The billet trim on the large...
The billet trim on the large taillight gives it a distinctive appearance. It uses a single bulb and illuminates the license plate from below. Turn signal stalks are one of few bungee anchor points.
Tester's notes: The Victory was a perfect partner for exploring the Lincoln Highway. The long, slow days in the saddle -- some exceeding 15 hours -- where the ultimate test for a bike's ergonomics. The Victory's seating position and seat weren't merely tolerable, but consistently enjoyable. The stable, firm handling characteristics were appreciated through every twist and turn on the Lincoln. Low-speed predictability was a benefit for backtracking and photo sessions. The bike tracked true at higher speeds as well. I can't tell you how glad I was to be on it that night in the Alleghenies -- just plant it and feed throttle. The wide bar and tires were sweet when the old highway turned to dirt and thick gravel.
Victory made chassis performance a top priority. After all, why shouldn't cruisers handle and stop well? With more and more experienced motorcyclists switching to cruisers, precise steering and steady cornering were sure to be appreciated, and even new riders would be more comfortable on a stable bike than one that wallowed. The commitment to a rigid chassis shows up in the stout 45mm Marzocchi fork legs set in massive triple clamps, in the use of the engine as a structural member, back in the triangulated swingarm with its single Fox damper, in the use of cast wheels, and in the visible strength of the frame itself. Wide, belted Dunlop 491s provide traction and a stable feel at both ends.
That strong structure affords the solid feel the designers sought. The steering geometry, a nice round 5.0 inches of front-wheel trail and 30 degrees of rake in the steering head, was chosen with not only the 92C but future variations of the design in mind. It permits low-effort handling at all speeds and steady manners during relatively aggressive cornering. Only when loaded with all our gear could we get a hint of instability in high-speed corners.
Friendly geometry and a perfect choice of handlebar permit you to turn it around on a narrow road with little effort, save perhaps in manipulating the clutch. You can also rush up to a fast corner and bend it toward the apex, arriving precisely where you wished with minimal adjustment to your line. Braking in a corner means that you must apply additional countersteering pressure to hold your line, but there are few surprises in the V92's handling. Which isn't to say that there are none.
Tester's notes: I've spent enough time in the saddle to feel I know the Victory pretty well, but twice today the handling surprised me.
Victory compressed many functions...
Victory compressed many functions into its single instrument face. The mini tach set in the speedometer face is reminiscent of those of bikes from the 1960s, though the needle fluctuates at high speeds. Warning lights are bright and take the form of icons--a gas pump for low fuel, left and right arrows for turn signals, a headlight shell for high beam, an oil can for oil pressure--making them easy to interpret. The LCD window offers much more than just the usual odometer and tripmeter functions. A button on the front of the right handlebar switch allows you to toggle through those functions plus a clock, an instrument backlight control, a control for the brightness of the high-beam-indicator light, fuel quantity, and voltage. A "check engine" message also flashes when the engine is not running or a problem is detected. The button on the front of the left handlebar switch allows you to adjust or reset the function displayed. You can change to metric units, reset the tripmeter or clock, or turn the instrument lighting and high-beam indicator down when riding on a dark road. The fuel indicator says "full" until the first gallon is gone, then shows remaining fuel to the tenth (as measured by a float in the tank) until you are on your last gallon. Then a "low fuel" message is displayed and the gas-pump icon light flashes. Although the LCD is hard to read when the sun is directly overhead, the instruments are placed where they are easy to take in without looking away from the road. We rate this as the best instrumentation on any cruiser to date.
First, riding around an off-camber, left-hand corner, I hit a mid-corner bump that upset the bike enough to touch down something hard -- the sidestand, I suspect -- with enough force to almost crash. The bike gave a mighty, wallowing shake that changed my line directly towards the ditch and the Nebraska cornfield beyond. As I rode on and my heart rate settled to normal, I pondered how many hours the trip to the nearest trauma center might have taken.
Second, I rode the Victory sans luggage to dinner tonight. I'd almost forgotten how harsh the high-speed compression damping is without the additional weight.
Despite its generally excellent handling, the V92C does have limits on its chassis performance. Although the suspension works well on small and medium bumps and over large, rolling surface changes, you feel the full force of big, sharp bumps, which come through loud and clear from both ends. With such good suspension compliance on other sorts of irregularities, this harsh treatment over big bumps comes as something of a shock, especially since the Victory offers generous travel (5.1 inches up front and 4.0 in the rear), which usually means a better ride over large bumps. There are no adjustments provided to counter this condition, which we believe is the result of too much high-speed compression damping, though carrying heavy luggage or a passenger subdues the effect in the rear end. When riding solo and unladen, you learn to steer around, slow for or stand over large bumps.
Though cornering clearance is respectable by cruiser standards, what touches down is solid. Looking at the bike, we expected to drag the folding footboards first, but it turns out that the lower pipe (right side) and sidestand (left) are the first pieces to reach the pavement. Since neither of these can give way much, you will lever the rear wheel off the ground if you poke them into the road forcefully.
We have nothing but praise for the Brembo brakes however. You get braking power few cruisers can equal, particularly with equal lever pressure, and excellent control in a hard stop, both from the four-piston front caliper and the two-piston rear. The suspension doesn't dive excessively during a full-goose stop, and the Dunlops give plenty of traction with early warning of impending lock-up.
Tester's notes: It was a dead heat. I wanted to hit 6000 miles before arriving at the office, but it came up just over a mile short, so I went around a few blocks and arrived with 6000 on the clock. Old number 35 is running as strong as ever, though it shows some wear.
The Victory's arrival set off a debate among our testers and staffers from or stablemate publications, Motorcyclist and Sport Rider, about its looks. What surprises me is how invisible it seems to be. Maybe it is the perfect universal V-twin cruiser, but people sure don't seem to notice it. Two years ago I rode a Valkyrie around the country, and it lit people up at every stop. This bike only draws comments once or twice a day. Even when it was parked in sea of motorcycles outside the Guggenheim where "The Art of the Motorcycle" was on display, only one pair of riders stopped to talk. I saw several motorcyclists walk right past it on several occasions and not even register it. Upon arriving at the shop, the discussion quickly settled into a debate about whether it was pretty or ugly, and this isn't the sort of thing where people change their minds. Everyone did like the instruments however.
Without even a tune-up or oil change, the V92 surived 6000 miles of less than loving treatment with, for the most part, only minor glitches. A headlight filament burned out in the sealed beam. A minute amount of oil seeped from the front cam cover on the left side, but the engine didn't use a perceptible amount of oil. The final drive belt is still tight. The left side panel shed a grommet on one of its mounts making it rattle, but not fall off.
The header pipes, which have heat shields for only part of their length, had thoroughly blued by the 5000-mile point and there was a slight discoloration visible on the mufflers too. Wiring bundles running from the handlebar to the headlight have chafed on the top triple clamp, marring the finish there. Our saddlebags scuffed the rear fender. Since Victory chose internal fender supports, there is nothing to buffer the fender from saddlebars; certainly anyone taking advantage of the comfortable ride for a long trip with saddlebags should get a set of saddlebag guards. It would be difficult to carry luggage any other way because there are few perches to hook bungee cords beside the turn signals. We actually attached our tailbag to the saddlebags.
Perhaps because of the heavy luggage we carried, the sidestand bent and we had to bend it back a few times as the bike began to list precariously. However, that ceased to be an issue when one staffer, turning into a driveway, caught the lug for the top of the sidestand spring and snapped it off the frame. That left the stand with no spring, but we substituted a bungee cord. A real repair would require welding.
That's it. There were no loose fasteners, no power interruptions, no significant failures of any kind. If the V92C catches your eye, we think you can buy one with confidence that it will still be running many miles down the road.
The question is, will it catch your eye? We were surprised by the lukewarm reception accorded the bike. Not everyone, even other motorcyclists who would presumably stop to look at a new motorcycle from a new brand, notices it, and those who do were split between loving and leaving the bike's looks. This seems to center on the bike's lines and proportions. Almost everyone found some detail to like. Most commented favorably on the billet footboards and rear brake pedal, and everyone liked the instrument cluster. Many wished for a smoother finish on the engine.
Overall, the finish and feel of the Victory is more Harley than Royal Star, more hand-hammered and forged in appearance than die-cast and precision machined. The pieces look big and solid; fitting for a bike that bangs gearshifts so loudly. It looks crude to some. For others, anything less would be wimpy.
If you are looking for a reason not to buy a V92C, we suggest that you decide that you don't like the looks. There is nothing in the way our bike worked that would make us warn you away from it.
Yes, the first Victory has a few warts, but none of them are malignant. Perhaps more significantly, none of them are any worse than those on motorcycles from manufacturers who have been building bikes for decades. And this is the first motorcycle model Polaris has ever produced. No, the Victory doesn't have history, heritage and all those other intangible qualities that seems to mean so much in the brochure but matter so little 10 hours into a 14-hour day of riding. But imagine how good the bikes themselves are likely to be by the time Victory begins to grow some of that stuff.
IN BRIEF
High Points
Stellar rider ergonomics
Excellent brakes
Rigid chassis
Ideal cruiser performance and engine control
Amazing first effort for a new motorcycle company
Low Points
Abrupt clutch engagement
Very stiff over large, sharp bumps
Loud and clunky gearbox with too much lash
First Changes
Rework suspension to smooth ride on large bumps
Place clear tape or other buffer under wire bundles rubbing steering crown to prevent scuffing finish
SPECIFICATIONS
1999 Victory V92C
Designation: V92C
Suggested base price: $12,995
Standard colors: Red/black, blue/black
Extra cost colors: NA
Standard warranty: 12 mos., unlimited miles
Recommended service interval: 2500 miles
Engine & Drivetrain
Type: Air/oil-cooled 50-degree tandem V-twin
Valve arrangement: SOHC; 2 intake, 2 exhaust valves, operated by hydraulic adjusters
Displacement, bore x stroke: 1507cc, 97 x 102mm
Compression ratio: 8.5:1
Carburetion: EFI, 44mm bore
Lubrication: wet sump, 6.0 qt.
Minimum fuel grade: 87-octane
Transmission: wet clutch, 5 speeds
Final drive: Belt, 64/30
Chassis
Seat height: 27.8 in.
Wheelbase: 63.3 in.
Wet weight: 692 lbs., 54% rear wheel
GVWR: 1075 lbs.
Overall length: 94.0 in.
Rake/trail: 30 degrees / 5.0 in.
Wheels: Cast alloy, 16 x 3.00 front, 16 x 3.50 rear
Front tire: MT90B16 Dunlop Elite II tubeless
Rear tire: 160/80HB-16 Dunlop Elite II tubeless
Front brake: double-action, 4-piston caliper, 11.8-in. disc
Rear brake: single-action, 2-piston caliper, 11.8-in. disc
Front suspension: 45mm stanchions, 5.1 in. travel
Rear suspension: Single damper, 4.0 in. travel, adjustable for preload
Fuel capacity: 5.0 gal.
Handlebar: 36.1 in. wide, 1.0 in. diameter
Inseam equivalent: 34.1 in.
Electrical & Instrumentation
Charging output: 400 watts
Battery: 12v, 14 AH
Forward lighting: 7.0-in 55/60-watt headlight, position lights
Taillight: Single bulb
Instruments: speedometer, tachometer; LCD display with functions for odometer, tripmeter,clock, instrument light intensity, high-beam indicator light intensity, fuel level, charge/voltmeter, engine monitor; warning lights for neutral, high beam, left turns signal, right turn signal, low oil pressure, low fuel level
Performance
Fuel mileage: 31 to 47 mpg, 39.4 mpg average
Average range: 197 miles
RPM at 60 mph, top gear: 2530
200 yard, top-gear-acceleration from 50 mph, terminal speed: 71.0 mph
Quarter-mile acceleration: 14.23 sec., 92.3 mph
Additional motorcycle road tests and comparisons are available at the Road Tests section of MotorcycleCruiser.com.