When a Victory Hammer turned up, Rob Blackbourn activated his own ‘cruise mode’ and climbed aboard…

(Pics: Ellen Dewar)

The looks of the Victory Hammer S got my attention at the Ulysses AGM at Penrith a few months back. Victory had its full range displayed there, but I spent most of my time checking out the Hammer.

STYLE CITY

As always, it’s a number of factors that combine to press your buttons. Sure, the very fat, very tough, 250mm back tyre played its part. But the voluptuous flow of the design along the tank, down through the seat and sidecovers and up and over the seat cowl/rear guard section was the real magnet. Reflected light from the chromed pipes and piggyback mufflers added to the visual feast.

It has that appealing 1940s to ’50s organic, ‘aerodynamic’ look. Subsequent shapes that really do produce low drag coefficients are more angular and somehow lack warmth and beauty. Perhaps a Victoria Beckham/Marilyn Monroe comparo illustrates my point.

Victory calls the Hammer its ‘muscle cruiser’ and likes to link it with big-cube American muscle cars. The blue and white Hammer S colours are intended to give a nod to the Shelby Fords. You could, at a pinch, characterise the engine as the back pair of pots sawn off a big-block V8. All these allusions work for me.

HEAVY DUTY

That lovely clean flow of colourful curves sits happily on serious mechanical underpinnings. The space in the steel frame is filled to capacity with the in-your-face, air-cooled,106-cubic-inch, 50-degree V-twin powerplant. Modern with electronic fuel injection and breathing through twin 45mm throttle bodies, it’s also a good old fashioned ‘undersquare’ design with a bore and stroke of 101mm x 108mm. They’re the dimensions of a serious torque pump. And it delivers – max torque is quoted as a mountainous 15.62kg-m at 2900rpm. The gearbox is a six-speeder with top being a true overdrive.

Inverted 43mm front forks, wearing twin 300mm discs gripped by four-piston calipers, promise the ability to stop as well as go, and to effectively handle a few bends in the road too.

GENTLEMAN, START YOUR ENGINE

Big V-twins displacing close to one litre per pot, like those from Victory or Harley-Davidson and the largest of the Japanese cruisers, respond to the starter in a unique way.

When you thumb the button on a litre class four it’s only pushing 250cc against compression at a time, and the crank, rods and pistons are a set of light, low-inertia items. So the ‘little’ four flicks up into life in a split second and then idles evenly. By contrast, getting a heavy crank, rods and pistons rolling and pushing around 900cc against compression is a more measured undertaking for any starter. The Hammer is typical. You hear the beginning of this lovely process as the heavy duty machinery starts to rotate and gain speed. Then it fires and you feel the recoil. Then the thing comes to life, soon settling into its uneven, rollicking idle. The entertainment has commenced…

RIDING

Are there bikes other than American cruisers these days that lack a sidestand safety switch? Probably not. The Victory happily declares its ethnicity in this respect.

The ergos are good with everything well positioned; my feet found the forward pegs at first attempt without having to fish around as they do sometimes when I jump off a commuter and mount a cruiser.

The cable-operated clutch is surprisingly light to use and the action is progressive.

Acceleration is effortless with so much torque on tap. The big Victory donk is a lovely thing. Vibration is just enough to be a bonus. Fuelling is excellent – no stutters or surges. Despite there being no need to rev the thing, when you do choose to spin it up to the limiter, it gets there swiftly and smoothly for a big ‘V’. It feels happier to rev than its big-twin competitors.

The big cogs in the ’box change easily and accurately in the way that big cogs do – with a brief pause then a satisfying ‘thunk’. The de rigueur rear drive belt does its job silently.

Riding a Hammer is a reminder that numbers can lie. I’m not alone in placing quite a bit of store on ‘dry weight’ figures for bikes. Their value is seen as two-fold: power/weight ratios are indicators of ultimate performance. And weight on its own will say something about the ease and pleasure of the riding experience. With ultimate performance being outside the cruiser brief (in any case, the Hammer has plenty...), let’s consider the latter. The Hammer’s dry weight is declared to be 303kg. Lotsa weight. Lotsa bike. Interestingly though, even at low speeds, the Hammer doesn’t feel heavy as such. With its mass well centralised and carried fairly low, it feels lighter than some sub-250kg bikes.

The gearing is spot-on. It pulls away happily in first, uphill and fully loaded, and grunts contentedly through the clogged urban arteries in third and fourth. In overdrive sixth it’s pulling around 2200rpm at an indicated 100km/h. While there’s plenty of meat in the torque curve at that point, things feel that little bit sweeter if you stay in fifth until 110km/h.

The w-i-d-e back tyre means you need to push the ’bars a bit harder to initiate slow turns. Apart from that it didn’t have any real effect on the ride.

Comfort is nice. My longest stint in the saddle was about two-and-a-half hours. The seat stayed comfortable. I was keen to go again.

THE FOOTHILLS FACTOR

You have to say that overall this is a very rider-friendly machine. Just as its gutsy engine delivers in a non-intimidating way, the gutsy brakes perform in a similar fashion. The eight brake pistons up front unleash heaps of stopping power, but they do it totally progressively. The harder you squeeze, the more you get. The back anchor, though, while having plenty of power, is inclined to lock the wheel. On a cruiser you expect to be able to lean on the back brake pedal a bit.

Handling is fine. There’s a taut feel to the ride that promises capable handling. And that’s what you get. There’s no wallow in fast sweepers. It handled tight corner bumps with dignity, with good wheel travel and damping. There’s plenty of tyre grip left when the ’pegs start grinding. But that’s okay – you’re cornering hard enough at that point. And your mates aren’t getting away from you.

DOES IT CHEW JUICE?

The bike’s gearing and the efficiency of its engine management system combine to deliver, perhaps surprisingly (and despite the weight of the bike), quite impressive fuel economy. On our standard commuter economy loop it returned 16.5km/l – a similar figure to a Triumph Thruxton on the very same loop.

NOT HAPPY, JAN

The styling that really works for me overall is let down by two things: nondescript plastic blinkers and way-too-tiny muffler outlets.

The rugged industrial beauty of the bike demands indicators that at least look like billet alloy. The muffler outlets have been sized to meet noise criteria; but displayed beside the monster back tyre they look like they were intended for a Victa, not a Victory.

If it was mine I’d dummy up some stubby chromed 2.5in outlets and fit them over the tiddlers, which could hopefully be hidden by a bit of matt black paint.

THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING

Clearly I rate the Hammer as getting a tick for both style and substance. It’s an impressive, competent machine that above all is a pleasure to ride.

With its Victory range, the Polaris company has succeeded where many others have failed, in successfully producing a credible competitor to Harley-Davidson. And to my mind it’s for reasons beyond the ‘Made in USA’ badge.

HEAVEN ON A STICK

It’s a visual feast

The engine’s a stunner

The pleasure factor

DEVIL IN THE DETAIL

Forgettable indicators

Puny exhaust outlets

Back brake’s a bit severe

Spex

ENGINE

Type: Air/oil-cooled, SOHC, eight-valve, four-stroke, 50-degree V-twin

Bore x stroke: 101mm x 108mm

Displacement: 1731cc (106 cubic inches)

Compression ratio: 9.4:1

Fuel system: Electronic fuel injection

TRANSMISSION

Type: Six-speed

Final drive: Belt

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR

Frame type: Tubular steel cradle

Front suspension: 43mm fork, non-adjustable

Rear suspension: Monoshock, adjustable for preload

Front brake: Twin 300mm discs with four-piston calipers

Rear brake: Single 300mm disc with two-piston caliper

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES

Wet weight: 227kg

Seat height: 800mm

Fuel capacity: 11.4 litres (20.4lt UK tank)

PERFORMANCE

Max power: 71.3kW (97hp) at 5000rpm

Max torque: 15.62kg-m at 2900rpm

OTHER STUFF

Price: $30,995*

Test bike supplied by: Victory Motorcycles Australia

Warranty: 24 months, unlimited kilometres

*Manufacturer’s recommended price before statutory and delivery charges.