While other companies, such as Excelsior-Henderson, broadcast their intentions to enter the motorcycle market with big-inch V-twins, Polaris tried to keep its plans secret. However, the Polaris Victory brand won the race to become the first new American company in more than half a century to enter the motorcycle market with a large-displacement street bike. It showed the V92C in the summer of 1997 and rolled out production versions less than a year later. It has now built more than 2000 V92Cs, including models that meet California's stringent emissions regulations.
When it arrived last year, its 1507cc made the V92C the biggest motorcycle-company-built V-twin around, though Yamaha's Road Star has since eclipsed it. The Victory air/oil-cooled V-twin employs state-of-the-art components and design: single overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder and electronic fuel injection. A counterbalancer quells the vibes from the 50-degree, single-crankpin design. A torque-compensator -- basically a spring-loaded weight on the crankshaft -- also helps to smooth out each power stroke. No retro-tech here. As power leaves the five-speed transmission, it gets to the rear wheel via a belt located on the right side.
In 1999, Yamaha's 1600 was...
In 1999, Yamaha's 1600 was the biggest of twins.
A triangular swingarm with a single preload-adjustable damper just below the saddle supports the rear of the chassis, and a fork with uncovered but burly 45mm stanchions leads the way and announces Victory's intention to build a rigid, steady-handling motorcycle. Both 16-inch cast wheels have one 11.8-inch brake disc. A four-piston caliper halts the front wheel and a less powerful two-piston design stops the rear.
Although the low-slung profile appears slimmer than the current crop of retro cruisers, the Victory is broad where it counts, with a 14-inch-wide saddle and full fenders. There is no hint of a rear fender rail. The tank holds a full five gallons. Instead of following current fashion and putting the instruments on top of the tank where they are away from your line of sight, the Victory designers sunk them into the seven-inch headlight. But don't be fooled into thinking the limited space means limited information. An analog tachometer is set inside the speedometer dial. The LCD readout other bikes generally use as a tripmeter and odometer exclusively, can be toggled to display the time, fuel level, charge/voltmeter, an engine-monitor function and intensity levels of the adjustable instrument lights and high-beam-warning light. Switches on the fronts of the handlebar switch housings select and adjust each function. All of this shows that even though it initially built a very traditional style of motorcycle, Victory won't hesitate to break the rules and innovate.
Building an entirely new engine demands a major expenditure, which is why no new cruiser engines were introduced between 1987 and 1998. But the cruiser boom of the 1990s was married to America's affection for big motors. Even before it rolled out its first Royal Star for 1996, Yamaha was at work on a new engine for a bike that was custom-made for Americans involved in the cruiser boom of the late '90s.
If Americans said they liked big, narrow-angle, air-cooled, V-twins with pushrods, then that's what they'd get. At 1602cc, the Road Star mill is the biggest engine made by a motorcycle manufacturer. Set at 48 degrees, its air-cooled cylinders have the most prominent pushrod tubes in motorcycling, in part because both of the pushrods for each cylinder share a single tube. We like those external airboxes, so the Road Star's big triangular chrome airbox hangs alongside the engine to serve air to the single 40mm carb.
Inside the engine, Yamaha's engineers got to apply their craft with a modern four-valve two-plug combustion chamber atop ceramic-composite-lined cylinders. Surprisingly, there is no counterbalancer to calm the shaking of the single-crankpin big twin. Yamaha relies on the massive 45-pound crankshaft and the location of the engine to smooth the ride. The dry-sump lubrication system stores its oil in a reservoir above the transmission.
Power takes a circuitous route to the belt final drive. A geared primary and five gearbox ratios direct power via a silent chain to a final output shaft located very near the pivot point of the swingarm. This minimizes tension changes in the belt as the swingarm moves. The swingarm is a triangulated type with a single shock under the seat. This gives the bike the uncluttered look of a hardtail. The wheels are 16-inchers with wire spokes. Dual discs apply the brakes up front with a single disc at the rear.
A 5.3-gallon tank integrates with the wide, comfortable look that is fostered by covered fork tubes, full fenders, floorboards and a wide, two-piece saddle. Tank-top instruments help to keep its profile clean, and the LCD odometer/tripmeter display also includes a clock.