BIKES: 2013 Victory Judge

New Models

BIKES: 2013 Victory Judge

Great handling, excellent fueling, top-notch brakes, and a consistent finish quality tells you Victory builds premium products..

Neale Bayly | Posted September 14, 2012 Charlotte, NC

Clearly aimed at tapping into the American muscle-car psyche, with its blacked-out bodywork and raised, fat, white-letter tires that come wrapped around very custom-looking wheels, the new Judge certainly has attitude in spades. (Photo: Neale Bayly)

I’ve not had a vast amount of experience with Victory motorcycles, but what I have has built a memory bank of the core competencies they all share. Great handling, excellent fueling, top-notch brakes, and a consistent finish quality that tells you this is a premium product. There has been one exception to this when I rode one of their fat rear tire machines, and hopefully in the way good kids often have some rebellious moments in high school, Victory is over that phase, as the way the new Judge handles and turns on its sensibly sized tires is how a motorcycle of this type should behave. With the opportunity to have one on test here in Charlotte, NC, recently, I jumped on the chance to spend some time in the saddle and see what the buzz I had been hearing was all about.

Clearly aimed at tapping into the American muscle-car psyche, with its blacked-out bodywork and raised, fat, white-letter tires that come wrapped around very custom-looking wheels, the new Judge certainly has attitude in spades; from its muscular looks to the way it feels when you are in the saddle. Click the forward-control gear lever into first, let the 1731cc V-twin launch you off the line with authority, and it’s hard not to adopt your own attitude as you power down the road in a sort of low-slung street-fighter riding position. The 50-degree V-twin power plant has never been an object of beauty to me, but I do like its functional appearance, and coupled with its no-nonsense look and feel, it’s beginning to win me over. There are enough power pulses to let you know you are riding a big V-twin, but it’s smooth enough to leave you free of the unwanted sort of vibration that leaves various parts of your anatomy numb after a long ride.

Victory rates the 106-cubic-inch engine at 113 lb-ft of torque and around 85 horsepower at the rear wheel. Dig inside the air/oil-cooled engine and you’ll find a 101mm bore and 108mm stroke. Compression ratio is a mild 9.4:1, and a single overhead camshaft opens and closes four-valves per cylinder. Fuel and air are fed into the cylinders through 45mm throttle bodies, and burned gases escape into a two-into-two exhaust system. Now, with a claimed dry weight of 660 pounds the Judge isn’t going to win you much at the local drag strip, but on the street without breaking a sweat, it’ll put a nice distance between you and the texting car driver next to you when the lights change.

Click the images below to see more pictures of the 2013 Victory Judge: