Victory's new Vision of American touring

By Bill Wood

If Flash Gordon had a motorcycle, it would probably look like this. But it's unlikely it would work as well as the all-new Victory Vision.

Victory, the motorcycle division of Minnesota-based Polaris Industries, has been known exclusively for its line of V-twin cruisers. But over the past year, the company has teased us with glimpses of its upcoming entry in the luxury touring class, in the form of a mockup of the bike that appeared at motorcycle shows all winter.

This is a company that has built its business on a line of factory customs that covers the motorcycle spectrum from A all the way to B. So, underneath all that bodywork, we assumed we'd find another variation on the theme that has produced the Vegas, the Kingpin, the Jackpot, the Hammer and the Eight Ball.

Boy, were we wrong.

In late June, Victory invited journalists to the company's home in Minnesota to peek beneath the plastic and then ride the Vision for the first time. And what we discovered is that while we weren't watching, Victory's engineers were reinventing the company.

OK, the Vision is still powered by a 50-degree V-twin engine derived from the company's previous powerplants (although it's bigger, more powerful and more refined than any Victory engine so far).

But the shock comes in the form of, well, everything else.

Take the frame, for instance. In place of the collection of steel tubes that has held together every previous Victory, the Vision has a massive, cast-aluminum, two-piece backbone that uses the engine as a stressed member and does double duty as the airbox. That frame connects to a cast swingarm controlled by a unique air-adjustable single shock with a linkage that pivots at 90 degrees to the frame.

Then there's the list of features, including linked brakes, an onboard sound system and cruise control, standard on all Vision models, plus add-ons like a CD changer, CB/intercom or GPS (left), along with heated grips and seats. There are even a few industry-leading options available, like a high-intensity discharge (HID) driving light or an integrated connector that allows you to operate your iPod, safely tucked into a lockable, waterproof compartment, from the audio controls on the handlebars.

In other words, this is not like any other Victory before. And the amazing thing is that, on the first try, the Victory guys have put together all those brand-new bits into a unified package that works really well.

Street offers different Vision of touring

One-up or two-up? How much stuff do you want to carry?

Those are the questions that define the choice between the Vision Street and the Vision Tour, because the main difference is the big top box, which greatly expands carrying capacity over the two somewhat small saddlebags and also adds passenger comfort in the form of a backrest.

Actually, though, it may not be a choice you have to make. You can turn a Vision Tour into a Street (or the other way around), whenever you like. The trunk comes off with the removal of four bolts, and you can replace it with a color-matched body panel.

And the difference in handling, without the added weight high and rearward, is noticeable.

The Vision comes in two forms -- the Street, with a fairing and saddlebags, or the Tour, with fairing, bags and a massive tail trunk. And the first thing you notice is that they're both big.

With a wheelbase of 65.7 inches, the Vision has nearly as long a footprint as Honda's Gold Wing, while the flowing styling makes it look even bigger in overall length.

It's also large in other directions, with a width of 44.9 inches and a claimed dry weight (for the Tour model) of 849 pounds.

In spite of all that mass, the Vision comes with an extremely low 26.5-inch high seat that feels thick and comfortable when you drop into it. The view forward, over the audio controls and white analog gauges, is tasteful and refined. And that impression is reinforced when you fire up the engine. Sure, there are two, huge 865cc cylinders firing away down there, but the feel in the rider's seat is touring-bike civilized.

That's no accident. Realizing they were targeting a different class of buyers, Victory engineers told us they spent lots of time on NVH -- noise, vibration and harshness -- issues when designing the Vision. Even though the motor is bigger than previous Victory powerplants (up to 106 cubic inches -- 1,731cc -- from 100 c.i. on all other Victories), the design incorporates reduced reciprocating mass, quieter engine internals, a balancer shaft and rubber-mounted handlebars and footboards.

Engineers even went after subtle sources of mechanical noise and vibration, reducing the speed of the valves just before they close completely to eliminate ticking and reworking gear ratios in the transmission to avoid harmonic meshing frequencies.

But there's no disguising the fact that large chunks of metal are in motion when you push the gearshift lever into first. The toe-only lever, which is adjustable for height and can even be moved forward or backward depending on your preferred riding position, has a fairly long throw with a decided clunk at the end. To its credit, though, it worked reliably and never failed to find neutral, even at a stop on a hot day.

Once in motion, the Vision proved reasonably nimble at parking-lot speeds. Yeah, it's heavy, particularly after you top off the twin fuel tanks, located way up front on either side of the frame (seen in photo at right). But the balance is good, and a touch of the foot brake lever (which operates the rear brake plus one of the three pistons in each front caliper) helps you retain control in low-speed maneuvers.

If you do happen to drop the bike, the Vision has a feature that could save you plenty. Tip-over plates at the front and rear are designed to catch the machine before it rolls over onto all that expensive bodywork. The company doesn't guarantee your bike will come away without a scratch, but they showed us a video of an engineer just letting go of a Vision and watching it crash to the concrete floor. They said they were able to pick up that bike and ride it away.

Accelerating really allows you to appreciate the V-twin's massive torque curve, which peaks at 109 foot-pounds and stays above 100 foot-pounds all the way from 2,000 rpm to 4,800 rpm. This is a lot of motorcycle, but that's a lot of force, and it moves out well.

A ride on Minneapolis freeways provided a test of the wind protection. All Visions come with an adjustable windshield, but on the base models of the Street and Tour lines, the shield is manually adjustable by popping off a body panel at the front. The higher-cost Street Premium, Tour Comfort or Tour Premium models, add the electric-windshield option, in addition to features such as heated grips and seats. The electrically adjustable windshield is really convenient, since you can dial it down for more airflow on city streets, then crank it up to create a bubble of still air on the highway. All models also feature manually operated wings on each side of the fairing that direct air to your chest when opened.

Out on country roads, we got a better chance to test the handling. In tight turns, the Vision Tour isn't exactly light, but it's predictable. In higher-speed sweepers, though, it's downright impressive. You can just set a lean angle and forget it until it's time to rotate back to vertical at the end of the turn. Ground clearance is quite good for a touring bike, with no sounds of scraping metal, even in tight corners.

Without the tail trunk, the Vision Street is actually fun on backroads, driving in and out of corners like a much smaller machine. The tradeoff comes, of course, in carrying capacity. The integrated saddlebags look enormous, but the actual storage space inside is on the small side.

On the other hand, the Tour's trunk is every bit as big as it looks, easily holding two full-face helmets. Plus, it provides a curving backrest for a passenger, and two additional speakers for the audio system.

For those times when you are headed long distances, comfort is key, and the Vision measures up very well. The rider's seat is a typical bucket which doesn't allow for a lot of fore-aft movement, but it's well-padded and very comfortable.

Plus, the Vision comes with extremely long floorboards that give you a variety of leg positions, from laid-back to upright. And moving your legs that much essentially puts your weight on a different part of the seat, extending your range between rest stops.

The cruise control and stereo system also make the miles roll by more easily, although, as with all exposed speakers on motorcycles, the sound that reaches your ears inside a full-face helmet is hardly concert-hall quality. You can order an external speaker connector and pipe the sound right into your helmet.

The design is full of great features, including the waterproof audio player box that locks automatically every time you lock the forks, or the convenient holder for the fuel cap inside the fuel door. But there are also a few issues to deal with, like the fuel door that pops up right in the way of the handlebars. Turn the bars with the door open, and I'm guessing you'll be buying a new door.

Overall, Victory says it's shooting for an automotive level of fit and finish with the Vision, although the early production test bikes we rode came up a bit short of that goal. Admittedly, these machines had been flogged a bit in the development process, but some edges of the body panels were a bit rough and there were a few glitches in the audio switchgear after we ran through a hard rain. Victory later said the switchgear problem was due to missing rubber plugs on some pre-production switch clusters, and the issue will be corrected before consumer models hit the market.

In addition, some of the bikes exhibited a groaning sound when coasting to a stop that we were told resulted from a bad batch of drive belts which were being replaced.

In spite of those developmental issues, the Vision is an exceptional effort on the part of a company testing itself in a new part of the market. Admittedly, two days of testing are hardly enough to evaluate a touring bike, but the new machine proved comfortable and competent on a range of roads.

The touring market has been a tough neighborhood in recent years, littered with the corpses of bikes that couldn't catch on against class leaders like Honda's Gold Wing or Harley's Electra Glide Ultra Classic. In functional terms, the new Victory Vision appears to have the stuff to compete, but that's a long way from a guarantee of success.

One of the elements that may make the difference in the Vision's acceptance is, of course, the bike's visual design, which is, well, distinctive. And that, says Mark Blackwell, Victory's general manager, is entirely intentional.

"The looks aren't for everybody," Blackwell admits. "Our idea is to get a certain group of people very excited about this motorcycle."

Once the Vision hits showroom floors this fall, we'll find out how well the Victory team has succeeded.