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Driving report Victory V 99 C
Vau for Victory
Harley-Davidson will soon lose its claim to sole representation in US motorcycle manufacturing. Polaris Industries, world market leader for snowmobiles, has started production of a cruiser: Victory V 99 C.
The bomb burst in Daytona Beach in spring: a new motorcycle from a new American manufacturer. And to make the Harley-Davidson superiors really shudder, it was also a cruiser with a V2 engine. MOTORRAD drove the prototype, the Victory V 92 C, and certified it as having real cruiser qualities.
Now the company Victory, an offshoot of the snowmobile and ATV manufacturer Polaris with headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota, invited into the factory, because production has been in progress for three months. “Everyone in the USA knows us because of our snowmobiles,” says Martin Heinrich, engine engineer at Polaris who is responsible for developing the mighty V2 engine. “That’s why this year’s production has already been sold.” And that should be a good 2,000 copies by the end of the year. Imports to Germany and other European countries will start in 2000. »By then we want to give the engine 75 hp. The US version currently has 62 hp, ”adds the engine expert who has emigrated from Germany.
100 miles an hour, about 160 km / h, is soon on the clock when the US visitor in the saddle of the Victory sets off to drive north on a straight, wide road. But because that in Wisconsin, one of the northern states of the Midwest, where the Victory engines are built, could not only lead to the Canadian border, but also straight to jail, the speed is reduced to 55 miles. The mighty motorcycle pushes forward with a gentle thump. Here in the vastness of the flat prairie, where the farmers move huge pickups that would deliver two German parking lots, the enormous dimensions of the cruiser are hardly noticeable. The block measures almost 2.4 meters in length, weighs over 300 kilograms, the V2 engine offers 1507 cm³ displacement and thus everything that Americans like: size, mass, displacement.
The opulent suspension fork supplied by Marzocchi does its job in a very comfortable way. The suspension strut, which supports the cantilever swing arm, is a little tighter, with a removable pipe section in the right swing arm triangle so that the low-maintenance toothed belt can be changed. A short time later there is still a little lane equipped with mild curves.
Krrracks, the exhaust manifold running to the right, comes into contact with the street and indicates that in America it is really only possible to go straight ahead. The European version of the Victory will have to be given significantly more ground clearance. The five-speed gearbox also occasionally makes cracking noises, although it shifts reliably, but takes too long. We are still working on this for the local market.
It is amazing how lightly the cruiser tilts, the center of gravity of which is apparently quite low. Even rocking movements are alien to the burly American bike, at least up to the aforementioned 100 miles per hour, whose steel frame made in conventional double-loop construction makes a stable impression. Although the engine is rigidly bolted to the chassis, the V-engine pulls through without significant vibrations from 800 rpm – these are nipped in the bud by a chain-driven balancer shaft. The Langhuber feels most comfortable between 2500 and 4000 rpm, although it turns cheerfully into the red area at 6000 tours. An electronic manifold injection ensures a clean, jolt-free throttle response. The gas exchange is controlled by four valves and an overhead, chain-driven camshaft per cylinder. Oil is used for cooling, only the heads being integrated into the oil circuit. The cylinders themselves are provided with large cooling fins in the old fashioned way.
W.he Polaris people are serious about their latest creation, as evidenced not only by an almost finished Sportster and a touring version of the Victory, but also by the guests who recently visited: two gentlemen from TÜV Rheinland. However, they have not yet given the Victory its final blessing for the European market. First of all, the too loud intake noises must be reduced. “We’re enlarging the air filter box,” says Oliver Kahl, also a German engineer on the development team. “Then we’ll find a few more horsepower.” Although the TÜV did not criticize the braking performance of the individual 300 millimeter discs including the four-piston Brembo caliper on the 16-inch front wheel, the Victory gets a second disc for Europe. If the price of 13,000 dollars, currently just under 21,000 marks, can be maintained, your chances are not bad in this country either.
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