93 OCTANE
CHARACTERS
AARON COLTON’S CUSTOM STUNT BIKE IS THE VICTORY WE WANT
Sean MacDonald
IS IT POSSIBLE OR EVEN APPROPRIATE TO FEEL SORRY FOR A MOTORCYCLE? Take the Victory Octane. It’s a highly functional, easy-to-ride cruiser at a great price. Its problem is that the brass at Victory never watched Star Trek, or at least didn’t take to heart Scotty’s strategy of selling low and delivering high. Victory simply set our expectations too high.
The initial plan was actually to release the Octane before the Indian Scout, but the Scout came first. Then Victory’s Project 156 custom-built Pikes Peak racer followed and promised something really different for
the brand. While the Octane is special in that it’s a cruiser meant to handle and stop well, it isn’t special in that way. It looks a lot like a gray Scout, not the American musclebike with sporty chops we believed was coming.
“That’s why I wanted to customize one of these so bad,” Aaron Colton mused as we waited for Zach, our photographer, to shimmy up the hillside and accompanying light pole for the next shot. He continued,
“I’m known for making improvements on my bikes for freestyle, but I wanted to do something to show that I’m also a bike builder. The Octane has a huge potential for easy modification, and people already wanted a bike like this.”
We’d been up since well before dawn, and Aaron’s Sprinter van was littered with his Red Bull cans and my proteinbar wrappers. We spent the morning scouting for mischief, swapping his custom “93 Octane” for my Stocker and generally getting more and more unruly as the sun rose. Think of it as part stunt school, part bike test, and part geek time admiring the intricacies of a creation by its creator.
I spent most of the morning on the stock Octane for comparison’s sake, and it hit me with what a great bike it is. The motor is lovely, and the thing handles better than it should (so much so we wish it had more cornering clearance). When we finally stopped for tacos, I pressed Aaron about it: “Dude, it’s a great bike! That’s the crazy thing: These things can take so much abuse. I’ve put mine through hell already and, when I take it apart, nothing—and I mean nothing—is wrong.”
Basic ethic for Colton’s build? “I
wanted to get it ready to do freestyle demos on but also wanted it to look like something they could sell. I’m kinda hoping they get the hint.”
The Octane took very little work to get the i,i79cc engine in stunter shape. A custom full exhaust system by SC Project is complemented by an openedup airbox and appropriate fuel mapping. A stock Octane on the CW dyno delivered 90 rear-wheel horsepower, but with Colton’s minor mods, his bike cranks out 116 hp. From there it was all about getting the chassis geometry in the ballpark with other bikes Colton has used for freestyle.
“I changed the rear shock angles and length and added more rear-wheel travel,” Colton said. “Then I ended up changing the steering angle a little bit.” After making the steering head half a degree steeper, he played with fork offset to get steering feel and weight distribution right, plus machined the steering stops to allow for more lock. It was still being experimented with as of our day with Colton.
Custom design litters the rest of the
3ETWEEI' 93 OCTANE'S APPEARANCE, SOUND, POWER, AND hANDLING, CAN PROM~5E YOU RIGHT NOW THAT IF TH S BIK_ WER_ AVAILABLE, [~O HAVE ONE IN MY GARAGE.
bike too. The seat pan was pulled from a one-off design Colton used on his Yamaha FZ-09 stunt bike but reshaped for this application. The seat and reworked tail were both designed so they could be produced as bolt-on kits, too.
The brakes were custom designed. Stock, the systems had good power but would overheat when punished with freestyle riding. Colton also wanted to add feel and substantially more braking power, lending as much control at the limits of traction as possible. AMagura HC3 master cylinder with custom direct-mounted reservoir feeds steel-braided lines into twin CNC billet calipers, which bite custom EBC 310mm brake rotors. For the rear brake, he added a lever on the left bar to augment standard right-foot control.
The attention to detail didn’t stop with performance. Colton tested different sandblasting and paint techniques so he could match the colors on varying surfaces like the levers, clamps, and
insides versus outsides of the wheels. Everything from the bar ends to electrical wiring was chosen with performance and perfection in mind.
So what’s it like to ride the thing? Incredible. Truly and honestly wonderful. Between 93 Octane’s appear-
ance, sound, power, and handling, I can promise you right now that if this bike were available, I’d have one in my garage. The engine output makes this bike intoxicating and perfectly suited for street and canyon riding. The reworked seating position is equal parts all-day comfortable and commanding, the perfect setup for riding enthusiastically. Colton still wants to experiment more with chassis geometry to help the bike steer quicker, and he’s likely to use stiffer foam in the seat. But this modified Octane is so close to carrying on Buell’s commitment to the American musclebike that it hurts.
Dear Victory, build this bike. CTMM
