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By Michael Dapper
VRA Page Webmaster
If a picture is worth a thousands words, a long-distance Victory Vision test ride is worth a million answers.
Our opportunity came one weekend in late June. We were heading out on a Saturday morning, riding 350 miles one way, attending a wedding, then turning around Sunday morning to head home.
The first answer: Yes, the wedding was a blast. Very fun. Congrats and all the best to the happy couple.
Now, on to the bike:
CAUSING A STIR
If you purchase a Victory Vision, drop one or two of your hobbies. You’ll need the extra time to handle all the attention these bikes generate. I picked up a Victory Vision Tour on Friday afternoon and drove it onto the sidewalk in front of my house to wash it for the trip.
A neighbor and his friend put down their happy hour drinks, left their front porch and spent a half-hour inspecting and sitting on the bike. Half the time, their jaws were on the sidewalk. It was as if I had a Mars Rover parked in front.
WHY THE FULL NAME?
Why does Victory insist on calling these bikes the Victory Vision with every mention? Because Victory has acquired a trademark on Victory Vision, and there are numerous other products – services, appliances, animal, mineral, food, you name it – with the name Vision. Thus, Victory must refer to the bikes as the Victory Vision Street and Victory Vision Tour to exercise and thus protect its trademark.
PROVING THEIR POINT
On Saturday morning I rode to my friend’s house to pick him up for the trip. He and a friend on a full-dress HD were waiting. I made a U-turn on the quiet street by his house, and my arc took me up onto the lip of his slanted driveway.
I braked to a stop on the slant, and when I went to plant my left foot – oops! – the ground wasn’t there. The bike leaned, leaned –TIMBER! – and I hopped off the seat as it came to rest on its “tip-over protection points.”
If I would have had any panache, I would have simply walked away from the bike, as if that’s how I meant to park it. But no, I got red-faced, then shared a good laugh with the boys because it really was pretty funny that I had just dropped a big, “so expensive I can’t afford it” early production Victory Vision, yet there was absolutely no damage done to the bike.
Thankfully for dweebs like me, the bike’s design did its job – perfectly!
COMFORT
One of the major goals in the bike’s development was to make it extremely comfortable. On this point, Victory has hit a home run and the ball is still sailing well beyond the outfield fence.
The seat is roomy, has a rear lip that positions you and offers a bit of support, and the cushion is excellent. Combine the seat with the long floorboards and your lower body is ready to nail an Iron Butt award any time, any place.
The floorboards give you tremendous options for foot and leg positions. I went all the way from having my toes on the rear tip of the boards (like a diver), to planted in the middle, to having my heels as far forward as my legs would stretch. My bike was also equipped with accessory highway pegs that folded down and let me put my feet further out to the side.
I used and liked the pegs, but I doubt that I would leave them on the bike between long trips; they detracted from the bike’s styling, so I would install them specifically for tour-length rides, then remove them.
The handlebars come right back to you, so there’s no stretch, no effort, absolutely no muscling of the bars to maneuver the bike.
The adjustable windshield was also welcome. On Day 1, it started out cloudy and we caught a few sprinkles. Windshield up to stay dry and warmer.
By afternoon, it was sunny and 90. Windshield down for any available cooling airflow. Even with the windshield down, though, the air between the windshield and your torso is very, very still. To increase airflow onto your body, you’ll want to fold the side wings flat against the bodywork. In rain or cold, fold them out and they’ll block a lot of the elements.
HOW COMFORTABLE WAS IT?
This comfortable: On Day 1, we rode 130 miles, stopped to use the bathroom, topped off the 6-gallon tanks, then rode a second leg of 170 miles. The riding was 90% highway running with a couple brief passes through small towns.
After that 170-mile Leg 2, we stopped – but only because we had to in order to phone ahead to our destination. We could have kept riding without problem, without discomfort.
We had plenty of fuel left and we were still perfectly comfortable on the bikes. Victory Vision riders are going to have to retrain themselves regarding how long and far they ride. If you get a couple Victory Visions on a ride together, forget the usual 130 miles and look for fuel. It’s going to be 240 miles-plus at a crack.
DISCOMFORT
Is there nothing wrong with this machine? Is it the perfect bike? No, but it is insanely comfortable. If there’s a gripe, it’s this: Because it’s an air-cooled engine that is heavily shrouded with bodywork, some engine heat radiates out to the sides, to your calves and feet.
Fold in the side wings and airflow past the sides of the bike increases, moving some of the heat along. I also moved my legs in front of or behind the heat and was fine. But there is heat.
Another minor blemish – and believe me, we’re micro-criticizing now – is the gear indicator on the display screen that’s part of the instrumentation. The gear indication is slightly delayed, literally a second or two, and that can surprise you the first time or two you watch it as you shift and wonder “did I really shift or not?”
INSTRUMENTATION
As long as we’re discussing it, let’s look into the instrumentation further. It’s excellent. The gear indicator is a good example of the bike providing way, way more information than you’re probably used to on almost any other bike.
There are individual gauges that keep you abreast of your speed, the oil temp, charge of the electrical system, RPMs and fuel level. The fuel gauge takes some getting used to. After riding a stretch, you see that you used a quarter of a tank. Egad! But then you realize you’ve still got three-quarters left – 4.5 gallons to go – and that’s probably well over 180 miles at spirited highway speeds.
The display screen that is directly in front of you offers loads of info, including the gear you’re in, the time of day, the air temperature and much more. There’s a button in front of your left handgrip – perfectly positioned for your left forefinger – and when you push this button you scroll through info displayed at the base of the screen such as: a couple trip meters, the running time and mileage of your current trip, and your range (how far you could ride) based on remaining fuel at the speed you’re traveling that moment.
NEXT GENERATION DRIVETRAIN
The 106-cubic inch engine was smooth, powerful and very efficient. We got about 52 mpg on the trip, and that includes a couple very inefficient displays of riding that guzzled some gas.
How smooth? You can run at, ahem, highway speeds and not realize how fast you’re going. There’s no straining, no stress on the engine. It’s just rolling along as you eat up the miles. Engine noise is quieter than the Freedom engines you’re used to, and the exhaust is quieter, partly because the pipes are split and located well behind you.
How fast? We never tapped it out, yet we achieved impressive speeds effortlessly – no additional vibration, no shudder or shake. Also, in sixth gear, there was no problem passing on two-lane roads. I downshifted once to complete a pass that was looking a little tighter than desired, but just that once. Otherwise, we were locked in sixth and cruising, with plenty of acceleration left for passing.
Complementing the engine’s power was the easy, consistently predictable braking. Not much to mention: The brakes delivered upon demand and performed beautifully.
HANDLING
Another goal for the bike was easy handling, particularly at low speeds. Nailed it.
The bike is beautifully balanced. The first time I rode it – admittedly with a death grip on the bars and a knotted sphincter for fear of dumping the pre-production proto – it handled so easily and had such light steering it almost felt twitchy.
But relax, take a breath and ride and you discover: nope, not twitchy, just amazingly easy for a bike that’s this long and weighs this much. One Victory engineer said that as soon as the wheels roll, the bike loses 200 pounds, and that’s exactly what you experience.
Riding in the wind was no problem, no challenge. The roads early on Day 2 were a little wet from an overnight rain and the wind was spanking us from behind, first from the right, then swinging around to the left. No sweat. Again, it was a matter of letting the bike display its balance rather than striving to correct in response to every gust of wind.
How about low-speed maneuvering? The weak link there was the rider, I fear. If you relax, use the clutch instead of brake and turn your head while making those parking lot turns and U-turns, you’ll be highly impressed. Again, it’s light, easy steering. But watching me make these maneuvers, at least on this trip, would not have impressed you.
MODERN TOUCHES
An admission: I’m a rube, and not hungry for the latest in electronics – at least not on a motorcycle. Thus, I didn’t use the bike’s radio. I tried a couple times, but we were out in the boonies by this time, and it would have been Radio Rangoon or the local hog markets. I switched it on, heard static and didn’t try tuning in a station to catch the polka music or Pastor’s Corner.
You’ll have to ask someone else about the audio. The editors at the Victory Vision all had iPods to plug into their bikes and they loved them. The audio volume through the bike’s speakers adjusts automatically in relation to your speed. The volume increases as you roll into highway speeds, and it comes down as you slow in town.
Plus, the audio is synched up so if you’re listening to the radio or an iPod, the music volume will drop out when there is an audio GPS command or when a rider/passenger speaks through helmet communicators.
One modern touch I loved, though was the cruise control. It was exactly like – and worked absolutely every bit as well as – the cruise control in your car or truck. Once you lock into a speed, your right hand is freed up so you can freak out other motorists by giving them the “V” sign without holding onto the throttle.
You can deactivate the cruise by pushing the Off switch or touching the brake or clutch. On long runs, it’s a great feature, and with the very responsive “accelerate” and “decelerate” switches, you can adjust your speed to match that of your fellow Victory Vision riders who are also in cruise mode.
WHAT ELSE?
When some of the first Victory Vision demo riders complained about the mirrors, I was shocked. The mirrors are big and well-positioned. I never touched them the whole weekend, and was never frustrated or distracted, never thought my hands on the grips took up too much of the mirrors. Didn’t even notice my hands’ reflection.
When we first sat on the bikes month ago, some of wondered if it would be weird not being able to see the front end. Nope. Unless I’m trying to put the wheel into a chock, there’s no need to see the wheel. The bike goes where it’s pointed, and it feels totally natural.
The storage space was great on our trip. Granted, we weren’t camping nor on the road for two weeks, but a Victory Vision Tour offers tons of space, and even the Street – sans trunk – has side holds comparable to those of a Kingpin. Got a bag you like to strap onto the seat behind you? Look for a backrest for the Victory Vision Street seat that will provide not only extra comfort, but a place to anchor that cargo bag.
DON’T BELIEVE IT?
Doubtful? Understood. After all, you wouldn’t expect a ride impression posted on the brand’s website to be critical, would you? (Actually, see: Engine heat.)
To form your own impression, go take a Victory Vision demo ride and let the bike prove itself.
Honestly, this is not the type of bike I’m attracted to, nor prone to consider buying. There’s just too much there, too much comfort and too many conveniences. It’s just not the bike for me – or so I thought! Ride one and it’ll be a surprise if you don’t start thinking about buying one. It’s that impressive.
When I fail to convince my Milwaukee iron-riding friends to take a Victory test ride, all I can think is “they don’t know what they’re missing and how good the riding experience can be.”
The Victory Vision takes that experience to a new, higher level.
Wow. It is quite a bike.
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