2008 Victory Vision Review

Introduction

2008 Victory Vision Street

The Vision represents the biggest step forward that Polaris has ever made since producing Victory motorcycles. The maker hasn’t produced touring motorcycles previously, but it was all a matter of lining up to the market’s request and evolution.

But if it was to create a Touring bike, Victory decided that it would be best to result into a machine that will not only look and perform good now, but years from now so we’re expecting this model to be produced for long time ahead.

Competition

2008 Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Standard

Being a highly refined touring motorcycle, the first and normal intention is to position it up against the Honda Goldwing, the filled-with-heritage Japanese solution to the American type of riding, but Honda’s six-cylinder engine simply can’t be compared with a V-Twin, no matter the approach.

This makes us head towards Harley-Davidson. The first and biggest American maker has a range of seven touring models which are all about classic looks, leaving us with the Electra Glide Standard as the closest thing to the subject of this review. It looks massive, it has a torque-producing 96-cubic-inch fuel-injected V-Twin and it stands as Harley’s vision for the future. This maker decided that it would keep building the bikes that made it famous and successful, but Victory has just entered this road where innovation is the key factor in delivering a great motorcycle.

Exterior

2008 Victory Vision Tour Comfort

But all that greatness, in the case of the Victory Vision, consists in the way the bike looks. It is imposing, it is large and it is damn attractive. Designers definitely had an inspiration with this model and knew how to fill up all that space in order for their Vision to provide awesome wind protection and stand out immediately.

The front end is tall, wide and even scary I would say thinking how would it be to see this thing in your rear view mirror. A big stylish headlight is incorporated in the fairing and represents the starting point for all those refined lines. Also, the signal lights are carefully attached on the sides of the headlight in a V-shape arrangement. I wonder where this came from.

Something that you don’t see every day at American bikes is the lower fairing surrounding the bike’s gas tank and engine while keeping the wind away from the rider’s legs. There will be no problem in wearing an open-face helmet on the thing because the windscreen, even though not as big as expected, is efficiently arranged and does as much needed in order to let the rider see the road ahead without eating bugs and flies on the way. The signal lights needed room for action and that implied widening the entire motorcycle with what are considered to be both hand wind protectors and incorporated mirrors on an American touring motorcycle.

If I was to name the bike that I consider looking as close as possible to an UFO it would surely be the Victory Vision. Admired from the side, it not only looks like running with 100 mph at standstill, but it also makes an eventual helmet sitting on its seat look like it is meant to be there.

Victory intended to reveal the massive powerplant so the fairing ends where the V-Twin starts. The gas tank does feature the nice flowing lines with which we all got used to and so we are introduced to the low seat. It would seem like things are getting normal, but the rear end immediately changes this opinion. On the Street and Street Premium models, the side cases continue the descended design of the bike while Tour, Tour Premium and Tour Comfort are distinguished by a stylish top case which also has the role of a backrest for the passenger.

It will look awesome, no matter the chosen color, Solid Black, Solid Midnight Cherry or Solid Supersteel Gray.

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