Before we actually take one of Victory’s new hard baggers for a test ride next month, we wanted to get a feel for what they are about. Victory describes the new-for-2010 Cross Country and Cross Roads as high-performance, high-comfort bagger cruisers featuring distinctively fresh Victory styling. The fairing-equipped Cross Country and windshield-equipped Cross Roads were designed to offer long-haul riders great power, handling, ride, comfort and cargo space. And Victory insists that there’s nothing retro about the tire-hugging front fender, the stylish Cross Roads headlight, the dynamic Cross Country fairing, the sculpted fuel tank and the flowing lines of the rear fender. Visibly, with the nostalgia niche firmly claimed by Harley-Davidson, Victory pushes on with forward thinking and innovation. Let’s tear into them, shall we?
The Powertrain
The Cross Country and Cross Roads are powered by the Victory Freedom 106/6 Stage 1 V-Twin and 6-speed transmission with overdrive. Delivering 92 horsepower and 109 ft-lb of torque the 106-cubic inch 50° V-Twin has single overhead camshafts with 4 valves per cylinder. The Freedom engine also features self-adjusting cam chains and hydraulic lifters. It’s counter-balanced for smooth operation and minimal vibration, enhancing rider comfort.
The electronic fuel injection (EFI) has dual 45-mm throttle bodies, with the air intake is under the fuel tank; this minimizes intake noise. The engine uses a split dual exhaust with a new hydro-formed crossover pipe and collector that yield an evenly balance exhaust flow. Stylish accessory exhaust tips are available for both models, as is a Stage 1 Kit that unleashes additional performance by opening up the intake and exhaust.
Sixth gear in the 6-speed transmission is a true overdrive that is ideal for smooth, efficient cruising on the highway. Final drive is a belt drive using a carbon fiber-reinforced belt.
Each bike has a 5.8-gallon (22-liter total volume) fuel tank with a 1.0-gallon (3.8-liter) reserve.
The Chassis
Both the Cross Country and Cross Roads benefit from an innovative frame design that uses a two-piece, sand-cast, hollow aluminum frame, with the two main components joined just forward of the seat. The fuel tank is mounted atop the hollow front section of the frame, and the engine—a stressed member in all Victory chassis—is mounted under that front section. The rear frame piece hosts the seat, swing arm, patent-pending rear suspension linkage, rear fender and saddlebags.
Victory’s CORE Technology, combined with Innovative mass placement, ensures that both the Cross Country and Cross Roads are the lightest bikes in their class. As an added benefit, both bikes have exceptionally low centers of gravity for easy handling at all speeds.
The rear suspension features a mono-tube shock that is air-adjustable and provides 4.7 inches (120 mm) of travel. The Schrader valve used to adjust the shock’s air pressure is mounted inside the bike’s right-hand side cover, as is a small chart specifying the recommended air pressure for various passenger-and-cargo weights. That’s nifty!
Up front are a pair of 43mm-diameter inverted cartridge forks that provide 5.1 inches (130 mm) of travel. The front end is engineered to deliver responsive handling with an easy steering effort on both the fairing- equipped Cross Country™ and the windshield-equipped Cross Roads™.
Both of these touring models have premium Victory brake packages. Up front are dual 300-mm floating rotors with 4-piston calipers, and the rear brake is a 300-mm floating rotor with a 2-piston caliper.
These bikes roll on new “Roulette” wheels that are standard on all Model Year 2010 Victory touring models. These are lighter weight, hollow-spoked wheels engineered for optimized geometry and superior performance. The Cross Country and Cross Roads ride on Dunlop Elite 3 tires.
The front and rear sets of turn signals and the taillight consist of clusters of ultra-bright LED lights. The chin spoiler at the front of the frame adds style and covers the battery and oil cooler.
Comfort for short and long trips
The Cross Country and Cross Roads are designed to provide the driver and passenger with comfortable seating positions that let them enjoy the ride, whether it’s across town or a full day of touring. The driver enjoys a 26.25-inch (667-mm) seat height and the front of the comfortable seat is narrow to allow the driver’s legs to stretch directly down to the ground at stops.
The 18-inch-long boards – the longest footboard in the class – allow a driver to vary foot placement and leg angle, flexibility that provides significant riding comfort during long days in the saddle. The shift lever is a toe-only shifter so the rear section of the left floorboard remains open for flexible foot positioning. A heel-toe shifter is available as a Pure Victory Gear accessory.
The handlebars on both models position the upper controls so they’re easy to reach and operate, and the bars are adjustable: They can be rotated to the height the driver prefers, and the adjustment can be made on both bikes without removing anything. The passenger sits on a comfortable pad that is slightly higher than the driver seat so the passenger can see over or around the driver. Every seat for these new touring models – including the stock seat and all Pure Victory Gear accessory seats – comes with a slot that will accommodate an accessory driver backrest. A Passenger Backrest for the passenger is available, as are Chrome Passenger Handholds.
The wiring harness on both the Cross Country and Cross Roads is equipped to accommodate the installation of accessories such as driving lights, heated driver handgrips, cruise control and heated seats.
SADDLEBAGS: COPIOUS CARGO CAPACITY
The dual saddlebags have a total cargo capacity of 21.3 gallons, and each bag will hold approximately 25 pounds of cargo. These saddlebags provide the greatest cargo volume among the market’s best-selling hard- bagged cruisers – their 21.3-gallon capacity is over 70% larger than that of a Yamaha Stratoliner and 25% more than the Harley-Davidson Street Glide.
With these spacious saddlebags and the bikes’ innovative, efficient frame design, the Cross Country and Cross Roads offer the segment’s leading load capacity. These saddlebags feature glass-filled nylon construction for strength and durability, and each has a hinged lid with a lockable latch that can be operated with one hand. They were engineered to use exterior mounting hardware, so the interior of the bags is almost completely open for cargo. The bags can be removed from their mounts quickly and easily via quarter-turn fasteners for thorough bike cleaning and easy access to the rear tire to check air pressure.
Stay tuned for a real-world test of the new 2010 Victory Cross Country in December. In the meantime go to your Victory dealer to see these bikes in the flesh or visit www.victorymotorcycles.com for more information.
—Canyon Carver
