The 2013 Victory Judge. The New American Muscle Bike (Part 2)
Published by January 20th, 2012 in Builders, Customs and Videos.33 Responses to “The 2013 Victory Judge. The New American Muscle Bike (Part 2)”
- 1 Pingback on Jan 25th, 2012 at 3:39 pm
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It looks an awful lot like the Yamaha Roadstar Warrior.
Better looking in action…
Looks an awful lot like every v-twin cruiser. Of course we all know that it’s not just about looks, gotta ride one to know if it’s the right bike. Looks like a lot of fun.
Not shabby, It could use better looking blinkers though. They look out of place w/ the sweeping lines.
I like how everyone is wearing full face helmets instead of those skid lids
cool bike. not sure whats plastic and whats sheet metal though? it all looks plastic the way everthing is shaped? makes it feel a bit metric. love the raised white wall tires!
That might be one of the silliest things I’ve ever seen. This bike looks more like an old Honda Magna or Yamaha Maxim than any muscle car I’ve ever seen.
I just saw a video w/ that pandya guy. He said the fenders and tank are metal.
I’ll just keep my FXR and wonder why the copy from Victory is predicted to be such a big deal !! Looks like a tall copy of about 3 different bikes!
Not to my taste, but a great looking bike and it’s good to see at least one US company trying to do something different. I hope it works. A much better effort than HD who just painted everything black and think that is “all new”. I can see the younger guys going for this when they otherwise may have gone for a crotch rocket. Well done Victory.
Stephen, have you failed to notice that the blacked-out components of this bike are mentioned just as often in their ad copy as they are in any Harley “Dark Custom” advertising? How can it be “a much better effort” when it’s exactly the same effort? Like Harley, they use their already-popular engine and tranny, maybe make a few adjustments to frame, fork, and wheel geometry, heap on some new styling touches, and voilà: new bike. That’s just how it works for those who’ve already honed their design.
By contrast, Honda’s need to redesign their entire cruiser lineup to eliminate all VTX models means they had it all wrong. That is NOT what you want to see, if you want your shiny new motorcycle to have any aftermarket support, parts availability, or resale value in five years. Victory and Harley got it right with their implementation of the “kaizen” philosophy.
But I’m a chrome boy. After a certain number of, “sorry, I just didn’t see you” accidents, one appreciates all the shiny reflectivity one can get. I do appreciate the hot-rod look the wheels lend to the Judge, but with a couple of touring cruisers already in the stable, I’m just not the target market for this one.
I like it! I really like the White letter tires.
I like the bike and my favorite thing about it is the white letter tires. Good Job Victory!
What is it with some of the HD riders your pride won’t let you Just admit its a nice looking American bike? Instead you have to throw insults at it, I rode HD for years but I switched a few years back to a Victory because I liked the power the way it handled and the upgrades that come stock. To get the quality and features that I have on my Vision I would have to go way up in the CVO line and then have to spend another 10,000 to boot. HD and Victory/Indian are the last truly American Motorcycle companies left bringing jobs to Americans for Americans. I challenge the short sighted HD riders ( which are a small minority of HD riders) to go down to the Victory dealer when the ride truck is in town which is once a Qtr and ride some of the models, then if you don’t like them you can actually have a true reason not just an opinion. And for the Guys who want to insult the Vision why don’t you go say you insults to Sony Barger and some of the Hells Angels that ride Visions I’m sure they will have a good argument for the brand. By the way Victory came out with the blacked out look long before Harley’s Dark Custom. But I have to agree with .357 Magnum shiny and loud helps you stay alive. here is a link for my vision on hy 12 in Utah one fine road right up there with the tail of the dragon,
http://youtu.be/v4IWSV7CDAM
Dragon Bob makes a few good points.
Engineering-wise it looks like a solid piece of work. One of my favorite excuses for a dirty shovelhead is that “bikes is for ridin’, not for lookin’ at.”
At 6’5″ I wonder how it is on long legs with mid-controls. 24 years of the same shovelhead make it hard for me to fathom going to something like this, but I can see the merits this thing has. It will be interesting to see the kinds of customization these things will get from some of the hotshots this industry has. That may change everything.
I might add that the rest of the lineup has a bit more flair. Check this video out: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheVictoryMotorcycle#p/u/1/0CWJZRKPpzc
I gotta tell ya Rob, that video is just plain hokey at best. Same goes for Ginny or Gunny or whatever. Contrived and insulting in a way. Victory needs to be more straightforward and cut the girly shit.
I agree with Seymour. Gunny gives a terrible, old image to Victory. Seriously, do you think that generation Y is attracted by Gunny? Victory, an engineers dominated company with no sense of style and no marketing/advertising intuition.
I hear ya.
I thought Gunny was kinda funny, but noted the contrived feel to the whole thing. It isn’t a reality show. A couple of spots were pretty transparent that way.
Mainly I was interested in the bike lineup. The shot at :33 grabbed my attention for some reason.
The whole thing was scripted as anything, but suggested some of the custom possibilities. I’m still not getting one, and wouldn’t likely even if I had the disposable income to do so. But having another strong American motorcycle company can’t be bad, can it? (honest question, I’m open to getting schooled here)
Not a bad looking scoot.
Certainly headed in the right direction style wise (IMHO)…..
And US made, you say?…. Cool!
-nicker-
All I can say is after 9 Harley’s and 3 Victory’s; my 2011 Victory Cross Country (XC) is the best bike I’ve ever owned or ridden. In fact, the only thing that comes close, is another Victory.
Call me crazy but I still like the primitive feel and looks of the Harley’s too though. I’ve even opened my mind enough to appreciate the Hayabusa style bikes. No intention of getting one but I can appreciate them.
Might just add this new “Judge” to the stable in a few years when I can get one used. The price is pretty good for a new one is pretty good though.
all i can say after 12 harleys and no victorys i am gonna stay with harley for sure,,,it,s in my blood for life
Trying to recall the last time a new production cruiser that stirred up this much attention/controversy on this blog. Ohh yea it was the last Victory model that was introduced =).
COOL VIDEO..BUT MAYBE SHOW THEM SLIDING SIDEAYS ON THE LUANCH AFTER THE CLUTCH THROW AT THE END? GOOD EFFORT AND THE BIKE IS COOL ALSO. HOPE THEY SELL A TON OF THEM
Hello all – thanks for your comments on the new bike, and thank you Cyril for continuing to tell our story. We genuinely appreciate the coverage.
The Victory team is fully aware that there are some who love the direction we are going, and there are other who hate, resist or prefer to bark from behind the fence. It’s the opinions of those who ride and test ride our motorcycles that matters most to us. And coming off of our best year and our highest website traffic ever, we would say that there are plenty who are interested in what we are doing. We know we will never please everyone. Surely there is a nut job wanting a turbo double Wankel powered sidecar dual sport will have to wait awhile till we get to that project – but no manufacturer makes things for everyone. Though I would like to give a turbo double Wankel powered sidecar dual sport a try, I must admit.
BB – the tank, front and rear fender are all steel, as they are on all of our cruiser models the headlight and new EFI cover (former “cheese wedge”) are cast aluminum. While the number plate design is controversial, we are in fact looking forward to seeing how that panel is used to customize the bike for each owner, and after riding the bike I can say that it’s by far the sharpest handling steel-frame street machine we make.
We have a great passion for riding, design, performance, reliability and not being the same old thing. Of course everyone has their own perspective – and I’m sure there is someone out there who will call us copycats for using black tires on all of our bikes. But Victory will stand firm in pushing the boundaries and creating our own path.
We want to invite you to ride our bikes – either at a dealer or a big event. When you ride it, you may get where we are going with the bikes and the brand. If you don’t care for it after riding it – that’s cool – but we hope you spend more time on the road than on a keyboard.
We will have the new Victory Judge to demo ride in Daytona Beach along with all of our other bikes. We invite you to come to the Daytona Speedway and take one for a ride. We’ll buy the gas. And we will be happy to see each rider that comes up to try our motorcycles that are designed in MN, powered by engines from WI, built by our great production facility in IA.
See you on the road –
Robert Pandya
External Relations Manager
A double wankel turbo dual sport would be so cool! Saying this is the sharpest handling steel frame sounds like a challenge, as I’m very fond of the Kingpin’s handling.
Robert when is the new vision out 116e engine back end of the cross roads front of the vision, sounds like a great bike, needs to be out 2013,………….just a dream,……
I LIKE IT !!!! Very nice stylying & at a price point. Ok, so the pipes need to be changed but isn’t that the 1st thing anybody changes on any bike??? Look out H-D Dyna line, looks like you got some new compitition. And I also agree with Matt, that headlight needs to be on the High Ball !!!!!
All you “haters” out there go out and RIDE ONE !!!! I did out at Demo days out in Sturgis this year.
The Victory folks there, were more than kind, helpful and informative.
Thier products are not to be underestimated……
I LOVED the High Ball, even with the goofy headlight. Riding a Dyna Street Bob vs a High Ball was a real treat. I would venture to say that any comparsion between any model Dyna 103 vs the Judge, let’s see, better handling, more power, better ergos nd no cookie cutter style,
I recommend the Victory line to anybody and everybody, not stuck in the past or trying to buy a lifestyle…….
BobS – if you enjoy the Kingpin and you enjoy corners – you will dig the Judge. Except no floorboards – so there is that. Boots with a steel shank helps on a long tour with a footpegged bike. There is a dedicated new set of saddlebags, a lock and ride screen, exhaust systems and other bots to personalize the bike too.
Alan – sound like you need a Vision to crash into the back of a Cross Country right in fron to the Lloydz shop in Pine Bush. There is a better chance that would happen than we build that bike!
My fav Cruiser – Judge.
My fav touring bike – Vision.
R
.357 Magnum
I’m not a Harley rider so I don’t profess to know every model of HD but the Victory looks “new” or perhaps “newer” than a blacked out sportster or whatever to me, I think the Victory shape looks somewhat more contemporary . The whole blacked out thing is not to my taste, I like chrome and lots of it but it seems that black is in fashion and if you want to sell you have to be black.
I have a Honda Fury with ABS and you can get tons of after market parts for the Honda 1300 custom line. Jump on to the Honda Fury forums to see what you can do. The Fury also happens to be the best bike I have owned, even better than my home built (US based) V-Twin.
Robert – I think you need to give it to a woman to test ride..jus sayin..looks like fun!
PS I dd see the woman in the video ride it I mean someone that can make commentary on it …..for what it’s worth 🙂