Victory has Balls. 4 of them including new 2012 Hard-Ball, Vegas 8-Ball, the Hammer 8-Ball and the High-Ball. Unlike nakedness of other Balls of Victory, this Hard-Ball has highway bars protection, adorned along with twenty one gallons of saddle bag hard storage and the sheathed in blackest of black matte paint. Victory has classified Hard-Ball as Tourer, and with an optional wind screen installed it is a description which befits.
This one has having similar namesake with the High-Ball sibling, 2012 Victory Hard-Ball is a mixture of the Victory’s Cross Roads (priced at $16,000) and the High-Ball (priced at $13,500). Hence you might assume that Hard-Ball will seemingly share MSRP of the Cross Roads’. Yet this new Ball has Cross Country (along with touring color matched fairing having embedded audio system) comes with a cost, making $3,000 price rise to about $19,000 which is kinda ballsy having benefit only in terms of style. It is pretty similar to Cross Roads in all respects except for the ape hanger handle bars, the spoke wheels, the wider front wheel (18 x 3.5 as compared to 18 x 3.0) and a heavier dry weight (758 lbs as compared to 745 lbs).
If you are willing to over look pricing indecency and opt for test ride, then this Victory Hard-Ball will surely impress the riders along with superlative performance. Hard-Ball will be rewarding the rider by executing multiple functions adeptly from the local water hole hopping to the mild touring either through solo or 2-up.
Fists First
We must appreciate Victory for having balls for introducing High-Ball and following the same model with Hard-Ball. For rebellious bikerdoms, the ape-hangers are equivalent to the chopped front ends in terms of motor cycle non-conformity.
Maximum height available of apes is illegal for a some states and Victory has bypassed this problem by making handle bars adjustable in terms of height. Alteration benefits the riders if their stature does not allow safe or comfortable reach to position of sky-scraper. Once you choose the arrangement, it is recommended that you leave it permanent as you have to adjust the switchgear and levers in this process. I didn’t lower the bars as it seemed like an atrocity to weaken Hard-Ball’s attitude.
Apart from hardship of rolling Hard-Ball’s almost 800-pound bulk to and fro in garage, where narrow and tall bars do not provide any leverage — same holds true during maneuvers in slow parking lot— this Hard-Ball handles quite commendably during speeds more than 20 miles per hour. You won’t feel as confident as you’d do while navigating bike having “normal” bars. However, this is the price that you will have to pay for flipping a bird to conventionality.
One drawback of some one who doesn’t have a really tall height is getting locked in seating position that is asked for by reach to high controls. Normal bars let the riders to lean forward or back or to reposition the keister on seat, reach to ape-hangers of the 2012 Victory Hard-Ball confine the rider to single position. The fists at the shoulder-level and the back straight plumb-line with a little of forward lean.
This position too acts as like wind catching sail during the freeway speeds. This isn’t as bad as what you’d think during the short jaunts, any trips which need successive, multiple hours in saddle white-knuckling hand grips will need some one person back at dealer ship purchasing wind screen. With windscreen in the right place the “Touring” designation of Victory for Hard-Ball comes closer to the reality.
Performance and safety
Hard-Ball’s front, dual 300 mm rotors and 4 piston calipers in conjunction with the 300mm rear rotor and twin piston caliper, give a lot of stopping power. ABS standard equipment is a bit intrusive and abrupt when it is initiated but I’d rather have the ABS instead of not having it at all.
You can adjust rear shock through air-pressure valve below cover on the right side, but you can purchase Ducati Multistrada S having ABS, Electronic Suspension, variable engine mapping, and Traction Control, and for approx same price, we think that hand pumping the air in to shock is a bit antiquated.
Just like Moto Guzzi Black Eagle which I reviewed some time aago, this Victory Hard-Ball has good cornering clearance. There is enough lean angle available that Hard-Ball’s big and curved floor boards long touch down after the other cruisers have already augured the foot pegs in to black top. Hard-Ball balances the plushness of taut control and comfort for creating handling cruiser that is noticeably competent. This, along with the awesome cornering clearance, may be attributed to suspension through which Victory endowed Hard-Ball. There is front-wheel travel of 5.1 inches from the fork of inverted cartridge, and about 4.7 inches of the rear wheel travel through mono-tube, single gas shock gives this Hard-Ball advantage against the rivals having lesser components of suspension. Even such travel amount, Victory here has maintained seat height of about 26.25 inches and this proves that you do not need to sacrifice handling and suspension while chasing low saddle.
“long-travel” suspension of Hard-Ball will absorb the free way expansion joints and the surface street pot holes with out jarring the rider. Considering low height seat of Hard-Ball’s and the hefty weight, it is a wonder that the suspension works pretty well.
Function & Form
With lines and brake rotors, stanchion tubes, engine cooling fins, and small variety of the parts as only gleaming bits on Hard-Ball, Batman will certainly appreciate blacked-out look of this bike. For creating light absorbing look, paint which lies below what Victory calls “suede clear over color,” & manufacturer claims same protection that glossy clear coat gives. But flat paint below makes scratching very easy to spot.
Just like Cross Roads and Cross Country before this, Hard-Ball mixes the contemporary elements well in to styling of classic cruiser. On the bike’s rear with the LED, tall tail light splitting beveled exhaust tips, balanced metal fender, and tooth pick like thin blinkers is exercise in the stylistically and edgy design.
There is combined storage space of 21 gallons and hard saddle bags are quite proportionate to fault: they won’t accept width of any open faced helmet. Opening has to be quarter-inch or wider for fitting helmet. I would consider failed over sight in design of Hard-Ball that is made worse by no other alternative helmet locks else where on this bike.
These same ingeniously dismount hard bags from Hard-Ball through 2 Dzus quick-release fasteners. This is done to make things easier and not for hauling them in to the hotel room. With out the handles, bags are pretty awkward to after you’ve detached them and there are unsightly mounting brackets left behind are. This lets you order the luggage liners for staying at Holiday Inn.
Inside, there is same 106 cubic inches Freedom V-Twin that you’d find on other models of Victory and producing rear wheel hp of about 77.5 and torque of 88.9 ft-lbs (the measurements are according to my Bagger Shootout of 2011), acceleration of Hard-Ball’s is pretty brisk. There is enough of vibration for making sure that you are riding big Twin, and rumble which emanates from dual mufflers is appropriate for exhaust meeting EPA compliance standards.
Shifting 6 speed gear box of Hard-Ball is met along with positive placements of gear emphasized by the big clunks while rowing lower cogs. There are inroads made to Victory for bettering transmission on the motorcycles. However, there is some sloppiness which the Victory engineers have to address. I was pretty surprised that there is no find a toe/heel shifter offered as stock component on Hard-Ball. However, a $100 option on the Victory is available.
Front lower fairing for 2012 Victory Hard-Ball, along with the other touring models of Victory, is often mistaken for radiator shroud .However, Hard-Ball, et al., remains oil/air-cooled. There is unsightly cut out in vertical slats for allowing room for exhaust pipe of front cylinder, which too, seems like over sight on the behalf of Victory as cut out at the first glance looks like it is broken instead of being manufactured.
The feel, look, and the general badass look of Hard-Ball is under stated but still recognizable. This isn’t a perfect bike but on out there can claim to be perfect. With Victory Hard-Ball you will have a motor cycle which owns up to the brochure hyperbole. You will feel like riding for hours to not any local pub for getting in bar fight.