Victory Vision Tested

Here's my draft of the KR test. First Published in KIWIRIDER Nov 2008

Victory produced their first motorcycle on the Fourth of July 1998. Now, not long after their 10th anniversary, Silver Fern Imports in Takanini offers the range of custom styled bikes to Kiwi riders.

NZ is the second export market the parent company has officially entered – after the UK. By the time this edition of KR is in hand they will be available in Australia as well.

Our introduction started at Hotel Du Vin, South of Auckland, with a private KR showing of the new and impressive range.

After a briefing on the company and their marketing strategy, I had an opportunity to throw a leg over several different models for a punt through the Hunuas and up the Pahutukawa coast.

The Vision is available in two models – the Tour, which features the top box and integrated passenger throne (what else would you call it?) and the Street – which has a more convention rear end. If you can call anything about this bike’s styling conventional.

Victory says that their research shows that buyers of this type of motorcycle crave individuality and comfort as their main priorities. The Vision surely delivers.

I saw plenty of old school Cadillac in its presentation and really enjoyed the individuality. It is quite a stunning looking thing.

Arlen Ness is often referred to as the ‘King of Choppers’. He has produced some of the most outrageous, outlandish and some of the most drop dead gorgeous pieces of two-wheeled art ever, and his influence runs throughout the styling of the Victory range.

Victory says that it took ‘over six years to develop’ the bike. I didn’t find that surprising. They have produced a very refined motorcycle.

It’s ‘probably’ the best handling and has the best ground clearance of any of the Full Dressers (‘Supertankers’ in Big Dave speak). It is quite a nimble motorcycle for one so large.

At its heart is a delightful 106 cui (1,731cc), air and oil cooled, 4 valve Vee twin with a bore and stroke of 101 x 108mm. It’s finished with heaps of chrome and attention to detail. With the way the engine is showcased by the bodywork, it’s a fabulous looking unit as well as having some decent grunt.

It’s fed by closed loop EFI system and it develops 109ftlbs of torque at and 92 usable horsepower close to its 5,500rpm redline.

Pushing all 365kg along is a carbon-reinforced belt that runs from a 6 speed gearbox that incorporates a genuine (better than 1:1) overdrive. The gearbox is like most of the super units, reasonably noisy, but the changes are firm and positive and belie the clunks it makes.

Up front it sports a 130/70 tyre and the rear is 180/60 with a longish wheelbase of 1668 mm. Coupled with its low centre of gravity and 130mm travel front forks and air adjustable rear suspension, it really does handle exceptionally well for a large motorcycle.

Wheeling it around town, or Osborne during the photo shoot, was a breeze and its open road manners are relaxed and precise.

The large slab of front bodywork does pick up some dirty air turbulence when travelling behind a truck on the freeway, but open road touring is a sit back and relax, fold out the adjustable air deflectors and roll away the distances in comfort and luxury.

Victory claims the Vision has the lowest seat height in its class - something us ‘full size’ men usually can find a disadvantage – but the comfort of the Vision is really outstanding.

It has four inches of padding in the heated seats. They remained comfortable and the bike begs you to sit in it for full days on end.

Heated grips are also standard – as is the electronic windscreen. It has a button adjustment for up and down and is also available in aftermarket shorter or taller versions.

It really is a matter of dialing in and sitting back – or upright. The vision has the best foot accommodations I’ve used on a bike. The large adjustable footboards give great flexibility in the positions the rider can adopt. If you feel like giving it the berries, (don’t worry – you can) then it’s a matter of perching toes on the rear edge and it’s quite a sporty attitude.

Cruising down the Waikato freeway to a photo shoot I had heels resting on the leading edge of the boards and it was laid back lounge room comfortable.

The unique swept back handlebars put the rider quite rearwards on the machine and the bodywork is mounted further forward than the other full dressers. It feels like there is a lounge room space between you and the dashboard. The ability to move legs around and the spacious feel is a really big plus for days on end riding.

I found a lot of hot rod/muscle car in the dashboard and cockpit. It’s minimalist and very styley. Most of the stereo controls are mounted on the tank top with the cruise control and volume switches hung under the switch blocks. It was all very easy to come to grips with.

The engine is reasonably quiet and remarkably smooth in cruise mode. It has a lovely pulse that a massive Vee Twin develops when you gas it up, but on cruise it takes a conscious effort to find even the slightest tick from the donk. I was incredulous at times.

The range on a tankfull varied with how sportily I pushed the bike along, but it was about ‘big tourer’ standard. It rides harder than you might expect, it’s an enjoyable bike to toss around too.

Stopping is taken car of by a set of 300mm rear brakes. Twin floating discs with 3 piston callipers up front and one 2 piston unit aft. They are linked, provided good feel and were confidence inspiring, even when doing low speed manoeuvres on the gravel.

But that isn’t what the Victory Vision is about.

It’s about a unique motorcycle that can roll away days behind the handlebars. The top box behind the throne and rear speaker assembly can accommodate two full face helmets. The integrated panniers have several storage compartments to give a total of 111 litres of cargo, plus it has a nice glove box for iPods and phones to wire directly into the stereo.

GPS and a ton of custom options are available from the substantial Victory catalogue. The range of clothing looks sharp and the whole product range has the Arlen Ness look style about it. One that this hairy biker found very attractive. I took the Vision to the Howick bike show and thought it stole the show.

The Vision is available in Black, Super Steel Grey and Midnight Cherry and there are Touring and Street (Sans top box) models available with different ‘premium’ or ‘comfort’specification levels and prices ranging between $33,995 and $35,995.

For that you get a mega comfortable tourer that is a super cruiser and show bike as well. It’s enjoyable to ride, has celebrity cred and looks like Star Wars crossed with a Cadillac.

Co-pilot rated the passenger comfort as ‘Best Yet. Best foot position and all round comfort. Loved the headed seat.’

It has some good innovations too. The crash protection system that stops the bike from entirely tipping over is great. The integrated bars also provide extra foot space.

I suspect you’ll start to see a few more Victorys on the road shortly. The 10th Anniversary Special Edition sold out online in 7 minutes.

What we saw with the Vision is a unique looking motorcycle that does the job it was designed to do very well. Lovely engine and road manners, tourability and cruisability.

If you are in the market for a large tourer or just a unique bike…a Vision is well worth looking into.