Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

,is V92C cruiser The Victory also features a li g h twe ight a lu m in u m sub- frame , ex tra-larg e 45 mm for k tubes to m inim ize tw isti ng in ha rd tu rns , and 'a stiff, tria ng ulated swing arm controlled by a single shock on the rea r sus pensio n . Th e w heels h ave a uniq ue, five-s p oke d esign . Th e fro nt bra ke is a single floating 300mm disc wi th a four-piston calipe r, while the rear brake has a 300mm disc with a two-pis- ton caliper. Inst ru mentatio n is fairly straightforwa rd . A large speedometer and tachom eter are mounted on the back of the headligh t, and the display also includes a trip meter, clock, gas gauge, and odometer. The high-beam indicator, tum indicator, oil ligh t, low-gas light, and generator light are located in the display. . "Many of the people who worked "on the bike have motorcycle backgrounds," Parks said . "Most of us were en thus iasts to begi n with, s o we had so me ideas going in, bu t w e really started with a clean sheet of paper. Our primary goal was to prod uc e a competi tiv ely priced cruiser, w ith better handling, brak ing an d straig ht-line performance than any ot her mass-produced V-twin cruiser on the mar ket. We think motorcycle enthusiasts will be very impressed with the look an d feel of this bike." More specifically, Polaris believes its By Joel Johnson he intra to o k p lace in the mos t famous mall in the world, inside a restaurant that is dedicated to the rich and famou s, with the most famous T nam e in racing uti lized to give to give it credibility. Polaris Industries, Inc. - a major player in the snowmobile, ATV and person al watercraft markets - introduced its first mo torcycle, the Victory V92C, to th e press last week in a gala event staged at Plane t Hollywood at the Mall of America in Bloom ington , Minnes ota. . And, befitting the selling, there was quite a bit of name-dropping going on. The governors of both Minne so ta and Wisco nsin sent congra tu lations and, in ad dition to the mot orcycl e-enthu sia st (Above) Polari s Jumps Into th e motorcycle marke t with its own cruiser, the Amerlca n~m ad e Polaris V92C. (Right) The Victory features a huge 1507cc , eight-valve, Vtwin engine with elect ronic fuel injection, an d the bike is schedul ed to go Into prod uctio n In th e spring 01 1998. pres s, rep resent atives from Time maga- zine, T he New Yor k Tim es a nd the Associated Press were reported to be on hand. Also pr esent wa s Polaris-d esi gnated spokesman Al Unser [r., an admitted Harl ey fanatic who said he has been promised one of the first Victory motorcycles to roll off the line. But despite the famous backdrop and the star-studded guest list, one famous nam e w as m issin g , but mana g ed to hang over the in trod uction all the sam e. Tha t nam e was Harley-Davidson . The Polaris officials had gone to great pains to deny their new bike is a Harley knock-off. "We never in te nd ed for it to be a Ha rley," said Matt Park s , th e new motorcycle general manager for Polaris. H owe v er, th ere ' s n o d enying th at Harle y's su ccess is the main reason Polaris is in the motorcycle market. Like the Japan ese ma nufactu rers and 42 new upsta rts like Excelsior-He nd erson, Polaris has targeted the cruiser market. " O U T research in d ic a tes tha-t the cruiser market sho uld co ntinue grow at an 11 to 15 percent rate for the next five years," said Ken Larson, chief opera ting officer for Polaris. "Obviously, we think we can attract a goo d share of those custom ers." Po laris beli ev es it will d o tha t by offering a bigger and (it hopes) better cru iser. As expected , the Victory is a big, big cruiser, featuring a beefy 1507cc Vtw in en gine, with a sing le over he a d camshaft and four v alves per cylinde r. The Victory als o boasts an extra -stiff suspension - "As s tiff as some s po rts bik e s.." Par ks sa id - an d 'cl ean, s le e k styli ng w it h lin es bor ro w ed fr om the aviation indus try . At the in tro, Polaris mad e a poin t of stressing that the 1507cc engine is not only the largest V-twin available on the market, bu t also boasts sign ificant hightech engineering, incloding an oil-cooling sys tem and a "state of the art" eng inemanagement system, with electronic fuel injection and computer-controlled spar k. Power is trans ferred through a gear-driven primary d rive with anti-jerk torque compensator, five -speed gearbox, we t clutch, and belt drive for the rear wheel. current sno w mobile , ATV and watercraft custom ers will be impressed with the bike. . "Over 30 p er cen t of o u r cu rren t sno w mobile , ATV and watercraft customers already o wn motorcycles, and even m ore hav e owned them at o ne tim e or another," said Larson. "Ou r cus tom ers are also very loyal and they tend to own multiple Pola ris p roducts. For that reason, we believe our current customers will create enough demand to take care of th e first two years of production, at the very least: ' To reach those customers , Polaris will

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