Victory Motorcycles was an American motorcycle brand based in Spirit Lake, Iowa, United States. It began selling its vehicles in 1998, and began winding down operations in January 2017 to be succeeded by the revived traditional American motorcycle brand Indian, which are both (since 2011) owned by parent company Polaris Industries.
Polaris, an American manufacturer of snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles, created Victory following the modern success of Harley-Davidson. Victory's motorcycles were designed to compete directly with Harley-Davidson and similar American-style motorcycle brands, with V-twin engines and touring, sport-touring, and cruiser configurations. The first Victory, the V92C, was announced in 1997 and began selling in 1998. Victory was profitable for a number of years (beginning in 2002) but failed to turn a profit three of its last five years, due to a lack of sensible investment in the brand, preferring to release new model years with no changes to successful models other than paint, and poor investment choices in electric and three wheeled motorcycles.
Background
Polaris, a Medina, Minnesota company with annual sales in 2015 of $4.7 billion, is one of the earliest manufacturers of snowmobiles. Polaris also manufactures ATVs, side-by-side off-road vehicles, electric vehicles and, until 2004, personal watercraft. Seeking to diversify its product line, and observing the sales enjoyed by Harley-Davidson and similar manufacturers, the company decided to produce a large motorcycle built entirely in the United States.
Victory vehicles follow the traditional American style of a heavier motorcycle that increasingly became associated with the Harley-Davidson brand in economically advanced nations after the Second World War, rather than more modern racing-inspired designs.
Polaris began its research and development of manufacturing a motorcycle in the early 1990s. They completed extensive research that included testing numerous different makes and models of motorcycles. This research provided them with guidance ranging from comfort to braking ability, which became the framework to design a motorcycle that combined the best of each research criteria. Polaris was on a mission to create an American-made, cruiser-style motorcycle. This new creation was branded with the name Victory.
Victory's debut cruiser model, V92C, had a 92 cubic-inch (1,507 cc) counterbalanced, fuel-injected V-twin motor. In its debut in 1998, the V92C became the largest displacement engine offered in the cruiser market. The new Victory motorcycle was unique in its appearance. The fenders and tank profile mimicked the retro-look of sweeping lines from 1930s-era cars.
In 2010, Polaris engaged in a major expansion of production and marketing of the motorcycle. In 2011 Polaris bought the Indian Motorcycle brand.
Models
V92C
The first model, the V92C, was debuted at Planet Hollywood in the Mall of America by Al Unser Jr. in 1997. Production began starting on 4 July 1998 for the 1999 model that was the first official model year. At , the V92C was the second largest production motorcycle engine available at the time, and sparked a race among motorcycle manufacturers to build bigger and bigger engines. All components for the V92C were manufactured in Minnesota and Iowa, except the Italian Brembo brakes and the British-made electronic fuel injection system. Victory engines debuted with five-speed transmissions (later six), single overhead cams, dual connecting rods, hydraulic lifters, and fuel injection; most fuel-injection components are standard GM parts. The V92C engine was designed to be easily tuned by the owner.
The Victory engine carries of oil in the sump, about the same as most automobiles. This is intended to minimize risk of low-oil damage, but also makes it dimensionally larger than other motorcycle engines, such as Harley-Davidson, which carry the oil in an external tank. Top speed is about at 5,500 rpm; the ECM contains a rev limiter which can be overridden by reprogramming the EPROM. The Victory engine is air-cooled, and also circulates crankcase oil through a cooler mounted between the front frame downtubes. A section of the rear swingarm can be removed to change the drive belt or the rear wheel.