MOTOCYCLER's BBS

2010 Victory Cross Roads and Cross Country

In January of this year Victory unveiled the CORE concept bike at the New York stop on the International Motorcycle Show circuit. Victory Lead Designer Michael Song was allowed to breathe life into one of his sketches, and what emerged was the CORE. According to Song, Core is pure motorcycle, we wanted to strip everything not critical and build a motorcycle that uses some of the production technologies we have incorporated into the Victory Vision.

The CORE: a concept born from a production motorcycle, the Victory Vision.

The CORE concept continues to inspire within Victory, and born of the same basic core technologies as found on the Vision are the all-new Cross Roads and Cross Country. Each new model rides on the Visions two-piece sand-cast hollow aluminum frame, altered where necessary to allow use of more traditional fuel tanks as opposed to the Visions dual high-mount fuel pods (hidden beneath the Visions bodywork).

And Victory design DNA runs through the Cross Roads and Cross County, as the sleek, sweeping lines that make up the Vision are echoed in the new baggers. The Frank Gehry-designed Disney Concert Hall, too, is made up of sleek, sweeping lines. Nice touch.

During the press briefing Victory made no bones about comparing the Cross Roads to Harley-Davidsons Road King and the Cross Country to Harleys Street Glide, making clear the intended audience. Victory also unabashedly pointed out the anticipated MSRP of its new baggers should be $1,000 less than the respective Harleys: The Road King retails for $16,999 and the Street Glide for $18,999.

Both new Vic touring sleds are powered by the same 106/6 V-Twin that moves the Vision, and as of last year, various other Victory Cruisers. The 50-degree, 106 cubic-inch (1,731cc), SOHC, four-valve-per-cylinder air/oil-cooled, fuel-injected Twin claims 92 hp and 109 ft-lbs. The 96-inch 45-degree V-Twin that powers both the Road King and Street Glide claim 92.6 ft-lbs.

2010 Victory Cross Roads.

The handlebars on both new Vic models are adjustable. According to Victory they can be rotated to the height the rider prefers, and the adjustment can be made on both bikes without removing anything. The Cross Roads and Cross Country each have 5.8-gallon fuel capacity, and each comes with highway bars (handy for attaching additional highway pegs) as standard.

Suspension consists of a 43mm inverted fork good for 5.1 inches of travel (same set-up on the Vision), and the air-adjustable shock offers 4.72 inches of travel, the most in class according to Victory. The New American Motorcycle company makes a number of claims when it comes to the Cross Roads and Cross Country. In addition to the most rear suspension travel in class, both bikes also offer the longest floorboards in class at 18 inches, and lowest seat height at 26.25 inches.

The Cross Roads also boasts highest load capacity at 580 lbs and the Cross Country 560 lbs. Each bike also claims to be the lightest in terms of in-class weight. The Cross Roads tips in at 745 lbs (780 lbs wet) while the Cross Country weighs 765 lbs (800 lbs wet).

2010 Victory Cross Country.

Comparing spec sheets, Victorys claims seem valid. Harley-Davidsons Road King lists at 775.0 dry weight (812 lbs wet) and the Street Glide comes in at 773.0 lbs dry (810 lbs wet). The Road Kings seat height is 29.9 inches while the Street Glides saddle sits 27.3 inches off the tarmac.

Luggage Leaders

Victory is quite proud of the hard luggage on the Cross bikes. The new baggers again claim the most, this time with storage, proclaiming a total of 21 gallons. Heres some highlights and comparisons Victory made about the saddlebags: Weatherproof Saddlebags have total cargo capacity of 21.3 gallons; each bag holds approximately 25 pounds 21.3-gallon capacity is more than 70% larger than that of a Yamaha Stratoliner and 25% more than the Harley-Davidson Street Glide Hinged lids have a lockable latch that can be operated with one hand Mounting hardware is outside the bags, leaving the interior virtually wide open for cargo Quick-release bag mounting via Dzus-style fasteners Saddlebag accessories include: Saddlebag Lid Rails that serve as cargo racks The hard bags on the new Cross Roads and Cross Country are not only stylish and seamlessly integrated, Victory claims they offer more storage than the competition.

Ill openly admit that Im kind of a fan of the Harley Road King, and Ive grown fond of the 2009 Street Glide in Black Pearl color. However, with these new baggers from Victory it appears the Motor Company will get some appealing competition in 10 from its Midwest neighbor. The only potential shortcoming for the new Victory baggers is no optional ABS. Both the Street Glide and Road King provide for that option at $795.

The new baggers join the Vision to create a touring family from Victory.

8-Ball family adds two

When Victory introduced the Vegas 8-Ball way back in 2005, the underpinning theme was accessibility to the Victory brand. The 8-Ball was, and is, something of a price-point cruiser, but it doesnt necessarily sacrifice performance, and retains distinctive styling in the face of cutting costs. Stripped of many of the chrome bits found on the shinier Vegas, the 8-Ball gains its own tough-guy identity with its blacked-out theme.

The Hammer and Vision now serve double duty as additional models in what is now a full family of 8-Ball-themed bikes.

Victory didnt toss the baby with the bath water when clipping chrome, eliminating a few ancillary items, and using a100 cubic-inch (1,634cc) 5-speed V-Twin to keep retail figures down. The price-conscious cruiser provides plenty of performance for the intended target audience as Kevin Duke reported from his time aboard an 09 Vegas 8-Ball during this years Bike Week. At a $2,500 savings over the standard Vegas, the 8-Balls value becomes obvious with its $13,799 tag, especially next to comparable Harley-Davidson models.

The theme apparently went over well with cruiser shoppers. The blacked-out budget-minded premise became something of a small, separate line when the Kingpin 8-Ball was added in 2008. Now, two years later the 8-Ball is a full-fledged family with the addition of the Hammer 8-Ball and Vision 8-Ball.

The only deviation from the 8-Ball theme is with the Vision: it will retain the 106/6 V-Twin that all Visions use. The Hammer 8-Ball, like all other 8-Ball models, is powered by the 100/5 V-Twin.

Updates and improvements for 2010 Vision

Not just a model year of new bikes, 2010 like any year is also a year of revisions of existing models. Headlining the changes to the Vision is the $1,000 optional ABS on the Vision Tour Premium.

Other functional Vision updates include: an easier to access tang on the sidestand; 12-volt power ports are now cigarette lighter-style instead of Powerlet; radio LCD display is higher resolution for improved clarity; rider seat has slot designed to accept accessory driver backrest; and the airbox (part of the frame) now has an internal baffle, or silencer, to reduce intake noise. Bummer. We like a snorty bike.

The 2010 Vision Tour Premium will have ABS as a $1,000 option.

Changes and improvements for 2010 Victory cruisers

The new-for-2010 Suede Black and White with Red Stripe paint scheme on the Hammer S now makes for two color choices on the Victory muscle cruiser.

The Ness Connection

Famed custom bike builder and bike customizer, Arlen Ness, and son Cory continue their relationship with Victory. The Ness custom models have become integral to the Victory line.

Its no longer a secret that Arlen loves him some Vision, and for this year he created a limited edition Vision.

2010 Arlen Ness Victory Vision.

Cory Ness has attached himself year after year to the flashy Vegas Jackpot, and 2010 is no different, as he gives this already bling-bling bike the Cory treatment.

2010 Cory Ness Victory Vegas Jackpot.

No signs of slowing down

With the addition of the Cross Roads and Cross Country, as well as the Hammer and Vision joining the 8-Ball family, its clear Victory hasnt spent the last 12 months basking in the glory of being in business for the past 10 years. It seems with each passing model year the New American Motorcycle company grows its lineup by significant leaps. Maybe it wont be too long before we see that first Victory sportbike

Related Reading
Victory CORE Concept Unveiled at IMS
2009 Victory Cory Ness Signature Jackpot Review
2009 Victory Vegas 8-Ball Review
2009 Victory Vision Tour 10th Anniversary Edition
2009 Victory Models Review Vegas Jackpot, Hammer, Hammer Sport
All Things Victory on Motorcycle.com