Victory Vegas 8-Ball Vs. Yamaha Midnight Warrior
Victory Vegas 8-Ball vs. Yamaha Midnight Warrior
Same color, different execution
MATTHEW MILES
NO DOUBT ABOUT IT, THE CRUISING LANDSCAPE HAS changed. Take "sport" cruisers. Just six short years ago, they didn't even exist. Back then, the closest thing fitting that description was the Moto Guzzi V11 EV, winner of “Lucky 13,” our all-encompassing boulevard-bike comparison published in March of 1998. Nowadays, low-slung, big-braked, fat-forked, radial-shod machines that go and handle well are commonplace. And if brisk sales are an indication, they’re here to stay.
No one is more aware of this than Yamaha, maker of the aluminumframed Road Star Warrior, arguably the sportiest cruiser going, and Victory, the Minnesota-based American bikemaker whose comer-carving V92SC impressed when it was introduced in 2000, but sold poorly and was unceremoniously dropped like a hot potato two years later.
Victory has since backed away from the sport scene, turning its attention instead to the core custom market. The resulting Vegas-with styling input by famed customizers Arlen Ness and son Cory-has been a lifesaver for the fledgling Polaris subsidiary, and in its debut model year of 2003 earned “Best Cruiser” laurels in our annual Ten Best Bikes balloting.
Now along comes the 2005 Vegas 8-Ball, basically a blacked-out, easy-on-the-chrome spin-off. Similar, at least in concept, to the treatment applied to Yamaha’s ’05 Midnight Warrior, the look is stunning. So, too, the price: At $12,999, the 8-Ball undercuts the Vegas by $2000.
So, both black, V-Twin-engined, with relaxed riding positions and priced alike (the Yamaha lists for $12,499), but not much else in common. These two are very different bikes aimed at very different customers. Not that there’s anything wrong with that...
Hot-rod of the pair, the Midnight Warrior is the YZF-R1 of cruisers. Its inverted fork and four-piston brakes were derived from the previous, non-radial-braked version of that model. And with its pushrod, air-cooled, four-valveper-cylinder, 102-cubic-inch (10 more than the 8-Ball) VTwin pumping out 76 horsepower and 100 foot-pounds of torque, this thing will flat scoot. Mid-12s in the quartermile? Among V-Twin cmisers, only the Harley-Davidson V-Rod is quicker.
It’s also one of the few cruisers with adjustable suspension-spring preload front and rear; rebound damping out back. Better still, the tools needed to make said alterations can be found in the underseat kit. The owner’s manual details how to go about making the changes, and even what effect they will have on ride quality. Okay, you won’t be hounding Rls on your favorite backroad, but kicked-out steering geometry, lengthy wheelbase and wide 200mm rear radial aside, the Warrior knows its way around a corner.
VICTORY VEGAS 8-BALL
$12,999
Ups
Best-looking Victory yet Power-up kits available Self-canceling turnsignals
Downs
No fork lock No passenger seat No toolkit
YAMAHA ROAD STAR MIDNIGHT WARRIOR
$12,499
Ups
Bad-ass in black Cruising’s only aluminum frame A blast on a backroad
Downs
Air filter housings force legs out Short-hop-only passenger perch Fat rear tire slows steering
The Victory handles well, too, but in a different way.
First thing, you’ll want to slow down the pace. It’s a traditional cruiser, after all. Sit back, relax and take in the uncluttered view past the broad handlebar and over the central speedometer. Unlike the Yamaha, there’s no tachometer here. No suspension adjustments, either-save preload on the solo rear shock. Unless you’re willing to do spring and/or shim-stack surgery, you’re stuck with what you’ve got.
Which is okay, because the improved-for-’05 solo seat (still slotted into the split-tail gas tank, thank goodness) is a fine place to park your backside for an afternoon, long as you’re not in a hurry. At higher speeds, just as with the Yamaha, the lack of windbreak becomes tiring long before the gas tank runs dry. Steering is light, thanks in part to the 21-inch front wheel and relatively narrow 180mm rear bias-ply Dunlop. And the Brembo brakes are without fault.
Easing out of the throttle also lets you better enjoy the air/oil-cooled Freedom V-Twin. Power delivery is smooth and linear, without the off-idle torque spike of the Yamaha. Nice. And there’s more for the uncorking: The factory Stage 1 kit-free-flowing air filter, vented airbox cover, slip-on mufflers and EFI tweak-is said to be good for a 9-bhp/10-ft.-lb. bump. Big-bore Stage II ups power another 9 bhp. Yamaha offers an array of motor hop-up parts, too.
Like we said, two very different motorcycles. And in the end, it all comes down to this: The Warrior is a better motorcycle, but the 8-Ball is a better cruiser.
