[stp1971]

This past Saturday “J” and myself were fortunate enough to get a chance to ride the all new 2008 Victory Vision. Thanks to Intimid8er he gave me a heads up on the Vision tour and the opportunity to participate. If you go to Victory’s website you can register if openings are available in select cities throughout the country to test ride this beast. After arriving they give you a card that is good for one free picture of you and your S/O sitting on the bike in front of a huge American flag banner. Then you go to a twenty minute sales pitch telling you how great the bike is.

The bike has an all new powerplant with a 106 cubic inch engine that produces approximately 95 horsepower and about 104 pounds of torque. The engine is a liquid and air cooled V-Twin. The torque band is down low for quick take offs and it has a great power curve.

First glance at the bike and you think it is something off of the Bladerunner movies. It has a futuristic look to it but yet kinda retro as well. The bike has a huge “V” look to the front of it kind of edgy looking. The rear taillight has a signature “V” in the rear and if you opt for the tourer additional lights on the topcase. The price of the bike tested was about $24,200.00 with the available options installed. But the street version starts at about $18,000.00 and goes up from there.

Sitting on the bike both the rider and the passenger have plenty of leg room and the ergo’s are great for the long haul. The rider can tuck his feet up underneath him or stretch them way out in front thanks to the huge almost two foot long floorboards. The rider has lower lumber support thanks to the increased pillion height which sets the rear pillion about 10 inches above the riders saddle. The handlebars are placed almost perfectly where your hands just lay on top of them. The pullbacks are almost two feet from the triple tree. Comfort is there.

Gadgets galore. There are plenty of buttons, gauges, screens, tunes, and nick knacks to keep you occupied on the bike versus the road ahead. Plus the fact of the power windshield you too can ride down the road and raise and lower the windshield all day long. The bike I rode had the optional GPS (rebadged Garmin) with the upgraded stereo system. The GPS would broadcast the directions through the speakers as I was going down the road. I kept thinking it was “J” telling me to turn off course until I realized it wasn’t her. Mine also had heated grips and the HID headlights. You can also get an optional cb radio, heated seats, and more chrome accents.

Stability. For a 850 pound dry tourer (800 pound for the street) the bike is very stable at low speeds and at higher speeds as well. I believe it probably has almost the lean angle of the Goldwing. It took me about ten minutes to get settled in the bike and get the hang of it. But I was soon leaning into some corners cautiously and testing the power of the engine on the interstate.

Riding down the interstate I tried out the new gearbox that has a true 6th gear overdrive. At about 70 mph you can drop her into 6th and the revs of the big V-Twin almost disappear. Yet you still have plenty of power to get up and go without downshifting. Nice. The true cruise control is another great option the bike has on it.

But with all good things you must point out the bad as well. So I will list the complaints several of us had after the ride below.
1. Transmission- Noisy, noisy, noisy. It not only clunks into all the gears but it has several inches of travel to upshift and downshift the bike. The days of short throw shifting are gone on this bike. Plus the fact that there is a huge gear whine at lower speeds until you get going fast enough to where the wind covers it up. The tranny also feels rough in the lower gear. Wasn’t too fond of the tranny on the bike. Loved the 6th gear overdrive but didn’t like the first five to get there. The passengers even complained that the transmissions vibes, clunks, and noise was quite evident to them as well. “J” even leaned forward and said this bike sure is noisey.
2. Heat Stroke- There is no airflow to the rider from the waist down. You will not get wet. But you will roast on the bike during the summer. It was a rainy, damp, wet 80 degree morning and the pipes on the bike roasted the riders right foot. They dump out right beside your ankle and the radiant heat will cook you. Even at highway speeds the feet don’t cool down. I didn’t have the lowers and they were still hot. The people with the lowers on their bikes were miserable. Now remember this was a 80 degree day. What will 95 degrees be like???
3. Windshield- The shield all the way down was in my direct line of sight. With it up I was looking through it. With the rain that day the water kept rolling off the windshield and dumping right into my face. Not a good thing. Plus with the shield down the passenger kept saying they were getting a lot of buffeting.
4. Kickstand- Where is it???? When I took off I forgot to pick it up. No kill switch on the bike like all three of my others. So you can drop her in gear and go with the kickstand down. When I came to a stop I couldn’t find the thing. I looked and looked and tried to find it with my foot but to no avail. I had to ask “J” to drop it for me while she was standing beside the bike. I wasn’t the only one. Several people couldn’t find it either or had an extremely hard time finding it. With the huge floorboards they are tucked up under there out of sight.
5. Blindspots- the bike has several blindspots thanks to the huge fairing in the front. It also has nonadjustable mirrors that severely limit your rear vision. They are out there but none of us could figure out how to adjust them. If you can we didn’t want to try since it felt like we were about to break them. With the low seat height and the high rear passenger seat position coupled with the huge rear topcase it is really hard to see behind you.

Now you may think I am bashing the bike but I am not. I really, really, really like the bike but I feel they need a few more years to work out these problems. Upon talking to one of the designers that was there he basically told us this was the production ready bike and there wasn’t a lot they could do about addressing these issues. Maybe after a few years they will get around to a design change so that they can legitimize fixing the current design.

Will this be a good contender to the Goldwing or that class of bikes. Not for me but for the American Purist this gives them a great option now to buy versus going with the Wing. Now if they can address these issues and come up with a solution then I will give the bike a second look once again. But for now I will keep looking until I am at a point to where I can make that commitment on that high price of a bike.