Tues 24/08 – The Harley Rocker C, Discovering the Beast within

Garage:

Harley Davidson Rocker C – Stratstone Harley Davidson

Yamaha FZ6 – Streetbike

 So having spent the day at the Ron Haslam School of Racing last Wednesday, learning how to be the next Rossi, and really hammering it on that Honda CBR600RR, and after a riding a B King for a few days, it was a bit of a shock to the system to jump onto my next bike, the Harley Rocker C.

I mean look at it, it is beautiful, but it is very different from anything I have ever ridden before, and is about as close as you can get to a Chopper without actually going to the custom boys and getting one made. The problem was that having been riding on a few modern sports bikes recently, the first thing that struck me were its faults. I love the back wheel for instance, its huge, and the rear end looks lush, especially with the neat little fold out passenger seat that is concealed under the main seat, but the front end just looks a bit light compared to the rest of the bike. That front wheel is very thin, and obviously without having a huge contact point with the ground doesn’t exactly grip as well as a standard one, let alone give you much stopping power with just the one disk brake on the wheel, which at times felt about as sturdy as a milk bottle top as I tried to get this huge thing to slow down from speed.

The handling leaved a lot to be desired as well, not only does this thing have a turning circle the size of a small country, but as the forks are angled forward, every bump or pothole you go over, doesn’t just send the front forks up and down like on a normal bike, but shooting back towards you, something that definitely proved a surprise the first time I hit one, as I actually stopped to get off and make sure that my a. The bike was still in one piece and b. that my arms were not broken!

Add to this a really lacklustre engine from Harley that has about as much snarling menace as Noddy, although it is the standard 1584cc V Twin its not really tuned to give you that wow factor, and a set of cans that don’t exactly get the hairs on the back of your neck standing up, and you might think this is a bit of a lacklustre bike from the Americans.

Well in some way it is, but then I realised something, yes it may seem a bit naff compared some uber quick Japanese bikes, but that’s not who this bike is aimed at, and I realised I needed to get back to the world of luxuries cruisers and stop looking at the Rocker C as a rival to these. 

Lets be honest here, a Harley is a status symbol, I mean I have ridden a number of the worlds top bikes, but nothing got the attention of my non biker mad mates as when I had the Harley Softtail Heritage the other week. It didn't matter to the masses gathered around that bike that it wasn't the quickest, the cheapest or even the best to throw around a track, what mattered was that here was a piece of real Americana that we had all grown up dreaming of as a kid.

I mean I love muscle cars, and used to have a 1970 Chevy Camaro Z28, yes it wasn't practical, the brakes didn't work half the time, and compared to modern cars it was about as quick as a monkey with no legs, but I loved it!

Why did I love it? Well my vanity is one thing, it definitely garnered attention, secondly I loved the way it sounded, the big V8 engine and that kind of styling you just don’t get in modern cars, and finally, because it was what I had always dreamed of owning ever since I was a kid and had a poster of it on my wall!

I mean this was beautiful thing, and the last thing on my mind when I bought it was fuel consumption or what insurance bracket it would fall into, all I knew as I handed over the cash was that I was fulfilling a childhood dream!

Obviously Harleys have a similar standing in the world, and this one is has got to be somewhere near the top of the Harley tree when it comes to cool. To give you an example, when it arrived at Kerrang towers, our resident yank Keith pretty much started running round in circles around me and trying to dry hump my leg, and not just because it was a Tuesday (don’t ask!) but because he was so excited, and said “Man, of all the bikes you have had dude…….that is the one!” He literally was beside himself with enthusiasm, I hadn't seen this kind of joy since Obama had been elected, or the Cubs had won the World Series….okay that hasn't happened since 1908, but you get the point!

I mean it does look amazing, and once you get the hang of the way you need to ride this thing, I mean I had simply never ridden an almost-Chopper before, it starts to make sense, and suddenly becomes a lot more fun. Also of course, like with any Harley, there are a hundred and one ways for you to customise it, and make it your own, which means you can create a real one off masterpiece for your riding pleasure.

First up riding wise, you learn that you need to start planning your corners a bit better when on this beast, as if you don't get the line and speed right you end up on the wrong side of the road, I mean try and take the same line as you would on say, an R6, and you will find yourself looking  at oncoming cars heading towards you instead of flowing through the corner nicely. Also the brakes, they are actually okay when you consider they are designed to bring this big old looking chopper down from say a nice 55mph at a relaxed pace, instead of me trying to ride the front discs like some sort of Brighton mule,  like you can on sports bikes, and trying to get her to stop on a dime.

Yes the exhaust note could still be better, and i would always prefer more power like the Triumphs had, but again, the power level kind of makes sense when you realise that this was designed to look good instead of perform well, and anyway, with the world of customisations that are available for Harleys, I am sure a nice pair of cans would get it sounding as throaty as the Harley Fat Bob or XR1200 I have had the pleasure of riding already, and they sounded blooming ace!

So far it does seem to look like a case of style over substance for the Rocker C, and that's not a bad thing when it looks as good as it does, but i wanted to delve deeper. So I enlisted the help of my good friend Copsey from Express Insurance, my esteemed sponsors, for a ride out on a Sunday. You see Copsey has a Blade, admittedly not exactly a new one, but it would be the perfect bike for me to go up against on a ride, simply because not only would his riding style and bike make me work the Harley harder that I had done previously, just to keep up, but also because I wanted to see if this thing COULD be ridden fast.

So we set out Sunday at 9am for Stafford, Lichfield and the surrounding area, as Copsey knows the roads really well up there, and after the initial shock of being blown away by the Blade straight away, I really started to get used to this bike.

I started to short shift a bit to keep the power on and not let the Harley engine do that plateaux thing it does when you ride it too hard, and immediately I noticed the difference. I then tried to nail the corners, something that is not made easier by the amount you have to lean this thing in just to get it to turn, which, coupled with the fact the foot pegs don't give you a lot of room for maneuver, made this rather tricky, but in the end I found that as always, the key was to plan a few corners ahead and try to get the bike through them smoothly without having to grab too much brake.

Im not going to lie, it was an effort, and I know that Copsey wasnt exactly giving it some, but by managing to do all of this, i was able to keep up with the big man, and then I started to see what this bike was about, and although it was hard work, I had a lot of fun taking it around the countryside of Staffordshire (the road by lichfield Reservoir being a particular highlight as you’ll see in the pics!), even if being in said countryside meant less smooth roads and therefore the amount of times I must have hit a dent in the surface and almost felt my neck give out was agonising because of those angled front forks….but that’s the price you pay for the look! What a look by the way, the one gripe Copsey had was that no matter how hard he knew I was struggling to keep up, he couldn't get over how relaxed and chilled I looked on the bike, and of course after a while he was enviously eying my comfy riding position compared to his full on racer style as his knees stared to give in.

It was when I got back from my frantic ride out that morning though, having been gone for 3 hours that I started to think about what this bike was actually designed for…..and it hit me, forget about short shifting, forget trying to actually get anywhere in a hurry Wilkins, and go back to how you enjoyed the first Harleys you had, and just go for a cruise.

So despite having already been out on the bike for 3 hours that morning, I thought sod it, jumped back on and just went for a nice relaxed ride around Solihull and Brum in general, and thats when I sat back and thought, damn this is what it was built for.

Cruising about town, with no need for too much noise or histrionics, and just looking damn cool. While for some bikers this may not seem the be all and end all of what being on two wheels is about, you cannot argue that it isnt one of the biggest reasons people get into biking in the first place.

Plus it has one massive advantage over a sports bike, and that is the fact that when you actually get to your destination you wont have to spend the next twenty minutes unfolding your spine, knees and legs from the racing position, and that big seat is uber comfy, handy when you are as injured and battered as I am from years of rugby.

I mean yes there are better bikes out there, and yes you shouldn’t grab a Rocker C expecting it to perform or ride like a modern Jap bike, but there is nothing out there like a Harley, its the brand that kids still dream of, and of course it looks simply breathtaking.

More importantly though, after a turbulent first couple of days with the bike, it ended up making me smile, and sometimes that can be enough. I have mentioned before with Harleys, its almost not the getting there that really matters, it is the arriving, and with this bike, you shouldn't expect to be blown away when you ride it, but you can expect there to be a crowd gathered around the bike when you get off.

Now for the hardest part when it comes to Harleys, the price, the normal Rocker C goes for over £14k, but right now at Stratstone Harley in Birmingham my good friend Jase has them on offer at rather large discount of £12,999 for the one I had, and just £10,999 for the standard Rocker. Its still a lot for a bike, but remember that this is a Harley, and they don’t exactly come cheap anyway!

If your wondering what the insurance quote would be like if you were to run out and grab one of these tomorrow, here are a range of quotes from Express Insurance to give you a ball park figure based on my current circumstances ie. living in a city centre, with secure parking and with a good lock to give you an idea:

 

Motorcycle	Year of Manufacture	Value	Age of Rider	Licence Length	NCB Level	Premium	Excess
Harley Davidson Rocker C	2009	£13000	21	1 Month	0	£1495	£450
Harley Davidson Rocker C	2009	£13000	30	5 years	3 years	£450	£300
Harley Davidson Rocker C	2009	£13000	55	20 years	6 years	£250	£300
* Based on Motorcycle garaged in a Birmingham postcode with a Thatcham Category 1 Alarm/Immobiliser fitted.

 

Oh and while I remember, I need to give you the quotes for the Suzuki GSF 650 S Bandit I had last week as Emma was on holiday – so here we are!

Motorcycle	Year of Manufacture	Value	Age of Rider	Licence Length	NCB Level	Premium	Excess
Suzuki GSF 650 S	2009	£5500	21	1 Month	0	£950.66	£400
Suzuki GSF 650 S	2009	£5500	30	5 years	3 years	£250	£350
Suzuki GSF 650 S	2009	£5500	55	20 years	6 years	£127.58	£200
* Based on Motorcycle garaged in a Birmingham postcode with a Thatcham Category 1 Alarm/Immobiliser fitted.

So final impressions of the Rocker C, well its a beautiful bike, and the feeling of riding over that big back wheel is almost primeval at times, plus you will not look cooler anywhere you go, but if its riding thrills your looking for over style, then perhaps you shouldn’t be looking at a Harley.

I suppose it comes down to what kind of a person/rider you are, one who does it to push themselves to the limit and take on twisty roads and track days, or one that likes to hit the motorways and cruise everywhere looking cool. There is no right or wrong answer, as long as no matter what you’re riding you are enjoying it.

Up next, I’m going to spend a few days on the Yamaha XJ6, before jumping back onto another beast of a Harley, the Road King, which got delivered today!

So until next time my Illustrious amigos, ride safe!!