Driving report Victory models 2016

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Driving report Victory models 2016
Blacksmith

Driving report Victory models 2016

Driving report Victory models 2016

Driving report Victory models 2016

Driving report Victory models 2016

23 photos

Driving report Victory models 2016
Blacksmith

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What’s up in Victory’s future? With a whole range of measures, Victory is positioning itself as a sportier US brand
wider. In addition to record drives and wild power cruisers, the use of the …

Driving report Victory models 2016
Blacksmith

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The Project 156 bike.

Driving report Victory models 2016
Blacksmith

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The engine comes from Victory.

Driving report Victory models 2016
Blacksmith

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Experiment phase: For more flexibility, the lower screws of the triple clamp are missing in the large lower triple clamp.

Driving report Victory models 2016
Blacksmith

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A scoop for the air: the carbon “tank” is just a dummy. In fact, the huge airbox for the 1.3 liter V2 is hidden behind it.

Driving report Victory models 2016
Blacksmith

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Form follows function: the chassis of the 156 was constructed in a very short time by star designer and ex-racing driver Roland Sands from California, …

Driving report Victory models 2016
Blacksmith

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Where there is smoke, there is fire! The 1731 cc engines for the Victory Stunt Team have a supercharged 160 hp.

Driving report Victory models 2016
Blacksmith

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… with which the Swiss Urs Pedraita alias “Grisu Grizzly” travels the world for a while.

Driving report Victory models 2016
Blacksmith

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The XXL cruiser Victory Cross Country, however, is not a vision, …

Driving report Victory models 2016
Blacksmith

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But e-bikes are also part of the product range.

Driving report Victory models 2016
Blacksmith

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… bare V2 racer Project 156 made headlines around the world at the Pikes Peak race.

Driving report Victory models 2016
Victory

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They are the attributes of the already known Brammo Empulse. It is now coming back to life as the “world first” Victory Empulse TT. The bike obviously doesn’t have a clutch.

Driving report Victory models 2016
Victory

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It’s actually much faster than the stunt team …

Driving report Victory models 2016
Victory

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… at the TT 2015 with an average of 179.6 km / h.

Driving report Victory models 2016
Cathcart

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Steve Menneto, 49, has been Vice President of Polaris Industries’ motorcycle division, which includes Victory and Indian, since 2011. He has been part of the group since Victory was founded in 1998. For 2015 Polaris expects the production of over 30,000 motorcycles with a turnover of well over 500 million US dollars.

Driving report Victory models 2016
Victory

16/23
Water cooling, six-speed gearbox, hydraulically operated oil bath clutch, aluminum bridge frame, Brembo double disc brakes and adjustable spring elements: these are not necessarily the first characteristics that one associates with an electric motorcycle.

Driving report Victory models 2016
Victory

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Lee Johnston (26) drove the gearless and clutchless racing prototype …

Driving report Victory models 2016
Victory

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The Victory Empulse TT is the already known Brammo, now with a little more battery capacity of 10.4 kWh. The optional quick charger only takes four hours.

Driving report Victory models 2016
Victory

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But they still have reason to be satisfied.

Driving report Victory models 2016
Blacksmith

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… no luck granted.

Driving report Victory models 2016
Blacksmith

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Massive backdrop: In front of the impressive Pikes Peak panorama, however, the 156 was ultimately …

Driving report Victory models 2016
Victory

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Designer and constructor as well as rider of the Project 156 bike.

Driving report Victory models 2016
Victory

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… Angie Smith’s Victory Dragster on the drag strip.

Victory models 2016 in the driving report

They want sportier

With a whole range of measures, Victory is positioning itself as a sportier US brand. In addition to record drives and wild power cruisers, it was above all the use of the naked V2 racer "Project 156" at the Pikes Peak race worldwide headlines.

"Modern American Muscle" – under this striking motto Victory flex your muscles. Previous record drives on the Bonneville / Utah salt flats were intended to establish the large V2 machines as sportier US bikes. But in 2015 the manufacturer really accelerated. And electricity. The takeover of the Californian e-bike manufacturer Brammo and the third place in this year’s Tourist Trophy in the class for electric motorcycles do not exactly represent Victory’s core segment.

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Driving report Victory models 2016

Victory models 2016 in the driving report
They want sportier

Own identity, selectivity and a larger product range

An important message: Both Victory and Indian continue to produce cruisers. What is the self-confident brand Victory aiming for then? Own identity, selectivity and a larger product range. Dario Baraggia: “We have all conceivable possibilities, theoretically we can develop any motorcycle. But we will not lose sight of our goal of strengthening the Victory brand and expanding it. “

The Victory Project 156 racing motorcycle with a 60-degree V2 engine is particularly striking. It is a prototype hand-built by Roland Sands for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb race in Colorado. Its model name stands for the 156 bends and bends in the “Race to the Clouds”, the 19.99 kilometer race to the clouds. The start is at 2862 meters above sea level, the finish is at 4301 meters. MOTORRAD was the only German magazine to be on site on June 28, 2015 to experience the Victory Project 156 live.

Victory Project 156 causes a stir

The cool US racer caused a stir in advance. Just a week earlier, on June 20, 2015, driver Don Canet (53), test chief of the US magazine “Cycle World”, fell while training for the hill climb. The crash, captured by an onboard helmet camera, went around the world as a YouTube video. “All of a sudden, I lost the front wheel without warning, like in a wet race,” says Don Canet. “I had a different slide than the motorcycle, got up, had no injuries, no abrasions, not even scratches on the leather. That’s why I only noticed late how bad things had been for the motorcycle. “

With the exposed Ohlins strut on the left, it had wrapped itself around the support post of a guardrail: A Ducati Panigale 899 donated the swing arm, strut with deflection and inspired the chassis key data for the US racing motorcycle Victory Project 156, which now lay on the ground, the Heaven close. The sudden impulse had sheared off and destroyed all possible parts. On the one hand, the guardrail was a disaster because it hit the motorcycle in a sensitive spot. On the other hand, she saved the bike because it hadn’t rolled down the steep slope.

Giving up is not an option

But giving up is not an option in America, ever. Whoever falls gets up again. Roland Sands in California was informed immediately. The design guru and ex-racing driver received the order just ten weeks before the race (!) To manufacture his first thoroughbred racing chassis around the V2 engine provided by Victory. He and his team built a martial naked bike “to emphasize the tradition of this race with once a lot of loose ground.” Its hand-welded tubular space frame made of chrome-molybdenum steel has gusset plates and encompasses the steering head of a Ducati 999. The geometry is finely adjustable : Steering head angle (66 to 66.5 degrees), fork offset, caster (by 98 millimeters) and wheelbase.

But now the frame was crooked and twisted, the self-made exhaust crumpled up, the hand-laminated carbon dummy tank burst, it houses the 13-liter airbox and the throttle valve body. Humps, handlebars, levers, footrests, wiring – all scrap. Around 1300 kilometers away from Pikes Peak, many helping hands got to work in California. They completely rebuilt the crashed naked bike in just 18 hours. What an up and down! Back in Colorado on Tuesday, Don drove practice and qualifying as if unleashed, finishing fourth out of around 150 motorcycles.

Almost 1300 cm³ and up to 140 Newton meters at 6000 tours?

The V2 engine with balance shaft, milled housing covers, distinctive ribbed cylinders and slip clutch has a cylinder angle of 60 degrees. Just like the still quite new Indian Scout with its 1133 cubic meters and measured 91 hp. Even if Victory insures otherwise, the Scout certainly donated the V2 basic layout. Technical data of the refined innards? One is silent about it. Displacement and torque, whispers a mechanic from Roland Sands, resembled a Ducati Panigale 1299. That means: almost 1300 cm³ and up to 140 Newton meters at 6000 tours.

Roland Sands names around 160 hp as the peak performance at sea level (up to 43 percent oxygen for combustion is missing on Pikes Peak!). The maximum speed is 9500. In the heads, chain-driven camshafts each drive four large titanium valves. When idling, the V2 sounds almost like a tractor, and on top of that it is aggressive-hungry with a very special note. He’s clinging to the gas quite snappy, slurping from the huge airbox gasping like a wild animal for air. Because of “overcooling”, too much cooling capacity, the oil cooler under the two separate water coolers remained masked during the race.

Is all this an anticipation of Victory’s announced “middle class” model with almost 1200 cc, announced for 2016? Dario Baraggia: “Victory Project 156 will serve as a reference for future motorcycles. It is a racing machine and test vehicle at the same time, equipped with components that are indispensable for racing, but problematic for series production. ”And this certainly doesn’t just mean the external starter, without which the engine will not start. The placement of the long, narrow underfloor tank appears tricky: although it is triangular in shape to facilitate lean angles, it comes precariously close to the asphalt. Particularly daring in mountain races, where rubble can lie on the road at any time.

Project 156 initially very competitive

So how did Project 156 fare as the American KTM Super Duke with a powerful shot of Ducati Panigale in the race? First of all, very competitive. Secretly after a promising qualifying and start, the Victory Racing Team was already hoping for the fastest time of all participating motorcycles. 

Nomen est omen when you have “Victory” as a name. Light and shadow: On the corner of Brown Bush Corner, Don ran into a slippery lane marking and fell. His second crash survived here in one week! But only 23 seconds later he was back in the saddle and continued his climb to the summit. In section three he had found his rhythm again and set the fourth best intermediate time of all participants.

17-inch Dunlop Sportmax GP-A Pro, 120/70 and 190/60, on lightweight forged wheels from Roland Sands Design seemed to offer a lot of grip. But in the fourth, particularly undulating section, the engine suddenly died. Over and over. After the race, the bike could be started again in the pits without any problems. The fall must have led to loose contact, probably on the gasoline supply. Polaris Product Director Gary Gray: “Project 156 represents two things that Victory stands for: achievement and enthusiasm. The team will find the mistake, and then we’ll bring the bike back to the start. ”It’s a shame that Victory didn’t also roll the TT-proven E-Racer (see the next but one) to the start: He doesn’t mind mountain air.

Interview with Steve Menneto


Cathcart

Steve Menneto, 49, has been Vice President of Polaris Industries’ motorcycle division, which includes Victory and Indian, since 2011. He has been part of the group since Victory was founded in 1998. For 2015 Polaris expects the production of over 30,000 motorcycles with a turnover of well over 500 million US dollars.

MOTORCYCLE: With Indian things have gone up steeply in recent years. Which models are the most popular, the inexpensive Scout or the Chief and Chieftain with the larger engines?

Steve Menneto: The big bikes are clearly the most popular. But bringing in the Scout was an extremely important step for Indian – even if it currently only sells a quarter of the numbers that are going away from the big bike models.

MOTORCYCLE: The Victorys and the Indians are built in the Polaris factory in Spirit Lake, Iowa. Is there still working in one-shift operation?

Steve Menneto: We have three production lines there. One each for the Indian Chief models and one for the Indian Scout. On the third line, both Victories and Indians are built. Production takes place in two shifts.

MOTORCYCLE: And what is happening in Poland, where Polaris opened a factory last year??

Steve Menneto: ATVs and four-wheel two-seaters from the Polaris off-road vehicle range. We also have a factory in Mexico. But neither in Opole (German: Oppeln, Red.), Poland, nor in Monterrey, Mexico, are Indian or Victory motorcycles built. We see it as one of the core values ​​of both brands that these bikes are truly American. By the way, we definitely still have growth capacities in Spirit Lake. And before we open a second factory elsewhere, we will use it.

MOTORCYCLE: How about Brammo? Doesn’t a fourth production line have to be opened soon after Polaris bought Brammo, the second largest electric motorcycle manufacturer in the USA, in January 2015? As far as I know, the Brammo production is to be relocated from Oregon to Spirit Lake?

Steve Menneto: Yes, that will be the case in autumn.

MOTORCYCLE: That means, Polaris will build Brammo motorcycles there in addition to Victorys and Indians?

Steve Menneto: Let’s say electric motorcycles, yes. But they will be called Victory. Because the Brammo brand no longer stands for a motorcycle manufacturer. Brammo continues to provide the drive. That means the brand makes the engine and the battery for us. Not just for e-bikes, by the way, but also for other Polaris products.

MOTORCYCLE: Polaris is apparently broad when it comes to electric vehicles. How do you see the future development?

Steve Menneto: I think it is currently dividing: there are people who simply want clean, inexpensive and environmentally friendly drive technology. I wish them all the best. But there are also those who already understand the benefits of a greener world. But they also say: “I also want performance! I want fun driving! I want a whole new two-wheeler experience! ”And that’s what we want to achieve with Victory.

MOTORCYCLE: Let’s stay with Victory: With this, Polaris started at the Tourist Trophy on the Isle of Man and at the Pikes Peak race in the USA. Is it the plan for Victory to become a performance brand? Actually, Indian has the greater motorsport tradition.

Steve Menneto: Look, we’ve noticed that the bottom line is that Victory customers are a little younger and more tech-savvy than Indian’s. Regarding the Pikes Peak race, I would like to say that the Project 156 was also a little unfortunate. We had a fantastic motorcycle that set the best times on the mountain. But you can only come first if you also finish.

MOTORCYCLE: The engine of the prototype racer Project 156 was completely new in terms of essential components, wasn’t it? It is possible that a whole new series will come with it soon?

Steve Menneto: Yes, that could well be … (is silent for a moment) In 2016 there will be a new mid-range bike with almost 1200 cc.

MOTORCYCLE: And what happens at Indian? I mean in terms of motorsport?

Steve Menneto: Yes, I’ve been asked that all the time since we took over the brand in 2011. So far, my answer has always been: “later”. But now I can reveal it: Indian will join the AMA Flat Track series at the end of 2016 and beginning of 2017.

MOTORCYCLE: Wow, I’m curious what Harley will say about it … That also means you are bringing a performance Indian with a 750cc engine?

Steve Menneto: Sorry, but I can’t say more about that yet.

MOTORCYCLE: Okay, then finally something completely different – there are rumors that Polaris is planning to take over another motorcycle brand. Will you make Triumph owner John Bloor an offer he cannot refuse?

Steve Menneto: Well, I don’t know of the offer he couldn’t refuse. But let’s put it this way: if there is an opportunity for Polaris to speak to Triumph, we will be very happy to do so.

Victory’s e-bikes


Victory

The Empulse TT is the already known Brammo, now with a little more battery capacity of 10.4 kWh.

Water cooling, six-speed gearbox, hydraulically operated oil bath clutch, aluminum bridge frame, Brembo double disc brakes and adjustable spring elements: these are not necessarily the first characteristics that one associates with an electric motorcycle. They are the attributes of the already known Brammo Empulse. It is now coming back to life as a “world first” Victory Empulse TT, Americans need pathos.

However, now that Brammo is only a supplier of the powertrain (40 kW motor / batteries / controller), Victory made some improvements. The new wheels, on which the Conti SportAttack 2 is attached, are easy to handle. A newly designed seat should be more comfortable. The battery capacity has been increased from ten to 10.4 kilowatt hours. The range is between 80 and 200 kilometers, depending on the driving style – the latter is a manufacturer’s specification. It takes eight hours to fully recharge the batteries, or just under four hours with the quick charger. In the USA, the 160 km / h, 213 kilogram Empulse TT costs a whopping $ 19,999 – $ 1,000 more than a Victory Cross Country XXL excavator that is almost twice as heavy. Whether because of this it has not yet been decided whether to import to Europe?

The type designation TT is a tribute to the successful use of the electric racing motorcycle, which is also based on Brammo technology, at the 2015 TT. “General” Lee Johnston beat the 233 km / h racer to third place over a lap of around 60.7 kilometers the e-bike class – at an impressive 179.6 km / h average speed! And this, in contrast to the Empulse TT, has no clutch and gearbox, which seem very dispensable on an e-motorcycle thanks to the constant torque. Especially since they cause more weight and internal friction. Not having to clutch and shift gears frees up your mind on the racetrack for pure line selection, turning and braking points. The Renn-Victory allows tight radii, steers handy and very precisely. Lee Johnston’s number three motorcycle was stolen on July 17th in Oregon, USA, but has since appeared again.

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