Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128401
without the correspondent $35-50,000 price tag. Did Victory get it right? Well, judging the Vegas jackpot merely by its stunning visual appeal, you'd never know that the base model only retails out at $17,499. For real motorcyclists, however, looks will only get you so far, and since the Vegas Jackpot's custom styling is such an attention grabber, we wanted to know if its performance was more than just a flash in the pan. Fortunately, Victory offered us the chance to find out by inviting us to its Minnesota headquarters to sample the Vegas jackpot on a 160-mile jaunt through some beautiful Midwest-in-autumn countryside. Other than the fact that Victory nearly poisoned all of its guest journalists on the first day by serving them a "soylent yellow" food substance that looked like scrambled eggs, it turned out to be a worthwhile experience. Climb aboard the Vegas Jackpot and you'll find a fairly comfortable ergonomic layout. The bars feel like they're in the right place, the levers are easily reached, and the contour of the seat is kind to the backside. Shorter riders may have an issue with the location of the forward-mounted footpegs, brake and shifter. My 30-inch inseam forced me to strain ever so slightly in order to maintain comfortable contact with the pegs. Most riders should find them to be just right. Letting out the clutch and punching through the gears on the Vegas Jackpot reveals that while Victory may have concentrated on getting with the times when it comes to styling, that hasn't stopped the company from making serious improvements to its drivetrain package, and this is most noticeable in the eight additional cubes of the new EFI, SO-degree, 100cubic-inch (1634cc) Freedom V-twin, which employs overhead cams, bumping four valves per cylinder. Whereas the older 92-cubic-inch version felt cammy, more or less catching up from a slight torque deficit down low by exerting a rubber-band-Iike pull on the rider's arms as the revs increased and the midrange oomph came into play, the IOO-incher feels like it is making power everywhere. Right out of the basement, the Vegas Jackpot tugs firmly and forcefully, and that feeling never leaves until you're almost to the 5800 rpm, redline. You'll want to shift well before then anyway, which is a good thing because it allows you to catch that surging torque wave all over again, but the wide, flat powerband also allows you to be much less mindful of being in too tall a gear. Simply rap the throttle, and the fuel-injected Freedom 100 is there for you, much more readily than the 92. The improved torque and horsepower of the Freedom 100 is only enhanced by the flexibility of Victory's six-speed overdrive transmission, which made its debut on the Victory Hammer in 2005. Victory engineers make the point that, unlike some other six-speed gearboxes in the marketplace, theirs is a true overdrive transmis- sion. Shifting from fifth to sixth gear reduces engine rpm by 25 percent, and yet with the Freedom 100's copius torque, there is no lag in forward momentum when cruising. Instead, you just pick up speed, that sweet, V-twin-style exhaust note droning out the Jackpot's twin exhaust tubes while at 80 mph instead of 55 or 60 mph. It's actually a bit deceptive, and careful attention should be paid to the Jackpot's easy-to-read speedometer lest you fall under the radar and put yourself in the running for a state-issued performance driving award. Going through the gears from a standing start gives off the sensation that Victory's tolerance is more Japanese snick than American ko-chunk. Love it. One thing's for certain: While riding the Vegas jackpot, you'll certainly know that you're riding a bike fitted with a wide rear tire. This is a point that associate editor Blake Conner made to me after sampling the 2005 Victory Hammer, which is wrapped with the same 250mm rear tread as the Vegas Jackpot, and Conner is dead right. It's hard to say whether you can chalk up the sensation as. a handling quirk, but riding the Vegas Jackpot feels like what you might imagine it would be like to ride a balloon-tired unicycle. Sure, the 66.3-inch wheelbase of the Vegas Jackpot - the longest of any Victory model guarantees stability in a straight line, but the bike doesn't feel all that planted laterally speaking. Much of the road feedback generated through the Vegas Jackpot feels as though it is generated from the rear tire rather than from the front. It's an odd sensation that talkes getting used to if you haven't spent a lot of time aboard a motorcycle fitted with a steamroller rear tire. CYCLE NEWS • OaOBER 26, 2005 37