Mike DuFresne was tired of eating rocks. They tended to clog up the breathing apparatus. And he didn’t want to sprint for the expensive transplant so he decided to throw something on the grille, something tasty but also functional. We’re not talking his lungs but the very expensive radiator cooling off his Harley V-Rod. The intake design feeding the $700+ component while allowing in the necessary air flow also sucks up road debris that can puncture or otherwise damage the radiator. Mike wanted to add some protection but also dress up the radiator in keeping with the svelte V-Rod looks. Four years and lots of determination later, he had his solution…Lil Emery V-Rod Grilles…and in three flavors…black, chrome and “naked” so you can color match them to your bike’s color scheme.

By the way, the high quality aluminum dress-ups are 100% American made. For the weight conscious, the grilles, sold as a pair, weigh only 1.3 oz. each. An R&R effort that was labor intensive utilized a 9-step fabrication process that guarantees perfect fit and requires only hand tools to accomplish as we shall soon see.

The Lil Emery Grilles are now available through J&P Cycles via their Internet catalog at www.jpcycles.com, Click Here For Their Website. Under Brand Guide go to Lil Emery. Prices: Chrome - $99.95 (#434-117); Black - $79.99 (#434-118); Raw - $79.99 (#434- 119). According to J&P the price includes free replacement guarantee for the life of the motorcycle. Now that’s hard to beat plus your expensive V-Rod radiator will no longer get beat up by damaging projectiles. Bottom line, Emery Grilles are the only protection you will ever need for your very-expensive-to- replace radiator. You can also check them out at www.lilemerydesigns.com. For Dealer Inquiries Only information, contact Mike “Lil Emery” DuFresne via lilemerygrills.yahoo.com.

The Lil Emery Grilles are now being sold worldwide as the word goes out about their high level of quality, seamless construction and ease of installation and the simple fact that they offer both form and function…a safety and appearance upgrade all in one. Bottom line these grilles can save you open-road downtime, expense and the pain of replacing your V-Rods radiator, plus saving the shop bill for parts and labor totaling somewhere over $1,000. Call the Grilles a couple ounces of protection, actually 2.6 oz. total for the pair.

Looking for a high profile venue to demonstrate the installation process Mike chose the occasion of the annual L.A. Calendar Bike Show held at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. As it turned out several V-Rods were in attendance in addition to Mike’s own bike including a very tricked out one from Metalsports, Inc. as well as a surprise appearance, and a first look, at the new ’09 V-Rod.

First off, a little background about the V-Rod aka “Harley’s Bastard Child” as Mike describes his favorite bike and which he believes the factory and dealers are giving less than adequate attention. Meeting mixed reviews when introduced in 2001, the VRSC aka V-Rod line-up was a first for Milwaukee. They went after the Japanese musclebikes and also joined up with the Porsche car people to develop a whole new engine. …water- cooled, overhead cams and fuel-injected. The chassis (rubber- mount hydroformed steel perimeter frame) was based around Harley’s VR-1000 racing motorcycle as also used for their drag- racing competition machines. By the 2008 model, the V-Rod acquired anti-lock braking systems while the standard engine’s displacement was bumped from 1130cc (69ci) to 1250cc (73.6ci), which had only been previously available from Screamin' Eagle, and added a slipper clutch as standard equipment.

As for the bike seen here taking on the new grilles, it belongs to a company called Metalsport, Inc. out of Southgate, CA headed up by Doug McGoon, head of Metalsport Wheels (www.metalsportwheels.com or call 562-776-9594.)

The advanced machine shop manufactures a variety of V- Rod aftermarket products as well as custom wheels, custom exhausts, forward controls and a host of other custom parts several companies including CFR (Cary Faas Racing) and Ghostriders (www.grcustoms.com). The bike seen here is a first year 2001 V-Rod, literally the first one sold in California from Fullerton Harley. No longer stock it features a number of tasty upgrades including the billet swingarm which is actually much lighter than it looks since it’s honey-combed and features hidden pivots and adjusters. Metalsport also fabricated the handlebars, rotors and wheels. Now they’re about to add another cool piece, the Lil Emery Radiators Grilles, in this case, the chromed versions.

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