Photos: Motorcyclist
Motorcyclist magazine says Victory is planning to introduce liquid cooling to their lineup, and they’ve got design sketches to prove it.
According to Motorcyclist, Victory made comments about updating their bikes’ standard air/oil-cooled Freedom 106/6 motor last year, and these sketches show that process is well underway at this point. They reckon Victory had designers put these three sketches together, using the current Judge model as a basis, and one of these designs will likely form the basis of the next step in Victory’s evolution.
Of course, Victory’s biggest competitor is Harley-Davidson; the MoCo made moves towards liquid-cooling last summer when they introduced it to several bikes in their touring lineup, and also announced the coming Street 500 and Street 750 models would be liquid-cooled. It signaled a major shift in the cruiser segment, as for years, Harley-Davidson’s only liquid-cooled bike was the V-Rod. Imported cruisers have had liquid-cooling for decades, but Harley-Davidson’s move makes it easier for other manufacturers to follow.
This move could also signal a shift in Victory’s market presence. Victory has made futuristic cruisers for years, but still produces some models with retro styling, such as the Gunner. It’s possible Polaris plans to leave the vintage scene to Indian, and move Victory into a brave new future, with cruisers featuring modern styling.
[…] we can’t say if there’s any truth to this, we do know Victory’s supposedly been planning a liquid-cooled model for some time […]
[…] word’s been out for a couple months – Victory is working on a liquid-cooled bike. Now, MCN has published a spy […]
Looks too much like the V-Rod … and we all know that the V-Rod has been one of The Mo Co’s basturd step-children. Vic aficinados aren’t any more likely to embrace a V-Rod knock-off …
I think a V-Rod lookalike will do much better with Victory owners. It’s true they still want a traditional bike, but at least they’ve taken that first step outside the Harley-Davidson tradition. I am surprised they haven’t brought something like this out years ago.
This is great news! Okay let’s get this rolling!