Victory's True Vision

VICTORY'S TRUE VISION

ROUNDUP

WHERE ARE YOU going to compete, and how are you going to win?” This clear definition of strategy came from

Mark Blackwell, VP of Victory Motorcycles. It has been during his leadership that the Minnesota company has become a successful motorcycle manufacturer.

For Victory, the new Vision Sitrppt flnrt Vision Tour fnrth-

“represent the ultimate brand expression to this point,” said Blackwell. A full-rig tourer is the logical extension of the lineup, and the company has been hard at work on this platform since 2000.

Victory’s research for the Vision (the most ever for the company on a new model) found that two points were most

important to the touring rider: style and comfort.

“We want to crush our competitors on these two elements,” Blackwell stated at the unveiling. “A strong design statement is about leading. Even if you don’t like the Vision, you have to admit it is a bold and ballsy statement from the ‘new American motorcycle company.’”

There is no denying the bike’s style. As for comfort, the seat offers 4 inches of foam, is a lowest-in-class 26.5 inches high and the riding position pure Americanbike comfort, as in kicked back with feet forward on spacious floorboards.

As important as the bike itself is, at least equally of note is the expertise with which it has been introduced and the high-level thinking going on along with it. It was a year ago that Victory unveiled the Vision 800 concept bike. This very public presentation of a very farout concept was, essentially, the company breaking us all in for a new path. For as radical as the Vision Tour and Vision Street production bikes are, they are definitely a step back from the edge that the 800cc concept was. Then, last summer, we were given concept sketches of four possible versions of the

bike you see here, which was just another little push to prepare the market and all of our minds for what was to come

Some of the challenges in building the Vision? “We have no experience with plastic bodywork,” said one engineer. “Take the Hammer: There are two pieces of plastic on the whole thing. The rest is metal.”

So Victory turned to a Detroit company whose expertise is in automotive plastics and that has done work for, among other brands, Pontiac. Victory is aiming for a very high level of fit-and-finish it feels is necessary in the market, and plans to exceed the levels that Honda and BMW currently exhibit in their full-rig tourers. One special point of interest is that the Victory appears to be a motorcycle assembled without bolts: “We worked really hard to have a minimum of visible fasteners, particularly hex-heads,” said Program Manager Gary Gray.

Beneath the radical body work is some equally radical engineering. The main frame, for instance, is a large cast aluminum piece oriented over the top of the engine. This piece is hollow and acts as a very largevolume air box. No engine specs were released, so displacement is unknown. But the big airbox and the very large volume of the dual exhaust sys tem suggest there will be an

ample, flat torque curve elevated from that of current models, even if the 100-cubic-inch displacement of the current Freedom engine is retained. It was interesting to note the use of two oxygen sensors in the exhaust system, which means a closed-loop fuelinjection system and 2008 emissions compliance. Transmission is the six-speed-withoverdrive currently in use.

The rear subframe also is aluminum, as are the twin fuel tanks (one filler, under a panel on the right side of the center console) carried up in the “shoulders” of the bike, nearly surrounding the steering head. Claimed capacity is 6 gallons.

The triple disc brakes appear to be linked, and ABS seems a likely option. The cast-aluminum swingarm features twin shocks that look as though they will be air-adjustable for preload (no coil springs could be felt under the rubber gaiters covering each unit). The sound system features an iPod-ready interface, and there also was a cruise-control switch cluster on one of the bikes.

Tester riders speak of excellent high-speed stability and a light-handling nature, but the jury stays out on that point until we get a ride next summer in preparation for the expected fall, 2007, release of the Vision to dealers. MSRPis TBA. A final note from Blackwell: “Only Americans could build Las Vegas and only Americans could build this bike.”

-Mark Hoyer