The last Buell was a great bike! All the problems of the earlier models disappeared. The last Buell would at Daytona prove that as a stock bike off the showroom floor would run with anything built in Germany, Japan, or Italy. Then Harley killed it due to stupidity in their corporate office.
First mistake Harley mad was going away from the Buell chassis. Buell knew his stuff but for some reason Harley always wanted to give him the finger. I had a 1998 Buell S1 White Lightning and after a bit of tinkering I got it over 135hp and it was stupid fast. Should have never sold it.
It is kind of sad that Harley isn't competing in any other series than King of Baggers or flat track in USA. HD actually once was victorious in multiple racing series, including offroad endurance racing. I would love to see HD putting some effort on racing. Maybe they should ask Erik Buell to help them once more.
They got the bikes you ever rode the Pan America my cousin got the limited edition In black and it’s a beast you can adjust it to run on almost any surface! It goes up and down the seat goes up and down and so does the windscreen! It’s has all the gizmos! TCS, STC, Anti lock brakes!
Its a cool collectors bike, but the Buell XB12R with just a few mods, from 03-07 , will ride circles around a V1000 using the Harley cases and aircooled 70° twin and you can get one on marketplace for 4500. You can start to see the xb12r in the prototype drawings for this project
I'm still enthused on Motorcycles at 75 y/o, but I've mellowed out considerably. I ride a 2004 XL1200R Harley Sportster, nothing like any of the superbikes but it gets me where I want to go. I'd really like to talk to someone who knows bikes and their characteristics. It seems like no one wants to talk shop with a senior citizen anymore, lol. I enjoy your show here and I'm subbed, left a thumbs up, and a tap on the bell. I hope to see more of your vids, thanks for sharing with all of us.
"Lucifers Hammer", "Duhamel". Legendary stuff. The echoing of MV's half and half jellymould paint scheme was ripsnorting, asskickin, badass gold. I became a factory certified Evo tech in time for the 100th anniversary and loved working on the first "VR"ods, 2nd gen XR Buells and then current cruisers and sporties up to twin cams. I wasn't aware of Erics involvement nor the DFV heritage :o It's a shame they didn't get Lucifers sorted. Imagine Corser, Edwards etc scrapping with a HD. That would've been something to see. 👀
Harley should have employed John Britton to build a V Twin Superbike - I can't imagine what JB could make with Harley's Budget - his homemade V1000 nearly won Daytona on it's s 1st try ** John BRITTEN 🤦🏼♂️
There was a Britton on Display and Willie G asked what it was . Willie G never even heard of the Britton. Too Bad about John Britton having skin cancer. I am not sure if he would have been willing to move to USA to work for HD. It's too bad that a Major Motorycle Mfg didn't hire Burt Monroe. Burt worked tenaciously for Decades on his Personal Land Speed record bikes.
@@mikeskidmore6754it is BRITTEN not britton.. and as the Britten (ccr racecteam) and the HD both (HD factory team) competed in the BEARS (and formula 2000 i believe) (where the Britten often won), i doubt Willy G didn’t know the brand and the man John Britten… it sounds as very “American behaviour” though, so chance is big he did really said it😢
@@purebloodheretic4682 harley employed one of motorcyclings brightest lights . They fired him . Willie G ! Joke . Motorcyclings most over glorified copy cat . Fact
@@motolab.EuropeanMotorcycles Thanks for the correction - the Brain Fog is growing with age! I've met '93 'BRITTEN' TT rider Shaun Harris @ Starline Performance a couple times after his 1st major accident - Top Bloke he got banged up again afterwards & it's a miracle he survived - I'll correct the misspelling - Cheers 👍
@@mikeskidmore6754 You're Not wrong - Burt Munro's old 1920's Indian did 184 mph officially & 205 unofficially - That puts Turbo Hayabusa's to shame! The fastest I've seen was about 275 KLM/hr on the empty Motorway @ 4am on my old ZX9r back in the day - I think that's about 170 mph & Scary 😬 It's such ashame JB passed soo early - He was like a Motorcycle Michael Angelo 😞
Only HD could screw up making a basic sport bike for AMA, that also looks like it was designed in 1974 yet released in 1994 😂😂😂 It's obvious from the video these guys cared more about drinking beer in the development department that taking the engineering and racing seriously.
Looking back, I was a master motorcycle tech while all this was going on and I had no idea. I was working at a Honda dealer at the time, we would laugh at Harley guys trying to be fast.
They were very brave to attempt this project . Considering the competition they were up against. Ducati for instance. But racing is very expensive, and a company needs to keep up development, Harley Davison we’re always a few years behind with their product. 🏍🏍🏍
You would think that a manufacturer that made its living designing and manufacturing large capacity V-twin motors could at least come up with a competitive bike,much like Ducati,or Honda,whose first attempt at a V- twin racer aced it against Ducati.Harley Davidson had the template already with "Lucifer's hammer",they should have gone from strength to strength,but I imagine that they didn't commit the level of resources necessary to maintain and develop a factory race division.
Harley has never made a good bike, the only thing they are good at is going in a straight line, the problem ? they are made out of steel girders, heavy as the moon, don't stop, some scooters are quicker, handle like a boat, and as much fun to ride as a bicycle, i had one, but, sold it after three months, i then bought a Triumph Speed Triple, it is everything that a Harley isn't, most of all, fun to ride, way superior !!
Remember when Mr Daytona rode that turd into the hot-pit and before the chain-drive wallet crew could climb over pit wall he just unceremoniously dropped the POS on the ground and left 🤣
Didn't set the racing world on fire, but if I had beaucoup bucks to spare, I would have an XR750 and a VR1000 sitting side by side in my man cave just to look at.
Sorry😂, Harley tried with XR 750 in mid 60's. Had small front wheel, gave riders the Willie's with their faces pointing down so far. They raced at Daytona in some form....but gave up.
@@poncoolride 1999 Honda goldwing worth 2 grand me maybe all of the crotch rockets are in a junk yard if they were ride go to a cycle salvage a lot of junk Honda's there let me know how many Harley's you see there. Answer none case closed 😂
The bike Harley should have developed and sold as a street version here in the States. I would have crawled through broken glass to buy one. As always though it got shelfed and they put the engine in the ugly vrod.
Harley had the best production drag bike in the V-rod. sadly it was stopped. next upcoming brand... hate me I do not care! CFMoto will due what Honda did in the 1970s. I own a 2023 FXST and am building into a drag bike with a 119 C.I. MOTOR. i have a 2018 Kawasaki zed 900 naked. This spring I will purchase a CFMoto 675. Harley should make a new V-Rod with that RevMax motor.
Pity Harley did hiring the wrong people for designing this superbike. This was the guy they should consult en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Britten at that time. Furthermore if we talking about HD racebikes, the dirt track bike XR750, the only successful HD racebike, was in the 90’s a better plan to be completely copied in looks to road legal based on a chain driven sportster engines and not like the unpopular bulky squared XR1200 they made later.
HD did in Buell at the end, showing their disdain for sporty bikes and competitive racing.
The last Buell was a great bike! All the problems of the earlier models disappeared. The last Buell would at Daytona prove that as a stock bike off the showroom floor would run with anything built in Germany, Japan, or Italy. Then Harley killed it due to stupidity in their corporate office.
First mistake Harley mad was going away from the Buell chassis. Buell knew his stuff but for some reason Harley always wanted to give him the finger. I had a 1998 Buell S1 White Lightning and after a bit of tinkering I got it over 135hp and it was stupid fast. Should have never sold it.
It is kind of sad that Harley isn't competing in any other series than King of Baggers or flat track in USA. HD actually once was victorious in multiple racing series, including offroad endurance racing. I would love to see HD putting some effort on racing. Maybe they should ask Erik Buell to help them once more.
They got the bikes you ever rode the Pan America my cousin got the limited edition In black and it’s a beast you can adjust it to run on almost any surface! It goes up and down the seat goes up and down and so does the windscreen! It’s has all the gizmos! TCS, STC, Anti lock brakes!
@@tammyforbes2101but it's bloody ugly though isn't it?
Its a cool collectors bike, but the Buell XB12R with just a few mods, from 03-07 , will ride circles around a V1000 using the Harley cases and aircooled 70° twin and you can get one on marketplace for 4500. You can start to see the xb12r in the prototype drawings for this project
I'm still enthused on Motorcycles at 75 y/o, but I've mellowed out considerably. I ride a 2004 XL1200R Harley Sportster, nothing like any of the superbikes but it gets me where I want to go. I'd really like to talk to someone who knows bikes and their characteristics. It seems like no one wants to talk shop with a senior citizen anymore, lol. I enjoy your show here and I'm subbed, left a thumbs up, and a tap on the bell. I hope to see more of your vids, thanks for sharing with all of us.
thank you for your support... 👌
I was rooting for Harley and the VR during it's introduction. At Mid-Ohio, Miguel was leading when his shifter fell off. Huge disappointment.
I saw it race at Sears Point, it was clearly having trouble, but I thought it was a cool effort at the time...
"Lucifers Hammer", "Duhamel". Legendary stuff. The echoing of MV's half and half jellymould paint scheme was ripsnorting, asskickin, badass gold.
I became a factory certified Evo tech in time for the 100th anniversary and loved working on the first "VR"ods,
2nd gen XR Buells and then current cruisers and sporties up to twin cams. I wasn't aware of Erics involvement nor the DFV heritage :o
It's a shame they didn't get Lucifers sorted. Imagine Corser, Edwards etc scrapping with a HD. That would've been something to see. 👀
Harley should have employed John Britton to build a V Twin Superbike -
I can't imagine what JB could make with Harley's Budget - his homemade V1000 nearly won Daytona on it's s 1st try
** John BRITTEN 🤦🏼♂️
There was a Britton on Display and Willie G asked what it was . Willie G never even heard of the Britton. Too Bad about John Britton having skin cancer. I am not sure if he would have been willing to move to USA to work for HD.
It's too bad that a Major Motorycle Mfg didn't hire Burt Monroe. Burt worked tenaciously for Decades on his Personal Land Speed record bikes.
@@mikeskidmore6754it is BRITTEN not britton.. and as the Britten (ccr racecteam) and the HD both (HD factory team) competed in the BEARS (and formula 2000 i believe) (where the Britten often won), i doubt Willy G didn’t know the brand and the man John Britten… it sounds as very “American behaviour” though, so chance is big he did really said it😢
@@purebloodheretic4682 harley employed one of motorcyclings brightest lights . They fired him . Willie G ! Joke . Motorcyclings most over glorified copy cat . Fact
@@motolab.EuropeanMotorcycles Thanks for the correction - the Brain Fog is growing with age! I've met '93 'BRITTEN' TT rider Shaun Harris @ Starline Performance a couple times after his 1st major accident - Top Bloke he got banged up again afterwards & it's a miracle he survived -
I'll correct the misspelling - Cheers 👍
@@mikeskidmore6754 You're Not wrong - Burt Munro's old 1920's Indian did 184 mph officially & 205 unofficially - That puts Turbo Hayabusa's to shame!
The fastest I've seen was about 275 KLM/hr on the empty Motorway @ 4am on my old ZX9r back in the day - I think that's about 170 mph & Scary 😬
It's such ashame JB passed soo early - He was like a Motorcycle Michael Angelo 😞
Only HD could screw up making a basic sport bike for AMA, that also looks like it was designed in 1974 yet released in 1994 😂😂😂 It's obvious from the video these guys cared more about drinking beer in the development department that taking the engineering and racing seriously.
I loved these bikes when they came out !
Good Lord why?
If my memory serves me correctly I was at the Pomona Superbike race where Chris Carr put the VR on the pole. Unfortunately he DNF'd in the race.
They wasted over three million on this lump . Total embarrassment
I wonder how reliable the street version was?
It was'nt.......
Sounds like some serious Vibration issues.
The V rod is very reliable.
Looking back, I was a master motorcycle tech while all this was going on and I had no idea. I was working at a Honda dealer at the time, we would laugh at Harley guys trying to be fast.
Harley Davidson tried to build a racing motorcycle that didn't win a race unless it raced other Harley Davidsons
They were very brave to attempt this project . Considering the competition they were up against. Ducati for instance. But racing is very expensive, and a company needs to keep up development, Harley Davison we’re always a few years behind with their product. 🏍🏍🏍
Exactly…they were always 3 steps behind the others from the start. They should have hired John Britten to design their entire bike for them…
"Wa sec co" - Did you mean Wiseco pistons? I bailed out on this video at 6:05 due to that.
Bunch of repetitive bs
Good video, but I remember reading the frame was made by a Washington state company...?
Stiff competition and they chickened out 🤷🏼♂️
I saw the VR1000 win an AMA superbike race at Loudon Pascal Picotte (spelling?) was riding it in the rain.
You would think that a manufacturer that made its living designing and manufacturing large capacity V-twin motors could at least come up with a competitive bike,much like Ducati,or Honda,whose first attempt at a V- twin racer aced it against Ducati.Harley Davidson had the template already with "Lucifer's hammer",they should have gone from strength to strength,but I imagine that they didn't commit the level of resources necessary to maintain and develop a factory race division.
Harley has never made a good bike, the only thing they are good at is going in a straight line, the problem ? they are made out of steel girders, heavy as the moon, don't stop, some scooters are quicker, handle like a boat, and as much fun to ride as a bicycle, i had one, but, sold it after three months, i then bought a Triumph Speed Triple, it is everything that a Harley isn't, most of all, fun to ride, way superior !!
The dark haired fellow at 0:21 is Al "Squib" Henrich - a top HD hillclimber in the 1920s in the Midwest.
Seems the XR-750 has only 4 speeds, not very well suited for road racing.
I remember it being laid against many walls as it wouldn’t finish a race. Pascal P and Miguel D didn’t stand a chance.
King of the baggers are just a few seconds behind super bikes
05:50 ... a 851cc engine "embarrassed" some 750cc ones .... right.
Remember when Mr Daytona rode that turd into the hot-pit and before the chain-drive wallet crew could climb over pit wall he just unceremoniously dropped the POS on the ground and left 🤣
Didn't set the racing world on fire, but if I had beaucoup bucks to spare, I would have an XR750 and a VR1000 sitting side by side in my man cave just to look at.
100,000 units? No 50.
Sorry😂, Harley tried with XR 750 in mid 60's. Had small front wheel, gave riders the Willie's with their faces pointing down so far.
They raced at Daytona in some form....but gave up.
Meanwhile another very small company in New Zealand also built a V1000. That was a lot more successfull. Called Britten.
noted, thank you..
Not bad luck, just crap.
B U L L S H I T
Worth 100 grand what's a 35 year old Honda worth DeeDee
@@poncoolride 1999 Honda goldwing worth 2 grand me maybe all of the crotch rockets are in a junk yard if they were ride go to a cycle salvage a lot of junk Honda's there let me know how many Harley's you see there. Answer none case closed 😂
Funny thing is none of this bike is Harley anymore 😮
The term "Superbike" should not be used ever to label any HD motorcycle....
If Harley Davidson made airplanes would you fly in it, I think not.
I’m a Buell owner and love my bike
Suzuki have made dohc, dry sump all in a daily rider 2006 to today they still make the M109R. 160 nm 😉😉😉
Hardly Dangerous have never been able to produce a pedigree racing bike period
The bike Harley should have developed and sold as a street version here in the States. I would have crawled through broken glass to buy one. As always though it got shelfed and they put the engine in the ugly vrod.
The new buell hammerhead is a true American super bike. I'd love to try one of these old ones though. I've never seen one in person.
Harley should just stick to what they're good at, making boat anchors.
Is this bike the VR one thousand?!
yep..
@@TechnoLogic9 you would have never guessed...
Harley had the best production drag bike in the V-rod. sadly it was stopped. next upcoming brand... hate me I do not care! CFMoto will due what Honda did in the 1970s. I own a 2023 FXST and am building into a drag bike with a 119 C.I. MOTOR. i have a 2018 Kawasaki zed 900 naked. This spring I will purchase a CFMoto 675. Harley should make a new V-Rod with that RevMax motor.
Turdly Ferguson one podium finish in its lifetime ..... Miguel third at mid ohio in the rain
They just couldn't bring themselves to build an in line 4.
Should stick to producing tractors, it's all they are capable of.
Your audio keeps fading. Learn to normalise it
What a turd that thing was.
Pity Harley did hiring the wrong people for designing this superbike. This was the guy they should consult en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Britten at that time.
Furthermore if we talking about HD racebikes, the dirt track bike XR750, the only successful HD racebike, was in the 90’s a better plan to be completely copied in looks to road legal based on a chain driven sportster engines and not like the unpopular bulky squared XR1200 they made later.