Harley-Davidson V-Rod Oliver Has the Skin of a Snake Over the Body of a Muscle Bike

Officially called VRSC (V-twin racing street custom), the breed was born in 2001 and for the next 16 years roamed the streets of the world in no less than ten variants, plus one meant exclusively for the drag strip, the Destroyer. Plenty of them were assembled during this time, so there’s no shortage of V-Rods out there yet.

Many of these muscle bikes have been converted into incredible customs over the years, and we keep uncovering them as we go through the vast portfolios of builds of some of the most prominent shops in the industry. It’s the only way we can keep the V-Rods in the news until (and if) Harley decides to bring them back in factory form.

It’s been a while since we talked about a custom V-Rod, but as we stumbled upon one born from the hands of a crew that mostly specializes in Sportsters, we knew we just had to show it to you. It’s called the Harley-Davidson V-Rod Oliver, and back in 2019, when it was first shown, it was the first V-Rod customized in Spain by Lord Drake Kustoms.

The name takes after the bike’s owner, a certain airplane pilot called Oliver. The build is based on a 2004 V-Rod, which means it’s part of the VRSCB lineage, and it looks quite different from what it did when it first rolled off the assembly lines.

Still sporting the original engine in its frame, the bike rolls on new, custom wheels, wrapped in thin rubber. It’s the rear one that stands out the most, 18 inches in diameter and 240 mm wide - not an excessive size, like some of the other V-Rods out there, but not quite stock either, which makes it one of the central elements of the modification work.

Both of the fenders deployed over the wheels are custom as well, not taken off the shelf of some parts maker out there, but made in-house by Lord Drake. A progressive suspension setup keeps the bike upright and ensures a comfortable ride.

A revised exhaust system is featured on the Oliver, in the form of the original manifolds, but modified for the purposes of this build, and sporting new exhaust tips, usually seen on Lord Drake’s café racer builds.

The most exciting thing about this two-wheeler has to be the paint job. Colors and shapes were carefully airbrushed on the fuel tank and fenders in such a way as to create the illusion you’re looking at the back of a snake from certain angles. The impressive, diamond-pattern seat helps deepen that illusion.

Lord Drake says it can mirror the design of the Oliver on other V-Rods as well, provided you have one in your garage. We’re not given any info on how much such a conversion could cost. But we do know it can take up to 90 days for it to be completed.