Radical design sets this bike apart from the crowd
by Kirk Johnson

The Victory Vision has been promoted for about a year now. I haven’t seen so much hype about a motorcycle in a long time. Almost everything you heard about the new Vision seemed too good to be true. Of course, you have to consider the source – the marketing arm of Victory Motorcycles. Have you ever had something so elevated in promotion that by the time you get to experience it, it’s a disappointment just because the expectations were set so high? I was afraid this was going to be the case when I was asked to come and take this new Vision for a test ride. As Victory claims on their Web site, they are not trying to rewrite American history, they are writing its future. After nine years of being in the motorcycle manufacturing business, did they really produce the dream machine that’s going to sweep the motorcycle enthusiast off their feet?

In the past, every Victory motorcycle model shared the same frame and engine. How each was accessorized was how they were set apart. Each model had different seats, tires, wheels or chrome, and sheet metal with custom paint jobs to make each unique. Now the all new Vision is here and it’s not just a modified Victory motorcycle. That’s obvious at first glance. The futuristic look of the new Vision is a bold statement. Love it or not, it’s one of the most recognizable motorcycles on the street today.

2008 Victory Vision Specs
Bike Model Victory Vision Street
Engine Type 4-stroke 50° V-Twin
Engine Displacement 106 ci / 1,731 cc
Transmission 6-speed overdrive constant mesh
Fuel System Electronic Fuel Injection with 45mm throttle bodies
Fuel Capacity 6.0/22.7, Reserve 1.0/3.8 U.S. gallons/liters
Primary Drive Gear drive with torque compensator
Final Drive Carbon Fiber Reinforced Belt
Brakes
    Front Dual 300mm floating rotor with 4-piston caliper
    Rear 300mm floating rotor with 2-piston caliper
Wheels Front 18x3.0in
    Rear 16x5.0in
Tire Size
Rear 130/70R18 Dunlop Elite 3
Rear 180/60R16 Dunlop Elite 3
Dry Weight 804/365 lbs/kg
Seat Height 26.5/673 in/mm

About the Bike

One of the technical improvements includes, increasing 100ci Freedom V-Twin to 106ci. From what I can tell by the spec sheets, they increased the stroke from 101mm to 108mm and the compression ratio has increased to 9.4:1 from 8.1:1. I was told the original 100ci V-Twin produces 104 ft-lbs of torque and 86 horsepower. Now, the new Vision produces 109 ft-lbs of torque and 92 horsepower, according to the brochure. This is a nice little bump in power and torque, but there’s also an increase of 128 pounds over the Kingpin. The Kingpin comes in at 676 pounds and the Vision comes in at 804 pounds. So the talk about the Vision running circles around the original line of Victory motorcycles seems somewhat of a stretch. I will ride it and decide for myself; read on.