Victory Vision 800 Concept promises a new era for American motorcycles

The nice thing about this concept bike is that it’s not the same-old-stuff. We rejoiced recently when Yamaha looked outside conventional motorcycle design with the Deinonychus and this bike, although waaaay more conservative than the adjustable-everything electric Deinonychus, still stretches boundaries and challenges the sameness of design that has existed for 125 years.

The Vision concept bike has a very long wheelbase of 61 inches, mainly because the 800cc motor has been adapted from a Polaris Sportsman 800 ATV where the cylinders are close to horizontal and hence the unit is very long - the benefits of the very low centre-of-gravity afforded by the motor have been further added to by using a bladder fuel tank behind the front wheel, leaving all the space traditionally taken up by the cylinders, heads and fuel tank for other things – namely storage.

Storage on a motorcycle has never been in abundant supply and although the Vision may look a bit hefty in its girth, it has as much storage space as those pannier and top-box festooned tourers and will handle infinitely better. For a fuller dissertation on this subject, read this article about motorcycle handling and why Buell understands it better than most and delivers on it better than any.

The additional benefit of having all that “boot space” without a fuel tank in the middle means it can be shaped aerodynamically and provide some protection for the rider. The layout of cruiser type motorcycles with high and wide handlebars and feet forward means that above sedate speeds, the riding position is not particularly comfortable unless there’s a fairing in the way. This motorcycle, although definitely not in the sports bike category, looks like it will be comfortable at highway speeds and beyond.

Similarly, the bike is low weight and low height, meaning it can be ridden comfortably by a small person without the need for training wheels.

But the piece-de-résistance of the bike is the choice of transmission.

More than three decades ago, during a period of motorcycling incapacity due to a broken left hand, Honda kindly lent me an automatic CB750 motorcycle concept bike on the condition I didn’t write anything about it - it was a secret machine that had been sent from Japan for evaluation but they saw my dilemma and offered it under a permanent embargo. It was a lovely gesture, but more than that it was a fantastic motorcycle, with a sweet motor and no need to think about gear changing and clutching. The "secret" CB750 never got noticed because it looked like a normal Honda 750 and apart from an occasional observant biker enquiring where the clutch lever was, I rode the bike for several months, parking it in city bike parking areas and at motorcycle gatherings and it raised not a whisper.

I was captivated with the sensation of riding the bike because I felt, and still do, that the lack of the need to shift gears fitted perfectly with the freedom afforded by riding a motorcycle and to this day, with hundreds of road test bikes behind me, it still rates as one of the most enjoyable ever. Indeed, I was so captivated with the idea that I lobbied Honda to produce it and could find no-one within the organisational upper-heirarchy who would agree with me.

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