2012 Victory Hard-Ball – First Look Review

After presenting R. Lee “Gunny” Ermey, the former Marine Corps drill instructor best known for his roles in Full Metal Jacketand on History Channel’s “Mail Call,” with a custom USMC-themed High Ball on December 9 at the International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, California, Victory Motorcycles pulled the covers off a new model, the 2012 Victory Hard-Ball.

The blacked-out, Vegas-based High Ball, unveiled in January 2011, quickly became one of Victory’s top sellers. Sticking to a winning formula, the Hard-Ball is a blacked-out Victory Cross Roads with height-adjustable ape hangers. Except for minimalist red pinstriping, the entire bike is slathered in flat black paint. Like all models in Victory’s 2012 lineup, the Hard-Ball is powered by the 106-cubic-inch, 50-degree, air/oil-cooled Freedom V-twin, which is fuel-injected and belt-driven with six gears to choose from.

For an old-school look, it gets black spoked wheels (18-inch front, 16-rear) shod with blackwall Dunlop Elite tires, but the Hard-Ball’s triple-disc brakes with standard ABS are fully modern binders. Baggers picked up where choppers left off, and the Hard-Ball’s top-loading, locking hard saddlebags that hold 21 gallons’ worth of loot.

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The Hard-Ball will be available in dealerships starting in February 2012 for $18,999 (add $250 for California). For more information, visit www.victorymotorcycles.com.

 

1 COMMENT

  1. Ahh cr@&! The ape bars, front cowling, giant saddlebags, and 4 ft. long pipes make me wretch. With everything painted “rattle-can black”, I wonder what this thing will look like in a year.

    If this is all meant to look sinister, why am I laughing so hard?

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