All Tests – Test Victory Cross Country Tour: Electra shock! – Technical point Victory Cross Country Tour

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Victory Cross Country Tour test: the Electra shock !

All Tests - Test Victory Cross Country Tour: Electra shock! - Technical point Victory Cross Country Tour

So like that, the Victory Cross Country Tour would be able to cast a shadow over the chrome of a Harley-Davidson Electra Glide? MNC sheds light on this challenge with a 1,300 km duo test on the other American custom-tourer. Verdict !

Technical point Victory Cross Country Tour

Engine

At Victory, all models currently use the same propellant: a 50 ° open V-twin, named "Freedom". Cubic 1731 cc (41 cc more than the Harley-Davidson Twin Cam 103), this large v-twin is cooled largely by air, but also thanks to a small oil cooler well integrated in front of the lower engine.

To improve its cooling when stationary and at low speed – the weakness of large air twins – the cylinders are slightly offset and the use of fins is generous. But that does not prevent it from copiously "shining" in the city! Quite compact for a block of this type, the Victory Freedom uses a modern Bosch injection which feeds it via 45 mm bodies..

Weakly compressed (9.4: 1), this block is of the "long stroke" type: the diameter of each cylinder (101 mm) is less than the stroke they travel (108 mm). A balance wheel is responsible – in theory – to annihilate any parasitic vibrations, while the final transmission uses a carbon reinforced belt.

On the distribution side, a single overhead camshaft driven by a chain is responsible for actuating four valves per cylinder by means of hydraulic valve lifters. The clutch is a multi-plate in an oil bath and mates with a six-speed gearbox.

The last gear being overdrive (“Overdrive”), it allows the engine speed to be lowered by around 300 revolutions in order to contain fuel consumption and noise levels. At 90 km / h in sixth, the engine thus runs at approximately 2100 rpm and at 3000 rpm at 130 km / h.

Rather powerful (92 hp at 4950 rpm) for its category and very torquey (140 Nm at 2900 rpm, i.e. 6 Nm more than the HD Twin Cam 103), this engine with marked inertia accepts 5500 rpm before ignition failure. It only lacks a reverse gear, essential given the weight of the bike (384 kg empty) !

Victory offers this optional equipment in the form of a small electric motor installed above the belt, for the tidy sum of 1800 € (installation included). A moderately appreciable step on a motorcycle as heavy as it is expensive: the entry ticket still comes close to 22,000 euros….

Cycle part

To (try to) contain the weight and bring rigor in dynamics, Victory has developed a frame in aluminum foundry, a "noble" material quite rare in this category where steel usually predominates..

Very similar to the one discovered on the Vision, the Victory counterpart of the Honda Goldwing, this chassis only distinguishes at the front part: on the Vision, the air intake passes through the frame, this which is not the case on motorcycles in the Cross Country range.

This rigorous frame, worthy of a sports bike, is connected to a superb and original inverted fork 43 mm in diameter. Here again, the presence of this racy equipment stands out on a custom, but you have to see part of the astonishing directional precision of the Cross Country Tour..

At the rear, the preload-adjustable mono-shock absorber is of the pneumatic type, as on certain cross-country motorcycles. Its travel, high enough for a "Tourer" (120 mm), explains why the American manages to maintain a very correct level of comfort. The impeccable stability of the bike finds its origin in its wheelbase of 1670 mm.

The rims of "reasonable" dimensions (130 mm wide at the front and 180 at the rear, in 18 and 16 inches) accommodate brake discs with a diameter of 300 mm (two at the front, one at back). This device is clamped by four-piston calipers at the front and a two-piston caliper at the rear, while reinforced hoses ensure optimum regularity of operation..

Finally, ABS is adopted as standard, but the braking is not coupled as on some other motorcycles in the Victory catalog (the Vision, for example).

Electronics and piloting aids

Unsurprisingly, the Cross Country Tour has few electronic toys in vogue on sports bikes and edgy roadsters. The American nevertheless has a practical cruise control that is operated via the buttons located on the right stalk. The speed is then finely adjustable, while cutting the throttle or acting on the brakes disengages the device.

If the pilot and his passenger will appreciate the profusion of 12V sockets (one on the dashboard, one in the left glove box and another in the top case), the handles as well as the heated saddles, it is however regrettable that Victory did not install a coded key – even an alarm – on a motorcycle of this price.

Note that the front view of the Victory Cross Country Tour would shine "four times more than a conventional halogen headlight"and that its lifespan would be"ten times longer", assures the builder of Spirit Lake. If it was not possible for us to verify the longevity of this bulb named High Intensity Discharge (HID), its efficiency in night driving is indeed very good.

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