On Deck

On Deck

America's newborns ready to roll?

New manufacturers Victory and Excelsior-Henderson want to sell you their cruisers in 1998. Victory's 49state model is now in EPA certification and will, General Manager Matt Parks tells us, emerge to dealers this spring. The California model, because it must scale a taller paperwork mountain, will come in early summer.

Durability testing is ongoing in the American Southwest, and dynos are running 24 hours a day. One chassis under went a 30,000-mile accelerated-durability test on an MTS hydraulic shaker rig. After detail changes, it has now done 65,000 miles without incident. On the proving ground, a motocross-like course delivers five miles of punishment for every mile ridden (who volunteers for this work?). The inevitable problems that dog every development program are being wrestled into submission.

At Sturgis, Parks notes, response of veteran "buy American" riders to the Victory (above) was good; these rid ers want American machines in American style and seem willing to consider the newcomer on its merits. Shorttimers in sharply creased chinos are less tolerant, but 90day wonders of all stripes work close to their rulebooks.

Over at bxcelsior-Henderson, i3t) million was raised in a July initial public offering, and in November, staff moved into a new, 160,000-square-foot plant in Belle Plain, Minnesota-two very important and impressive milestones for this startup company. The announced schedule calls for production of the Super-X to begin "in the fourth quarter" of 1998.

The next task is to acquire and install production equip ment in the new plant, and to make reliable outsourcing arrangements for those items not produced in-house. 1

There have been favorable reviews by the financial community, who are impressed by sound plans actually realized on schedule. That bodes well. On the other hand, the Excelsior people have been exceedingly cautious with the enthusiast press, and our attempts to gather timely news for this column were firmly rebuffed. Is this just the Hanlon brothers' previously stated determination to let the machine speak for itself in the fullness of time? Whatever the facts may be, it feels distinctly odd to be treated as agents of a foreign power by a domestic manufacturer.

Let's hope the Hanlons continue to meet their schedule, and that we can see their creation in showrooms sometime this year. -Kevin Cameron