longer around.
Invented as a means to battle the Japanese and their bikes, the many V-Rods that came to be post-2001 quickly turned into an unending source of base bikes for at times incredible custom builds.
The latest V-Rod-based project we stumbled upon comes from all the way in Japan, where a local crew going by the name Bad Land put it together as the Gaga Special. That's right, Gaga as in Lady Gaga, but with no actual connection to the American singer.
The chunk of cold-looking metal sitting before us is as aggressive as Bad Land can make them. Dark all over but with enough shiny metal bits visible all over, the bike is yet another element in favor of Harley bringing back the V-Rods.
Until (and if) it does, we're going to tell you a thing or two about the Gaga special. Keeping true to the native silhouette of the breed, the V-Rod was still transformed in the most important of places to stand out as a no-nonsense custom in an already crowded segment.
We'll start from the ground up, where we get Bad Land-made wheels sized 21 inches at the front and 17 inches at the rear. There's a big enough difference between the two wheels to make the ride look particularly aggressive, especially given the huge width of the rear piece: 330 mm.
Both wheels wear Avon Cobra tires and are protected by Bad Land fenders. At the front a girder fork is used to support it, while the back one is held in place by a wide swingarm made from aluminum.
The frame of the bike has been modified, although we're not told to what extent. The engine inside it however is still the stock one, only breathing through a custom exhaust system and drawing in fuel from an aftermarket tank.
The Harley-Davidson Gaga Special is at the receiving end of a series of other re-interpreted pieces of hardware, including the headlight, handlebar, and grips. Elsewhere, Brembo supplied the braking system and foot controls.
The cost of this heavily modified V-Rod is not public knowledge, and neither is the bike's present whereabouts. We do expect it to be worth in the tens of thousands of dollars, and it most likely still resides in the same country it was made, Japan.
The latest V-Rod-based project we stumbled upon comes from all the way in Japan, where a local crew going by the name Bad Land put it together as the Gaga Special. That's right, Gaga as in Lady Gaga, but with no actual connection to the American singer.
The chunk of cold-looking metal sitting before us is as aggressive as Bad Land can make them. Dark all over but with enough shiny metal bits visible all over, the bike is yet another element in favor of Harley bringing back the V-Rods.
Until (and if) it does, we're going to tell you a thing or two about the Gaga special. Keeping true to the native silhouette of the breed, the V-Rod was still transformed in the most important of places to stand out as a no-nonsense custom in an already crowded segment.
We'll start from the ground up, where we get Bad Land-made wheels sized 21 inches at the front and 17 inches at the rear. There's a big enough difference between the two wheels to make the ride look particularly aggressive, especially given the huge width of the rear piece: 330 mm.
Both wheels wear Avon Cobra tires and are protected by Bad Land fenders. At the front a girder fork is used to support it, while the back one is held in place by a wide swingarm made from aluminum.
The frame of the bike has been modified, although we're not told to what extent. The engine inside it however is still the stock one, only breathing through a custom exhaust system and drawing in fuel from an aftermarket tank.
The Harley-Davidson Gaga Special is at the receiving end of a series of other re-interpreted pieces of hardware, including the headlight, handlebar, and grips. Elsewhere, Brembo supplied the braking system and foot controls.
The cost of this heavily modified V-Rod is not public knowledge, and neither is the bike's present whereabouts. We do expect it to be worth in the tens of thousands of dollars, and it most likely still resides in the same country it was made, Japan.
Google News