$2,487
West Bend, Wisconsin
Category
Cruiser Motorcycles
Engine
-
Posted Over 1 Month
2001 Victory V92, Wont last long!!! Victory V92 We ve had to wait a little while for an American Victory in England. It s now more than two years since the Independence Day launch of the Victory motorcycle in the USA but at last the line-up is coming over here . Two models, the V92C and the V92SC are going on sale in the UK very soon. Glenn Le Santo became one of the first Brits to ride one through the English countryside. I ve had the Victory V92C on test for over a week now, long enough to loosen up the initially very tight 92 cubic inch, or 1507cc in European money, engine. The motor works just as it should, there s not much of a top-end but it pulls hard through the mid-range allowing me to sit back, relax, select top gear and fire it through the winding English country lanes. There s some vibration from the big SOHC fuel injected motor, but it doesn t intrude unless you try to wring every last bit of power out of the 50 degree V-Twin, at which point it ll buzz the bars enough to rattle your finger bones. The gearbox has received some criticism here in Britain from testers used to the dainty prod that s needed to select a gear on any sportsbike. In Britain the sportsbikes rule and the cruisers have a long way to go until they re accepted as real bikes. However, I ve ridden plenty of cruisers with a clunkier gear-change and didn t have any problems with the heel-and-toe shift on the V92C. The same thing can t be said of the clutch though, which on the test bike was heavy enough to make my fingers ache if I left it in gear at a stop light. Not only was it heavy but the cable operated clutch wasn t as progressive as you might expect on a modern bike. The action felt sticky, like the cable was dry or badly routed and the bite could be rather sudden, something that might catch a less-experienced rider out in a parking lot turn-around. The UK distributor, E.P.Barrus Ltd, had delivered the bike to my door a nice touch, they re the only motorcycle distributor I know that does that over here! I jumped on the bike, rolled the big motor over with the electric starter and stamped it into gear. I got a shock as the clutch engaged the drive suddenly and the massive cruiser shot down my gravelled drive, kicking up a pea-gravel rooster tail as I hung on. You get used to it, and easing the lever out to the bite point while you wait for the lights to change helps, but it certainly needs looking at. Once on the move everything is as you might expect from a big cruiser. Plenty of torque from that throbbing V-Twin and a sit back, arms up riding position. The screen, an option fitted to the test bike, helped deflect the wind and kept the ride comfortable. It also kept all those English bugs out of my teeth. It did, however, add to the wind noise, but I wasn t being buffeted as much as I have been on some screen-equipped cruisers. I liked the footboards, I can t see th
