2016 Victory Vegas 8-Ball Test Ride And Review: Mean, 'Murdered-Out' Motorcycle

There are plenty of reasons to ride a motorcycle. There’s the sense of freedom, the joy of speed, the feeling of power and the attraction of risk. There’s also a reason that most motorcyclists understand, but never want to admit to: Riding a motorcycle makes you look cool. The 2016 Victory Vegas 8- Ball accomplishes this goal with just the right stance, great wheels, tasteful finishes and a healthy dose of every biker’s favorite color: Black, with just a touch of shiny metal.

The first Victory Motorcycle was built in 1998. Victory was created as a new American motorcycle. It is a subsidiary of Polaris Industries , a giant powersports company that also builds side-by-sides, ATVs, snowmobiles and, since 2013, Indian Motorcycles.

The emergence of Indian has created a challenge and an opportunity for Victory. Even though Indian had a sordid history of startups and failures since the original company folded in 1953, the new Indian has tapped into deep roots and heritage thanks to great brand identity. Victory doesn’t have those kind of roots (what new company does?). They have built a good reputation as an American alternative to Harley-Davidson with a solid lineup of cruisers and touring bikes, some of which outperform their Harley competitors in many ways.

Now that Indian can carry the burden of heritage, Victory has been freed to forge a newly sharp identity tied to performance, specifically “Modern American Muscle.” The Vegas 8-Ball fits right into this identity, and, as I mentioned before, it drips with “cool.”

The Vegas 8-Ball comes out of the factory as a solo machine, with a sleek, low (25.2” off the ground) seat that flows smoothly with the lines of the sculpted 4.5-gallon gas tank. The blacked-out handlebars have a slight pullback. A beautiful set of cast aluminum wheels (21” x 2.5” front/18” x 5.5” rear) is wrapped with Dunlop Elite 3 rubber (90-series front/180-series rear). The front fender is a narrow-style piece, and the rear fender is slightly bobbed, so that both wheels are on prominent display. The bike has a few plastic pieces that let it down upon close inspection, but it still has an overall shape and air that looks custom. A newly streamlined (and blacked out) headlight pod points the way, and a single multifunction gauge is mounted above the handlebars, tastefully dressed in chrome.

There’s no weather protection and no storage on the bike – though Victory would be happy to sell you a variety of add-ons from their parts catalog.

Riding the Vegas 8-Ball delivers the good news: Not only do you look cool on a Vegas, you feel cool, too. The gentle reach to the bars and slightly forward foot controls combined with the low seat puts you into a comfortable seating position – not quite the La-Z-Boy stretch of some cruisers, but a slightly more assertive, knees slightly bent position. Sportbike riders will find the Vegas 8-Ball completely confusing, and adventure bike riders will miss the option of standing on the pegs – they’re too far forward for that kind of action.

Which isn’t to say that the Vegas 8-Ball can’t be ridden assertively. It can. The potent 106-cubic inch (1.7 liter) air and oil-cooled Freedom V-Twin engine, made by and for Victory, pumps out over 100 lb-ft of torque, enough to scoot the 655-lb (dry weight) bike very rapidly, with a six-speed manual gearbox and belt final drive. Clutch pull is a little stiff, but not unreasonably so. It is a very forgiving wet multi-plate unit with just enough slip to smooth out starts.

Handling is predictably cruiser-like. A single hidden shock in the rear has pre-load adjustment and 3.0” of travel, so watch out for those potholes and bumps. Peg feelers are the first parts to touch down in a tight curve, letting you know that you’re approaching the bike’s limits before it’s too late to ease up. The blacked-out (of course) slash cut dual mufflers are set high enough on the right side not to interfere with clearance. The Vegas 8-Ball impresses most in a straight line, where all that torque on tap allows for quick bursts of speed. Single 300-mm discs at front and rear help haul the big bike down. If you want ABS , you have to get the regular Vegas – which only comes in Sunset Red. Deal breaker. Not nearly cool enough, and $1,000 more expensive anyway.

If I had to compare the $12,999 Vegas 8-Ball to a Harley-Davidson, I guess I’d choose the Dyna Street Bob ($13,699) or Softail Slim ($14,899). The Vegas 8-Ball has a slight price advantage and a slim power advantage. All three bikes beg to be customized and personalized. Deciding between the Victory and H-D bikes is now a matter of taste, as Victory has been around long enough to expect reliability and reasonable resale. A five-year warranty doesn’t hurt, either – Harley’s new bike warranty is two years.

As Victory continues to develop and evolve as a motorcycle manufacturer, this focused new “Modern American Muscle” direction seems to make a lot of sense for the future. The 2016 Vegas 8-Ball is a very good hint at what Victory motorcycles can become. And it’s really, really cool.