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Harley-Davidson “Goldeneye” Bets on Golden Wheels, Not Sure It Loses

The V-Rod family of muscle bikes had a relatively long life, running from 2011 to 2017 in no less than 11 versions, if we take into account the non-street legal Destroyer. Just like with wine, some years and assortments were better than others.
Harley-Davidson "Goldeneye" 10 photos
Photo: Fredy Jaates
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For an Estonian customizer who goes by the name Fredy Jaates, the best V-Rod year seems to be 2003. The guy has in his portfolio over 40 custom Harley-Davidsons of this breed, and the 2003 model year is heavily represented.

2003 is one of the years of the first generation of Milwaukee-made muscle two-wheelers, the era of the VRSCA. It’s the year during which this here motorcycle was born, obviously not in the same body it wears now, as it sits before your eyes.

Aside from his passion for V-Rods, Jaates is also a real fan of chrome. The material is abundantly used on his builds, and we’ve already seen that on the motorcycles we nicknamed Tempest or Alien.

This time, however, the quantity has been reduced a bit, and chrome can only be found on the SuperTrapp exhaust, fuel tank, front fork, and mirrors. The frame was painted in a light shade of matte grey, while the black seat and tires are offset by some of the most in-your-face golden wheels we’ve seen – and this color combination kind of reminded us of the goldeneye duck, hence the nickname we slapped on it.

Generally, we’re not big fans of gold on, well, anything meant to move people around, but to be fair, Jaates’ bet seems to have paid off in this case.

The V-Rod was modified in the usual Jaates fashion, now sporting a front fork lowering kit, Ohlins rear suspension, and a 300 mm rear tire wrapped around an 18-inch rear wheel (the front one is 19 inches).

Aside from the said exhaust, the customizer does not mention any other changes to the engine, although, unlike many others, he doesn’t shy away from turbo- and supercharging the powerplant.

The cost of the build is not known.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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