MOTERCYCLE

With the current market trend depicting a retraction in sales in the motorcycle industry, Harley-Davidson has planned a reduction in shipments for the third quarter of 2008. But when confronted with the question of "Will you be doing the same?" Mark Blackwell, VP of Victory Motorcycles and International Operations stated that they have a 10-15% growth goal for the year.

Therefore, in answer to the question above, it can be safely assumed that Victory Motorcycles has no intention of mimicking Harley-Davidson's idea. Blackwell also stated that in addition to not backing off in their shipments of product, they will also build up their dealer network, rather than expand with a training focus of the existing staff.

Victory's edge against a retracting market includes the latest addition to their "touring" products --- the Victory Vision. This stylishly unique introduction into the touring category of inventory gives the advantage to Victory in the custom cruiser market. And Blackwell has adamantly stated that he feels Victory no has an excellent chance of nearly doubling their sales opportunities with the addition of this beauty to the already high quality line of bikes that exists. The vision is manufactured with a 106 cubic inch 50-degree V-Twin engine and comes well-equipped to attract considerable interest of Victory showroom visitors.

Besides tweaking the numbers a bit, Victory Motorcycles focused on some design revisions especially with their signature bike --- the Freedom V100/6. The bike is built with an air/oil-cooled, single overhead cam (SOHC), 50-degree V-Twin motor. The lowering of the compression ratio from 9.8:1 down to 8.7:1 has created a reduction in "spark knock" and boosted horsepower and torque as a result. The new, closed-loop injection system with its fully-sequential operation feeds the larger 45mm throttle body.

The changes made to the oil-cooling operations round out the rest of the upgrades to the Freedom V100/6. Where oil-cooling is concerned, the oil flow path was altered in order to cool the exhaust valve bridge therefore preventing a reduction in the size of the 31mm exhaust valve. As a consequence, there will be no loss of power, and this also enabled the utilization of a smaller oil cooler as well.

Noise pollution and the reduction of it were also key focal points for Victory Motorcycle this past year in that they employed the use of a taller sixth gear in order to reduce the noise that results from the transmission meshing. It also reduced the bike's cruising RPMs, but only by 3%. Other areas that noise reduction was the targeted goal included a "re-tuned" compensator and split-gear clutch, the addition of more sound-deadening ribbing inside the cover, a quieter alternator, and longer closing ramps combined with slower valve-closing speeds.

This last factor was responsible for eliminating most of the top-end tick that frequently occurred with these particular bikes. Finally, the handlebar grips were redesigned, but in addition to this, heated grips were added as an option in their parts and accessories line.

Reasons to Consider a Victory Motorcycle For Your Next Purchase by Justin Stewart