Victory Hammer.

[Horrendous]

Yesterday there was a demo day at the local victory dealership. I'd say they had around 15 -20 assorted victory motorcycles and were allowing anyone with a motorcycle endorsment to take them on 15 minute guided group rides. There was more bikes than potential customers so I got to test drive quite a few victories.

I told one of the salesman I ride a vmax and he assured me " that hammer over there is right up your alley." I gotta say it did have some VERY impressive torque right off the line but felt it was really lacking in the horsepower/ top end game. I also found the 250 rear tire made it feel sluggish on the turns and it had an extremely lame sound. Intact I thought every single bike I was on sounded the same which was disappointing. I did think however the 6 speed was kinda cool and would love to have a 6th gear on the max .

Overall it was fun to get out and ride for a few hours seeing as how my max is still out of commission but I don't see myself buying a victory anytime soon.



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[FootNote]

If I ever get to the point where I want a straight up cruiser/touring bike, and have the money to spend it will be a Victory.. (provided I dont get on one and find that I hate them) I just cant ever see myself getting a harely.

 

[Fitz666]

I point blank refuse to even try a Harley, just in case I like it

 

[sdt354]

If ever a second bike I'd get a Sportster. My first love. I think a 1200 FI (if they have them) this time around. Lot's of guys in their 20's used to get hurt kicking them over, back in the days. I never did take the left grip timing retard function off. The masses used to take that off first? I never figured out why, it made the bike 10 times easier to start. I miss that old iron head. Not that I'd trade my Max for one. Somewhere around 1985 my eyes opened to the world of bikes from other places.
Victory? I'd test ride one.
Steve-o

 

[CustomMax]

"also found the 250 rear tire made it feel sluggish"
I dont agree with that statement at all!! My 250 rear tire holds like glue and hooks up like you wouldn't believe! I guess it might be that your not used to riding with one, but " sluggish" I think not.

 

[Horrendous]

That could be true. Other than the m109 I drove in a straight line the fattest tire I've ridden on is a 200

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[WVxNitemare]

I did the victory test rides last year and was told same thing.... Hammer was a muscle bike that was compareable to the vmax ... After i rode it and hit the rev limiter a bunch of times and wondering just what gear had all this supposed power i went back and told the salesman that there is no way he has ever rode a vmax. Not even close to being a vmax.. It was low..slow and found it awkward and sluggish in the turns... I don't think it was the tires.. Just the overall design of the bike. Beautiful bike to ride to the coffee shop and talk about it....but not much exhilarating about the ride....

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[Horrendous]

I kinda wanna ride a vmax with a 250 now.

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[Horrendous]

I also noticed how easy it was to scrape pegs on every single one of them. There was a few roundabouts and turns where I felt it was impossible to do them without scraping but in their defense I seemed to be the only person with that issue. Must be my riding style.

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[RaWarrior]

I had a similar experience when I test drove a Raider. 1900cc, the big muscle cruiser. Super torquey, but all the power is low-and mid range. Just as it starts to get a little HP pull you hit the rev limiter. I mean it's pretty fast for a cruiser, but it has nowhere near that post-6000 rpm hustle of the Max. However, I thought the Raider handled very well and was surprisingly agile considering it's size, weight, and big rear tire. If I wanted a big road-boat solo tourer, it'd probably be my choice. I bet a power commander and raising the rev limiter would considerably wake it up.

The couple Victory's I've driven handle like shit, even compared to other big cruisers. As said they just feel sluggish, unresponsive and heavy. Now the Raider is a heavy bike, but it "carries" it a lot better. Once you're moving, it doesn't feel like such a pig, where the Victory still does. Both the ones I've driven had awful clunky transmissions as well. The shift lever felt like wiggling a stick in the mud....wiggle wiggle wiggle and kaBANG there's a gear. One had the 106 motor, forget the other. It didn't impress me in top end power, which I wasn't expecting, but it's mid-range torque wasn't that impressive either compared to the Raider. Roll-ons in 6th gear resulted in nothing happening...had to drop two gears to get it to accelerate with any conviction at all.

Every 4 stroke Polaris engine sounds awful. Don't know how they do it. Every polaris quad/ranger sounds like a wheezy fart when it runs. Even with aftermarket mufflers they still just sound....bad. Unintimidating. Weak.

 

[VmaxRider85]

my dads buddy has a hammer and he loves it i rode it and i cant stand it like in prev posts all victorys sound the same !!!! but i made my buddys dad to buy the victory performace package for the hammer and have to say with it debadged and the package it looks sweet and sounds good but ill never get one !!! MAX rider for life i have a tattoo for christ sakes lol just now to buy a 2G i have the 85

 

[dman1961]

Ive had two very expensive / bad $$ Harleys... And they didnt make me smile like the Max does... unk:

 

[Diablotin]

Getting another bike, I would go for something different that the v-max.
I would hate comparing the bikes lol

That hammer has a nice style tho

 

[rusty]

Getting another bike, I would go for something different that the v-max.
I would hate comparing the bikes lol

That hammer has a nice style tho

Victory & Vmax,no compar'O....But the Vicky motor's makes more horsepower then a Harley:biglaugh:

 

[1967vmax]

I also test rode the hammer and remember these guys are salesmen just trying to make a $. I wanted a cruiser so i just got a 08 yamaha roadliner midnight installed the cobra pro power auto tuner and a set of HK 3"res-tec black hawk pipes sounds great. I also installed a Tsukay fairing with full stereo and 6x9 speakers. I now have the best of both worlds a cruiser and a bad ass muscle bike.

 

[DakRatFink]

Victory & Vmax,no compar'O....But the Vicky motor's makes more horsepower then a Harley

So do a lot of 600s

 

[Barry barker]

I did the Victory Demo last week in Hot Springs, Had a Blast. I think the new Judge is the best handling Victory and pretty good for a big cruiser. Not sure why they put bias ply tires on it.:ummm: They all use the same 106 CI engine and the Judge is one of the lightest Victory's so it had better performance than the touring bikes and the Hammer.

IMO Part of the sluggish handling with the Hammer is it's 65+ inch wheel base, heavy weight, and having to muscle around that wide rear tire.

I have owned a Sporster and really liked it, it was my wifes. It handled good below 70mph, had good low end torque, and would outrun most of the big bore curisers in a drag race. Unfortunately, it had a real rough ride. She gave up riding so we sold it.

I rode my bike to the Demo and really got to compare the Vmax to the new Victorys on the same great roads, the same day. Hands down I think my bike is better in all aspects, power, handling, ride, comfort and even braking. But, we all know its apples and oranges when comparing the VMax to Victorys.

 

[Heretic]

Hands down I think my bike is better in all aspects, power, handling, ride, comfort and even braking. But, we all know its apples and oranges when comparing the VMax to Victorys.

The sad part of that qoute is that the V-Max is a 27 year old design and the modern jap bikes are 10x(+) better now then they were back in the early 80s. The Judge and Hammer are supposed to be American modern day interpretations of the 'muscle bike', and at still aren't as good as Yamaha's near 30 year old design.

We created the space shuttle, the internet, GPS, and the f^*kin' A-Bomb... you'd think we could build a decent mass produced motorcycle.

 

[Barry barker]

The sad part of that qoute is that the V-Max is a 27 year old design and the modern jap bikes are 10x(+) better now then they were back in the early 80s. The Judge and Hammer are supposed to be American modern day interpretations of the 'muscle bike', and at still aren't as good as Yamaha's near 30 year old design.

We created the space shuttle, the internet, GPS, and the f^*kin' A-Bomb... you'd think we could build a decent mass produced motorcycle.

I wish i could disagree, but you are right!!!:bang head: I would like to ride the XR1200, it is supposed to handle and ride like a modern motorcycle.

Please keep in mind my bike has a lot of handling modifications to it to improve its stability, that being said, My buddy Charlie rides a bone stock 95 with OEM dunlops and he is very hard to keep in sight.

 

[Klatuu]

We created the space shuttle, the internet, GPS, and the f^*kin' A-Bomb... you'd think we could build a decent mass produced motorcycle.

There is one. It's made in Alabama. You can get it later this year.

Motus MST

Standard Equipment
1650cc liquid-cooled V4, 165 HP
6-Speed, dual-overdrive
Electronic Fuel Injection
Electronic throttle control
720w alternator
Ohlins R&T adjustable front suspension
Progressive mono-shock rear suspension w/ remote preload adjuster
Brembo calipers
Aluminum wheels w/ wave rotors
Powerlet port
Michelin Pilot Road 3 tires
Removable side cases by Givi
Premium seat by Sargent
20,000 mi XW-ring chain by RK
Hybrid rear sprocket w/ lifetime warranty
Centerstand
2 year warranty unlimited mileage
Manufacturer's suggested retail price $30,975



Actually, it's two...


Motus MST-R


Standard Equipment
1650cc liquid-cooled V4, 185 HP
6-Speed, dual-overdrive
Electronic Fuel Injection
Electronic throttle control
720w alternator
Ohlins R&T NIX adjustable front suspension
Ohlins TTX mono-shock rear suspension w/ remote preload adjuster
Brembo M4 monoblock calipers
Forged aluminum wheels w/ wave rotors
3 Powerlet ports
Michelin Pilot Road 3 tires
Removable side cases by Givi
Premium seat by Sargent
20,000 mi XW-ring chain by RK
Hybrid rear sprocket w/ lifetime warranty
Centerstand
2 year warranty unlimited mileage
Manufacturer's suggested retail price $36,975