2013 Victory Judge Preview

While Victory has often had muscle bikes in its lineup, the Judge is the first new power cruiser to come out of Victory in years.

With the introduction of the muscle-car-inspired Judge, Victory has taken a sharp and deliberate turn from its well-worn path of creating blingy cruisers, bagger/touring rigs, and bobber-themed rides like the High-Ball and the newHard-Ball that melds bobber with touring.

The Judge marks a change in Victory’s recent product offerings, but where the Minnesota-based company continues to stick to business-as-usual thinking is by placing its powerful Freedom 106/6 50-degree air/oil cooled, fuel-injected V-Twin with six-speed gearbox in yet another Victory motorcycle. This same engine that motivates many Victorys now also gives the Judge its go power. We’ve ridden the Freedom 106/6 many times over the years, and always come away impressed by how much bang for the buck it gives.

2012 Victory Cross Country Tour Preview

The new Cross Country Tour from Victory adds a trunk box, tall windshield and hard lowers as standard equipment on the Cross Country platform.

Victory announced today the expansion of its line of touring cruisers with its latest motorcycle, the Cross Country Tour.
Also, a new iteration of the Cross Roads, the Cross Roads Classic LE, will increase the selection of Victory’s baggers and touring-oriented motorcycles to a total of seven models for 2012.
The Cross Country Tour: More Ready Than Ever to Live Up to Its Cross Country Name
Building on growth and profitability in 2010 – as well as a strong second quarter this year– that Victory says is due in part to the success of its Cross models, the company has graced the Cross Country with additional storage and wind protection making the Tour more ready than ever to live up to its namesake.

2012 Victory High-Ball Review

Seizing a trend, if not leading it from the start, Victory Motorcycles now has more than one blacked-out motorcycle in its line-up. With the 8-Ball editions of its Vegas, Kingpin, Hammer and Vision, 2012 welcomes a white-walled wonder called the High-Ball.

Touting the same matte-black paint scheme and night-crawler good looks as the other ’Balls, this model reaches for a different audience with its signature high-rise handlebars and whitewall tires.

Stuffed inside the steel perimeter frame is the familiar air/oil-cooled Freedom 106-cubic-inch V-Twin, which in a recent test cranked out numbers that embarrass a Harley TC96. Measured at the rear wheel, Victory’s mill cranked out 77.5 peak horsepower at 5250 rpm compared to Harley’s low-60s hp peak. Torque, too, is substantial, twisting out 88.9 ft-lb at 4250 rpm. All attitude and lots of go-go juice.

2012 Victory High-Ball Preview

Just when we think certain trends in motorcycling may have peaked, leave it to a major motorcycle manufacturer to keep the trend alive – or at least catch on to the cresting wave.

Victory Motorcycles today unveiled an all-new model called the High-Ball.

The High-Ball’s minimalist, tough guy appearance results from its tip-to-tail matte finish black-out treatment, chopped fenders, ape hanger style handlebar, solo saddle and 16-inch spoke wheels carrying plump whitewall tires.

It’s a look that unabashedly draws inspiration from the lowbrow bobber scene, where riders and bike fabricators in that two-wheeled subculture eschew brand loyalty, and instead fashion motorcycles into no-nonsense machines that seem to make some kind of anti-moto-establishment statement.

2012 Victory High-Ball. This latest cruiser from Victory sports a bobber motif and gives the Minnesota-based bike manufacturer a total of 16 models for 2011.

While this latest offering from Victory is ultimately still mainstream, it does an impressive job of mirroring the “just gimme what works, man” sentiment that seems to issue forth from the bobber crowd.

"It’s a look that unabashedly draws inspiration from the lowbrow bobber scene..."

Powered by Victory’s 106-cubic-inch, sohc, 50-degree V-Twin with 6-speed gearbox, this 106/6 is also graced with Stage 2 cams, and is likely the same engine design the Hammer, Hammer S and Vegas Jackpot models run with. Victory says this engine platform is good for 97 hp and 113 ft-lbs.

The High-Ball looks as though it may have started life as Vegas 8-Ball. But aside from atypical Victory cruiser styling and the hot-rodded Freedom 106/6 powerplant, the High-Ball’s chassis dimensions also help define it as a new model.

A shortest-of-all-Vic-models 64.8-inch wheelbase joined by a 31.7-degree steering rake make for a pretty aggressive combo of steering dimensions when compared to most other current Victorys, but the High-Ball’s longest-in-the-lineup 6.7 inches of trail helps tame those assertive numbers, and will likely serve up a somewhat quick steering but stable cruiser. The new Victory’s 25.0-inch seat height is second lowest in the line – only the Vision 8-Ball and Arlen Ness Vision have lower saddles at 24.5 inches.

2012 Aprilia Tuono V4 R Review

The Tuono V4 R takes the streetfighter class to a higher level.

Longtime MO readers are aware of our affection for naked sportbikes. Sportier than most motorcycles but not nearly as committed as a race replica, nakeds present a balance of sport, comfort and versatility that provides a platform for any riding on paved roads. Most interesting are the liter-size streetfighters such as Ducati’s long-serving Monsters, Triumph’s iconic Speed Triple and Kawasaki’s recent Z1000. Any one of them has a grunty, wheelie-launching powerband, but all have less than 130 rear-wheel horsepower.


One of our favorite sporting nakeds has been Aprilia’s Tuono that debuted a decade ago, a nicely balanced conversion from the V-Twin RSV1000 racing platform that gave it upright ergonomics and similar engine performance, but it topped out at less than 115 hp. Now comes an all-new Tuono (“thunder” in Italian) that will blow away the powerplant in any previous naked sportbike.

2012 KTM XC Enduro Line Reviews

KTM has the widest and most diverse enduro lineup in the industry, and it gets further bolstered for 2012. Four-stroke XCF models are available in 250, 350, 450 and 500cc versions, while KTM continues to serve the die-hard two-stroke aficionados with 150, 200, 250 and 300cc XC models. And most engines have the option of being paired to a wide-ratio transmission, identified by the “-W” designation.

KTM introduced its 2012 enduro bikes at the Inyan Kara AMA National Enduro, in Upton, Wyoming. And once we’d had the opportunity to do a quick evaluation of the various models we were allowed to choose our favorite KTM to race in the enduro the following day. Fun? You bet!

2012 KTM 350 XCF-W Review

Not only is the 350 XCF-W more stable and solid feeling than KTM’s two-stroke XC models, it’s also got the best brakes in the business.

When KTM’s 350cc project was announced, riders and the media were excited about the prospect of a lighter and easier to handle open-class machine. When the bike arrived, however, the motocross media said it was only slightly lighter than the 450 and had much less torque, running more like a fast 250F. Still, the machine has won motocross races all over the world, plus KTM had considerable success at off-road races with riders aboard converted 350SX motocross bikes.