In Milan, at the EICMA international trade and consumer motorcycle show, Victory Motorcycles today revealed the production version of the engine that powered Project 156 up Pikes Peak this summer, and will power an upcoming 1200cc class motorcycle. The liquid-cooled four-valve engine has a 60-degree vee angle, utilizing double overhead cams that promise to make class-leading power. Additional details of the engine will be probably be revealed in December.
The engine was designed to deliver the strongest power and performance in its class, and was shown off in a concept motorcycle built by European builder Urs Erbacher. Erbacher is well-known in the European custom motorcycle scene taking several top awards and gaining international attention.
Erbacher’s concept – dubbed the “Victory Ignition Concept” was custom built around the first preproduction engine off of the line in Osceola Wisconsin. The concept features an aggressive stance and frames the engine with a cast aluminum chassis, performance suspension and brakes with an aggressive Project 156-inspired paint scheme.
“I’m proud not only of this build, but what it represents for the future of the Victory Motorcycles brand,” says the Swiss builder. “Getting full reigns to wrap the new engine in an interesting bike is a real highlight in my career, and from what I can see any production bike utilizing this powertrain will be a fantastic ride.”
“Project 156 is a purpose built racer that took our engine design to one of the most challenging races on the planet – it was a proving ground like no other that set the bar very high for our team,” says Victory Motorcycles General Manager Rod Krois. “This engine platform, which uses designs from other Polaris products having sold over 200,000 engines, will deliver on the promise of modern American muscle that is in the DNA of every current and future product we sell. Victory will continue to aggressively plot a new course for itself and where an American motorcycle brand can go.”
“Victory Motorcycles – from day one – has been a brand designed to deliver outstanding in-class performance, reliability and handling,” says Steve Menneto, President of the Polaris Motorcycles Division. “Our new engine, Urs’ concept and news we’ll be sharing at the IMS in New York City will plot the direction not only of this fantastic new platform, but of this brand. We will continue to design and build the best motorcycles in every class we compete.”
For more information on the Ignition concept bike, visit Victory Motorcycles.The display at EICMA, the international trade and consumer show, will be open for the public starting Thursday November 19, and continues through the weekend. The Polaris stand is located in Hall 13 of EICMA.
Pretty Sweet!
Maybe a bit too well finished for just a concept…..This is really cool, and yes for all of the sure to be internet crybabies, a platform leveraged off of the Scout. Nothing wrong with that, and one might wonder if it was not destined as a Victory before they bought the Indian name? Regardless, US made performance is back.
Oh and Polaris, Erik Buell is still looking for a job.
There is so much Scout there…
So dumb to conflate Indian and Victory…
Bad move Victory…
Actually, this bike may be the “Victory that should have been”, but turned into the Scout instead for some marketing reason. Regardless, glad to see this powerplant development expanded to the Victory faithful. Can’t wait to see the final product.
I’d like to ride it …………………………………. 🙂
That looks awesome! This is the aggressive muscle bike that I think that engine is made for. Nice job on the concept, so it’ll be interesting to see how/if it plays out to a production model.
They should produce it just like that. I would seriously consider that bike if the price were right.
At last a Victory that isn’t a cruiser. A real bike worth buying.
Hey Cyril, tell us how the production bike is going to look.
WOW looks sharp! Do the engineers at Polaris ever take a break! =)
When they start making this bike they shouldn’t make any body styling changes whatsoever. It’s perfect the way it is. The only option some people may want are further exhaust styles, wheels and paint schemes.
For those wondering if the Scout was originally destined to be a Victory, there was an article on motorcyclist.com in March, 2014 showing drawings of a water-cooled Victory. Headline read: “WATER-COOLED VICTORY COMING SOON!”
I remember some folks pointing to that article when the Scout first came out saying, “Hey, wait a minute, they just rebadged a Victory…” Doesn’t matter I guess, still a cool bike, even though I wanted the Scout to have a derivative of the Thunder Stroke powering it.
One thing though, please move those footrests back, it is NOT a cruiser.
Wow…!!!!
Whatever it is, its a damned fine looking scooter by any metric.
Even with a radiator…..
-nicker-
Looks better than a Scout and anything Victory has done. Well done!
I like this bike, if Polaris intends to stay with their “boxy” look, this is certainly the best they have done.
I hope the production model uses at least 90% of this look plus of course the turn signals and any other required-by-law things it must have.
Two key factors will pitch it against the de facto rival – DUCATI DIAVEL,
1. Weight (specifically torque/weight).
2. Price point.
PS – btw, 2016 Diavel, aggressively targeting the US…
Ok.. this looks great and now how about a large duel sport bike to compete with the BMW GS ???
SSDD; David
everything above the bottom of the seat looks beautiful to me, everything below it is fugly.
I quite like that, which surprises me given it’s water cooled. Might be the lighting helping to hide the impact of the radiator and the frame housing it a little. But looks like a tuff muscle bike with a cool design, great dimensions and quality parts which means it should go, stop and handle quite well. Gives off a bit of a modern day FXR vibe to me.
Another F’n cruiser. WTF Victory?
Ill like to see this water cooled technology in the future Cross Country’s…
This is exactly the motorcycle I kept waiting for when Buell was part of the MoCo, a badass cutting edge streetfighter! Eric and Willie you guys missed a terrific opportunity. Ride on Victory!
Extremely nice prototype
Bears out what I thought Victory was going to turn out to be all along
The styling similarities between this & the Indian Scouts are unmistakably there.
And that”s ok, but, I’m sure the factory designers will work it out
If you read between the lines of the press releases, the articles
and what Mr Pandya has written on this very blog,
you could piece this together & see where they were going
Victory is going to be the performance / forward thinking brand
Indian is going to be the heritage / performance brand.
I look for a liquid cooled Cross Roads/Country bike very, very soon (Sooner than later)
I have always liked the Victory Cross Country Tour but I’m having a hard time
deciding between it & the Indian Roadmaster .
The one thing that I don’t like about the Vic is where the air cleaner is
& the difficulty getting to it, for cleaning and/or replacement.
If / when, they redesign it, if the air cleaner is on the side & accessible
I make have to take another look
Huh surprised no one, mention this shares vrod muscle styling
Victory & Indian are morphing into one…Looks way too much like the Scout even if the Scout was supposed to be this bike… Makes no sense.