About Victory
Victory Motorcycles is an American motorcycle manufacturer based in Spirit Lake, Iowa. It began production of its vehicles in 1998.
Its parent company, Polaris Industries, created the firm following the modern success of Harley-Davidson. Victory's motorcycles are designed to compete directly with Harley-Davidson and similar American-style motorcycle brands, with V-twin engines and touring, sport-touring, and cruiser configurations. The first Victory, the V92C, was announced in 1997 and began selling in 1998. In 2011 Polaris bought the Indian motorcycle brand.
The first model, the V92C, was debuted at Planet Hollywood in the Mall of America by Al Unser in 1997. Production began in late 1998, and the first official model year was 1999. At 92 cu in (1,510 cc), the V92C was the largest production engine available at the time. All components for the V92C were manufactured in Minnesota and Iowa, except the Italian Brembo brakes and the British-made electronic fuel injection system. Victory engines debuted with five-speed transmissions (later six), single overhead cams, dual connecting rods, hydraulic lifters, and fuel injection; most fuel-injection components are standard GM parts. The V92C engine was designed to be easily tuned by the owner.
The 92 cubic inch Victory engine carries 6 US qt (5,700 ml) of oil in the sump, about the same as most automobiles. This is intended to minimize risk of low-oil damage, but also makes it dimensionally larger than other motorcycle engines, such as Harley-Davidson, which carry oil in tanks. The sheer volume of oil can also impede engine performance in a racing environment. Top speed is about 120 mph (190 km/h) at 5,500 rpm; the ECM contains a rev limiter which can be overridden by reprogramming the EPROM. The Victory engine is air-cooled, and also circulates crankcase oil through a cooler mounted between the front frame downtubes. A section of the rear swingarm can be removed to change the drive belt or the rear wheel.
The motorcycle's designers had approached several European manufacturers, particularly Cosworth, about designing and producing the engine, but ultimately decided to design and build it in Osceola, Wisconsin. Several variations on engine-frame geometry were tried until the best configuration was found, with the crankshaft geometrically aligned with the axles, a concept developed by Vincent Racing in the late 1950s.
The V92C weighed about the same as a Harley, approximately 650 lb (290 kg). The original V92C engine produced about 55 hp (41 kW) at the wheel; with high-performance cams and pistons, this could be boosted to 83 hp (62 kW) and torque of 86 lb·ft (117 N·m).
In 2002 company introduced its Freedom 92/5 V-Twin, a 92 cubic inch engine mated to a five speed transmission. The new Freedom Engine had rounded cylinders and a smaller oil cooler and provided greater power output than the previous mill.
Victory continued to expand its model lineup in 2005 with the introduction of its Hammer, a muscular power cruiser with a 250mm rear tire and the Freedom 100/6 engine. It also began offering its cruiser motorcycles with the blacked-out treatment, using the styling scheme on its Vegas 8-Ball.
In 2006, both Arlen and his son Cory Ness selected the Vegas Jackpot to customize for the Ness Signature Series. The custom-inspired motorcycle was equipped with the same Freedom V-Twin powerplant and gearbox as the Hammer.
Victory would again demonstrate its forward-thinking in 2008 with the release of its radically-styled, luxury touring motorcycle, the 2008 Victory Vision. With a chassis composed of three big castings and an integrated 11-liter airbox incorporated into its design, it also featured the company’s proprietary Air Victory Brakes. Designed by Lead Industrial Designer, Michael Song, the aerodynamic, futuristic-looking luxo-tourer created plenty of ripples when it hit the market.
For 2009, Victory offered a 10th Anniversary Victory Vision. With an Antares Red and Black paint scheme that pays tribute to its first motorcycle, the V92C, the limited edition Vision includes a reverse gear and tons of luxury touring amenities like heated grips and seats. Only 100 were made.
Victory has also made a point of offering various models in Low versions, with seat heights and controls better suited to smaller riders.
Moto blog
Tue, 03 Sep 2013
Tom Sykes has taken over the lead in the 2013 World Superbike Championship standings after splitting race victories with Chaz Davies at Germany’s Nurburgring circuit. Both races ended prematurely however with red flags during the final laps. Pata Honda‘s Jonathan Rea and FIXI Crescent Suzuki‘s Leon Camier both crashed on the 18th lap of Race One after running into oil spilled on the track from Pedercini Kawasaki racer Federico Sandi‘s ZX-10R.
Tue, 06 Aug 2013
This is a small sample of the participants in Monday’s annual Legends Ride from Deadwood to Sturgis. Hundreds of bikes thundered through the Black Hills toward Sturgis on Monday afternoon, creating a cacophony not heard in these parts since, well, last year. The sixth annual Legends Ride draws thousands of riders, spectators and celebrities to the historic city of Deadwood, South Dakota each year on a charitable pilgrimage to the Buffalo Chip Campground, and organizers said Monday’s edition was likely the largest ever.
Mon, 29 Jul 2013
Celebrating 15 years of American-made production, Victory Motorcycles unveiled its 2014 lineup today, featuring two new 8-Ball baggers, a $1000 price cut on the High-Ball, a Ness Cross Country and the new Factory Custom paint program. First up, Victory has given its Cross Country and Cross Roads the stripped down 8-Ball treatment – and a stripped down price tag to match. Exposed to their bare bagger bones and painted black, the Cross Country is accessory-free but for its fairing and audio system, while the Cross Roads ditches its Lexan windshield.
Mon, 29 Jul 2013
The Musashi HARC-Pro Honda team of Leon Haslam, Michael van der Mark and Takumi Takahashi captured the 2013 Suzuka 8 Hours race. The Musashi team was joined on the podium by the Yoshimura Suzuki team of Takuya Tsuda, Nobuatsu Aoki and Josh Brookes and the Kagayama Suzuki team of Yukio Kagayama, Noriyuki Haga and Kevin Schwantz. The Musashi team completed 214 laps to win the endurance race.
Tue, 23 Jul 2013
Polaris Industries reports a 11.8% increase in net sales and a 14.6% increase in profit over the quarter ended June 30, 2013. The company earned a record $80 million in profit in the quarter, compared to $69.8 million in the same quarter last year. Most of the gains however were from Polaris’ off-road vehicles, its GEM, Goupil and Aixam small vehicles and sales of parts, garments and accessories including Klim apparel.
Mon, 22 Jul 2013
The 22nd edition of the annual LA Calendar Motorcycle Show marked its return to the Queen Mary Seawalk Village in Long Beach, California with hometown boy Sam Baldi taking the Bike Building Championship’s Best of Show trophy with a Jimmy Todorovith/Profile Cycles built Big Twin custom named “Lost Angel.”
This year’s Calendar Show showcased not only top builders but selected vendors and exhibitors, and of course the Calendar Girl Music live performances. And as always, this year’s show celebrated the world premiere of the 2014 FastDates.com Motorcycle PinUp Calendars, featuring the world’s top SBK World Superbikes, sport and cafe bikes, and custom motorcycles with the beautiful Calendar Kittens. On hand throughout the day to meet with fans and pose for pictures were Calendar Kittens Apple Price, together with official SBK World Superbike grid girls Jessica Harbour and singer/songwriter Sarah Horvath.
Mon, 22 Jul 2013
Eric Bostrom took the victory in a crash-filled race at Laguna Seca to open the U.S. leg of the 2013 FIM eRoadRacing World Cup. Three out of eight racers crashed out on the first of nine laps while pole qualifier Shane Turpin retired with a mechanical breakdown on the penultimate lap.
Tue, 11 Jun 2013
Electric motorcycles generally get a bad rap among motorcycling’s purists. They claim there’s no sound, no soul, and no speed. If you’re in that camp, these videos from the Isle of Man TT may change your mind.
Mon, 10 Jun 2013
Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty split a pair of victories at Portugal’s Portimao circuit while Sylvain Guintoli took advantage of some misfortune to his championship rivals to increase his lead in the 2013 World Superbike Championship standings. Guintoli has been leading or sharing the lead in the championship since winning the first race of Round 1 in Australia, but amazingly continues to lead despite having just that single victory after six rounds. The Aprilia rider has accomplished this through his consistency (Guintoli leads all racers with nine podium finishes in 12 races) and ability to finish each race (he’s the only rider in the top seven without a DNF).
Fri, 07 Jun 2013
James Hillier set new lap time and race time records in a dominating victory in the Lightweight TT race for the 2013 Isle of Man TT. All three of the Kawasaki rider’s lap times were faster than the previous lap record for the Lightweight TT class, for a record overall time of 57:42.245 and average speed of 117.694 mph. The race started with another Kawasaki rider (the class is dominated with Kawasaki Ninja 650s with a few Suzuki SV650s) Dean Harrison taking the early lead through the Glen Helen viewpoint but Hillier was right on his tail about half a second behind.