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Victory Cross Country Tour Review

A Season on the 2012 Victory Cross Country Tour

Here in the Northeast, it’s just about the time that I add fuel stabilizer to the tank, run the bike for a few minutes, and call it a season.

The now-motionless bike in my garage is a Victory Cross Country Tour, and the season in question was my first on it.

Since the Cross Country Tour was new, not only to me but to everyone else, you might be interested in my impressions.

Here’s how that season went, how the bike performed, what’s particularly good about it, and what needs work.

A Short History of the Cross Country Tour

For the 2010 model year, Victory introduced a couple of fraternal twins, the Cross Roads and the Cross Country.

These “Cross” models – generally designated “XR” and “XC,” respectively are traditional-looking V-twin baggers.

They have the same 106 cubic inch (1731 CC) air/oil-cooled, fuel-injected, SOHC, four valves per cylinder engine (whew!).

Victory uses this powerplant across-the-board now.

The XR and XC also share Victory’s six-speed transmission, belt final drive, twin disks up front and single disk out back, ABS, and both have an 18″ front and a 16″ rear wheel (although the XR’s are spoked and the XC’s cast, with tubeless radials on the latter).

The XR has a fork-mounted windshield and minimalist instrumentation; soft saddlebags are now standard.

The XC, on the other hand, has a fork-mounted “bat-wing” type of fairing, more extensive readouts and sound system, and hard saddlebags; the XC also adds cruise control as standard these days.

You can read all the specs and pricing as you work your way through the  Victory Motorcycles web site .

One of the options for the XC was a top case. (It doesn’t seem to be offered for the XC for 2013, which is just as well – it added almost 10% to the price of the base bike).

For the 2012 model year, Victory started with the XC, did a little tweaking, added a bunch of options, and called their new creation the Cross Country Tour (or “XCT”).

The major additions to the Cross Country that comprise the Cross Country Tour are:

• Top case is standard.
• Heated seats and grips.
• Adjustable passenger mini-floorboards.
• A taller windshield (more about that in a minute).
• An HID low-beam for the headlight (and more on that, too, later on).
• Tubular front crash bars (like the XR; the XC has flat-style bars).
• Storage-pod lowers.
• An air-management system, which includes adjustable fairing-mounted winglets and adjustable openings in the lowers.

In 2012, the Victory Cross Country Tour list price was $21,999 in black, $22,499 in red or white.

And my simplistic color names don’t do the paint job justice, as we’re talking a sort of metal-flake, even in black…

For 2013, the choices are now black ($21,999, as before), or blue and a kind of bronze (all upped $100 to $22,599).

Keep in mind, however, that Victory runs a lot of special promotions, e.g., if you take a demo ride, go to a show, get on their mailing list, etc.

Also, there’s some bargaining room, or at least there was, back in January, 2012, when I actually signed the paperwork; at that time, there was a rebate program, and a discount for veterans, and a dealer incentive kickback, so I saved a lot of money.

Putting the Cross Country Tour Through Its Paces

I picked up my XCT, fresh from the crate, in late March. During the season, I did about 2,000+ miles of super-slabs, including a 600-mile day and a couple of 400-mile days.

At the other extreme, I rode The Dragon at Deals Gap, forward and back, along with many of that area’s great roads en route. Mostly, however, I did a lot of 200- to 300-mile day trips.

I live in the Albany, New York region, so my rides include the back roads of the Catskill, Adirondack, and Berkshire mountains or two-laners to Connecticut or Massachusetts to check out pizza and hot dog places for lunch and so forth.

Most of my riding was solo, but some was two-up with my wife, often for more than an hour at a time in between stops. Ambient temps ranged from 50 or so to the high 90s.

Some – not much, but some – of the riding was in mild rain, and some in pretty heavy rain. In short, I put the XCT through its paces. All told, I put about 8,400 miles on it in seven months.

So, how did it do?

Ride Quality and Handling

The ride quality of the Victory Cross Country Tour is great.

It’s stable in a straight line, but I don’t know what the top end is, but I “cracked the ton” a few times (professional rider, closed course, etc.), easily and without any drama.

It’s neutral in turns, and it has excellent ground clearance… yes, you can add the caveat “for a cruiser” or “for a tourer,” but, after all, that’s what we’re talking about here.

The floorboards fold up 5 or 6 degrees (I put an angle gauge on them a while back).

After that, the next thing to touch down will be an exhaust shield (my experience) or some part of the bag guards (others’ experiences).

The Cross Country Tour, by the way, uses a sensible (for handling) 180/60R16 rear tire (although Victory does offer some special phat-tired, hard-to-steer cruiser models, if that’s what you’re looking for).

No tracking of rain grooves, wobbling, or other handling anomalies.

There is minimal vibration (except when cracking it WFO, of course), even – and here’s a novel concept – at idle.

The XCT employs an aluminum frame and inverted forks (more rigid and less unsprung mass than “conventional” forks, don’tcha know).

Further, it has real suspension: there’s approximately 5″ of travel in both the front and rear.

The front suspension is non-adjustable, and seems well set up to me; the rear is a single air shock, adjustable via a Schrader valve under the right side-cover.

The size of the Cross Country Tour is in the same realm as most other full-dressed touring rigs. Victory lists its “dry weight” as 845 lbs.

I have no idea what it really weighs, when you add on such frippery as 5.8 gallons of high-test, five quarts of oil, and whatever else “dry weight” excludes (fork oil? battery?).

But both the seat and center of gravity are extremely low, so if you’re used to big bikes at all you’ll have no problem here.

The seat height is listed as 26.25″, and it’s definitely low; not only can I flat-foot it at stops, but my knees are bent, as well.

(By the way, I believe that H-D lists measures height with some person of some weight actually sitting on the bike. So, cross-brand “seat height” comparisons may be as meaningful as, oh, weight comparisons).

What looks like a fuel tank actually is a fuel tank on the XCT.

While the fuel is up high, the bike is not top heavy; I guess the engine’s weight and placement, and the frame geometry, renders that a non-issue.

Even the battery is nicely placed for handling and C of G; it’s at the very bottom front of the bike, underneath the oil cooler (and you can get to it by removing four bolts, underneath the bike, that hold its covering panel in place).

If you’re not familiar with bikes of this ilk, I won’t give you any baloney like, “Once underway, it feels 500 lbs. lighter.” It’s still a big bike, and you won’t be out-carving the nearest supermotard.

And you may want to practice hanging off for U-turns in some vacant parking lot (no, not hanging off the inside – the outside, you young crotch-rocket whipper-snappers).

Getting the Power Down

The engine has plenty of power and torque.

Some folks feel that there’s never enough motor, this side of a blown Boss Hoss, or maybe whatever that concoction was where someone put a Dodge Viper engine in a concept that sort of looked liked a bike.

Back on Earth, however, the basic 106 cubic inch engine is more than adequate.

There’s never a problem getting underway from a standstill, even with a passenger.

You don’t need to shift down to pass, but if you’re in an absolute rush on two-lane blacktop, dropping down to fourth will take you past 100 in a hurry.

Sixth gear is used for loping along the Interstates.

I’ve been consistently getting low 40s for an MPG reading, whether on the highways or briskly riding back roads; I imagine you can get more than 50 MPG if you ride leisurely in 55MPH zones all day. Premium fuel is specified.

The transmission is not a “snicker,” but it’s not a “clunker,” either.

Works fine, no noticeable drive-line slop, no missed shifts. The cable-operated clutch has a good engagement range.

As an extra added attraction, there’s a trick neutral-assist function, akin to that of some Kawasakis of the last few years.

When you’re below 5MPH – stopped, for instance – all you have to do is shift up from first, and there you are.

That is, instead of maybe going into neutral or maybe going into second, you’re most definitely put in neutral.

There’s no gingerly playing around with the clutch, or rolling the bike a few inches back and forth; you just shift up to neutral.

Once the light turns green, you shift down to first, get underway – at which point hopefully you’re doing more than 5 MPH – and then just shift up to second, etc.

The triple-disk brake system gets the job done. I’d like a little more initial bite from the front brakes, but they’re linear and up to the task. The brake lever has a thumbwheel for reach adjustment.

The front tire is a braking-and-handling-sensible 130/70R18. The ABS is unobtrusive.

I don’t believe I’ve gotten the front to kick in yet. If you’re experimenting in this regard, it’s much easier, and safer, too, just to stomp on the rear-brake peddle.

To me, this is a highly significant part of the touring equation. The Victory Cross Country Tour seat is very comfy, fore and aft. Up front, nothing, um, gets squashed.

There’s an upturn before the pillion area, which I think should be positioned just a tiny bit more rearward. By the way, I’m 5’9″, with a 30″ inseam. The reach to the handlebars is just about right.

On the one hand, I’m thinking of replacing them with some 2″ pullbacks.

On the other hand, I’ve used bar-backs/risers on every bike I’ve owned, so I seem to prefer a more straight-up riding position, or at least have significant bend in my arms in normal riding.

Incidentally, as a result of the dash configuration, you can’t add risers – a bit of a shame – so you have to replace the handlebars if you want to bring them closer.

The floorboards are class-leading (long), according to Victory; they’re certainly the longest I’ve ever seen. You can move your feet from about straight down to straight out, depending on your inseam.

Of course, you 6’4″ types may still want highway pegs added up front. But the point is, as sold, this is quite a relaxing environment.

The shift lever is three-position fore-and-aft adjustable, and its height can be adjusted via a threaded rod; you have to let it come up pretty far on the uptick, so I guess a little shorter throw would be nice.

Out back, my wife tells me that she’s never had a better view, because the pillion portion is raised up (she considers this both a plus and a minus, as she sometimes doesn’t want to see what I’m doing, in terms of what’s ahead).

Anyway, the seat’s also comfy for her, and the modest wrap-around curvature of the top case makes her feel sufficiently secure. The backrest is well padded and its angle is fine.

By contrast, we rode a Valkyrie Interstate for seven years, and although I kept the stock seat, I replaced the backrest on the top case, essentially just to change that angle.

And for my former 650 Burgman Exec, I had a backrest for the Givi top case custom made by a local upholsterer…

Last and most assuredly not least, the Cross Country Tour passenger gets mini floorboards, adjustable for height (three positions) and angle (through a modest arc).

We have availed ourselves of these adjustments, to the point where I know the torque value for the two-bolt adjustment.

Victory also offers a reasonably priced option for passenger grab handles. Well, you might be thinking that these should be stock, and I might agree with you.

On the other hand, these are really nice handles, and they’re the most robust grab rails I’ve ever seen; with the proper straps and hoist, you could probably lift the back end of the bike off the ground with them – maybe even the whole bike.

Disclamer #1: The passenger grab rails you see on my bike are not stock!

Air Management

Let’s start with the windshield. Recall that the XCT one-ups the XC by adding a new, tall, windshield (along with some new brackets, to hold it in place). I did some demo rides on the XCT prior to buying it, and that windshield is too tall for me.

Pretty much everyone has to look through it, even if you shop at the Big and Tall stores.

Me, I already wear glasses, and then look through at least the shield on my modular helmet, and maybe its internal sun visor, too.

That’s enough.

Regardless, I’m a look-over rider, not a look-through one. So the stock windshield was a non-starter.

Luckily, the XCT is shipped in a crate  sans  windshield. The dealer agreed to install a different windshield for me, for free, since he had to put one on, anyway.

(By “free” I mean there wasn’t a charge for labor, just for the new windshield. I sold the stocker on eBay).

I bought the KlockWerks “Flare.” Don’t confuse this with the Victory-brand “Flip,” both of which are sold through Victory dealers.

The Flip is just a “shorty” type of windshield, while the Flare is a little larger and adds a curved-up top edge.

The Flare works, in terms of moving any significant buffeting over my head, and my wife says that it’s fine even way back there.

Disclamer #2: The pictures you see here do not depict a stock windshield!

Some people might actually like the stock windshield, especially if you’re already a look-through person. I’ve ridden behind it at several demos, as well as some extended stints on a friend’s Cross Country Tour.

It’s clear, and it creates an extremely calm pocket of air. I find it too calm; almost stagnant.

However, if you don’t wear a full-face helmet, or generally don’t like a breeze, it may be your cup of tea, especially in cold weather.

And if you want to add some air to the mix, you can open the winglets (see below).

For those of you who haven’t experienced electrically adjustable windshields, they’re a very nice feature for touring.

Unfortunately, I’ve never seen that functionality on bikes with fork-mounted fairings, and the XCT is no exception: it doesn’t have that capability.

You can, however, get a mount (with or without their windshield) from MadStad (see Victory Resources, below) that has a manual adjustment system; that mount has recently been redesigned and looks sleeker, as well as being a useful option in the windshield arena.

Next, regarding air management, there are winglets attached on either side of the fairing, just above the storage pods in the lowers.

They can be rotated from a blocking position – an adjunct to the fairing itself – around to an on-edge position, in terms of incoming air.

In conjunction with a scooped area between the pods and the tank, they do a great job of letting you control the airflow to the upper torso.

Last, the storage pods/hard lowers have their own air-control doors.

These are less intuitive: opening them all the way does not provide the most cooling relief to your legs on hot days. What happens is that if you do that, you’ll mix too much engine heat with the incoming air.

Instead, given a lip at their inner rearward edge, you have to experiment with partial openings for maximum unadulterated fresh air.

This also depends on how you position your legs, i.e., forward or back on the floorboards, and toward the inside or outside of them.

Some Cross Country Tour owners just remove the entire pod/lower package in hot weather (seven bolts each, as I recall). Both the winglets and lower vents can be adjusted on the fly, so to speak.

However, it’s a long reach to those lower vent handles, and you may have to take your eyes off the road while bending forward, so be careful. If I do that, I need a clear road and the cruise control on.

Given the wide fairing, wide and tall lowers, and the fairing winglets, rain protection is excellent, by the way.

This is an area where the Cross Country Tour positively shines. The two saddlebags are huge – class-leading, according to Victory and I’ve seen my share of saddlebags, and don’t dispute that. The top case easily holds two full-face helmets.

Total storage, including the pods in the lowers, is said to be 41.1 gallons (c. 156 liters for the rest of the world; put another way, about 22% more than an Electra Glide).

Per Victory: “The Cross Country Tour has the most storage space of any motorcycle in the world.”

The saddlebag lids swing outward on a hinge, with the locks next to and below the passenger’s portion of the seat.

The top case is hinged by the passenger backrest on it; yeah, Harley’s TourPak side hinge is probably a better idea – you can’t have everything.

The pods just snap close. If you want to spring for them, Victory sells pod locks.

Other Amenities

The Victory Cross Country Tour cruise control is excellent.

If you’re holding the throttle steady and you press and release the cruise control “Set” button, and loosen your grip, there is absolutely no change in speed, no hiccup, nothing.

And it holds the speed nicely, even in sixth gear on steep grades.

The controls for the cruise are accessible via the right thumb, on a small plate by the throttle grip.

The heated grips have a low/off/high rocker switch on the dash, and do a fine job.

After a stop in a recent ride, I switched from cool-weather gloves to lighter gloves, and left the grips on low; after a few minutes – the temperature had gone up to 60-something by then – the heat was definitely too much, and I turned off the grips.

The heated seats have low/off/high toggle switches – one for the front and one for the back – located in a nook-and-cranny area just aft of the rider’s portion of the stepped seat, on the left side.

I tend to ride in cold weather with over-pants (FirstGear HT version), and add their liner if it’s really cold, so this doesn’t matter that much to me.

We were doing a day-long leaf-peeping ride recently, and at our first stop I reminded my wife, who was in jeans, about the switches; at the second stop, she remarked how well the system worked, and how welcome it was.

The XCT has a built-in radio, with four speakers: two in the fairing and two in the top case (on the outside of the passenger backrest area). There’s also an iPod (or, I suppose, iPhone) connector in the left pod.

There are functions for AM, FM, Aux, the iPod, and a CB, if you add one. The switchgear for all of this is inboard of the left grip, on a little mounting plate.

But, forgive me (or not), I admit it: I can’t tell you beans about how good any of this is, or how well it works. Simply, I don’t do tunes while riding.

There are three cigarette-lighter style outlets on the Cross Country Tour: one in the fairing, one in the top case and a third resides inside the left pod (corrected from two in the original posting).

Both are covered by rubber flaps, and both are “hot” with the engine on or off.

Victory sells Powerlet outlets, or you can add them yourself; there are two areas that seem intended for them, both on the left side: one under the tank, near the seat, and one way down low, in the front, by the battery.

The high beam on the Victory Cross Country Tour is a halogen bulb, and the low beam was an HID light. For 2013, Victory deleted the HID in favor of a halogen low beam, too.

All of the other lights are LEDs, and they are all very bright: the amber front and rear turn signals (with a four-way flasher switch by the left grip); the white license-plate light; and the red rear running/brake lights.

Regarding those last two, one is about 13″ tall, and “Frenched” into the rear fender, and the other is integrated into the top case lid, and is about 13″ wide. Nice job, all around.

I’d prefer, if I were to nit pick, that the turn signals were also running lights, and that the top case light was split in two, so that it could also function as a duplicate, high-eye-level, turn signal.

Disclaimer #3: Those lights you see down by the front brake calipers are not stock, and are not sold by Victory; they are Motolights (whose halogen bulbs I’ve replaced with 5-watt LEDs, if you must know).

Last, the dash gauges – speedo, tach, gas, and volts – are very readable in daylight. At night, they retain this readability with nice blue backlighting.

Maintenance

The Victory Cross Country Tour has an air-cooled engine, so there’s no coolant to change. It has hydraulic valve adjusters, so there are no valves to adjust.

And you don’t have to worry about final-drive gear oil, nor is there a chain to adjust or lubricate.

It has one engine oil drain plug, and one place to put in a fresh supply of oil. There is no bodywork to remove to get at the oil filter.

OK, so the final-drive belt is supposed to be replaced every 30,000 miles. And the air filter is under the fuel tank.

And, of course, you’ll have to change the two spark plugs once in a while, flush and refill the brake system, and replace the fuel filter. But that’s it.

What Victory Needs to Improve

What you might have picked up on by now is that Victory sometimes backslides, and sometimes needs to be reminded to keep it classy.

There are some nice touches on the Cross Country Tour; the fenders are steel, and you certainly don’t need to add a fender extender or mud flap to the front (or rear, for that matter).

The gas tank is smooth and without a flange along the bottom. The seat flows into the tank.

The saddlebag crash bars are standard, as are the ones up front (which the pods/lowers attach to).

But…What’s up with dropping the HID low beam? You have a unique feature, and you ditch it?

I noticed in one of the magazines that the H-D CVO Road Glide gets LED headlights this year. Maybe Victory is getting ready to join suit?

And what’s up with a cable-operated clutch? My 2000 Valkyrie had a hydraulic clutch, for cryin’ out loud, and it was hardly the top-of-the-line for Honda.

I carry a replacement cable, which can easily get lost in one of the cavernous saddlebags, but still…

In typical bike fashion, the Cross Country Tour horn is of the Road Runner “meep, meep” variety. I replaced mine with a relay-triggered  Stebel Nautilus air horn (review) , inside the fairing.

The switches for the heated seats ought to be rocker switches, not toggle switches. While they’re tucked out of the way, it’s possible to bump them, and you certainly can’t tell at a glance what position they’re in.

And you can’t tell from the photos, but those fork guards are plastic. About $30 apiece, and many owners have broken them. (You can buy metal fork guards from KewlMetal – see Victory Resources – for $143).

There are a few other plastic parts that really should be metal, too, such as what’s known as the “cheese wedge,” which is that part that says “106” on it, between the cylinders on the right side.

The saddlebag lids are a source of forum complaints, and rightfully so. If I didn’t wear hearing aids off the bike and custom-molded ear plugs on it, along with a modular helmet, their rattling would bother me, too.

And while they have sufficient sealing and overhang to prevent any problem with rain, they let dust in quite easily.

There is no adjustment capability in either the hinge or latching mechanism.

The bottom line is that Victory needs to refine its tolerances in this area, or provide adjustment capability, or both.

Along those lines, the locking mechanism on the top case lid is a little weird. It’s a separate mechanism, i.e., not part of the snap closers. This is nice in that you don’t need to lock the top case (or the saddlebag lids) in order to close them.

However, the top case lid lock allows a good deal of travel, if some miscreant unsnaps the lid – very inviting for something used to pry it open.

The dash has a gear indicator, but the clutch must be engaged for it to work.

To find out if you’re in, say, first or second, you have to let out the clutch.

My buddy’s R 1200 RT has no problem indicating the gear with the clutch disengaged, and I’ve read that when the XC first came out, its gear indicator worked that way, too.

This maxim comes to mind: if you’re going to do something, do it right or don’t do it at all.

The gas gauge of the Cross Country Tour drops to the bottom about the same time the “Low Fuel” warning comes on, which is about when you have 50 or 60 miles left in the tank.

The warning is fine, but the fuel gauge pointer should be recalibrated such that it should then point to the top of the red-outlined warning area, not at its bottom.

Last, the engine puts out a lot of heat, and that’s especially noticeable when you’re not moving on a really hot day (say, 90 and up).

I don’t know whether Victory has any wiggle room left with this engine, in terms of EPA approval; if they do, they should use it to make the engine less lean… and as I understand the matter, therefore generally less hot.

That R 1200 RT I mentioned runs about 20 degrees cooler in the cylinder-fin area than the Cross Country Tour – I’ve checked periodically, with a non-contact thermometer.

Yes, the Beemer has a smaller engine, but it’s also very powerful, too. Now, for you folks who are used to air-cooled twins, this may not be an issue.

Forum posts indicate that H-Ds get even hotter, and Victory has not felt the need to shut down the rear cylinder, by using something akin to Harley’s “parade mode” on certain bikes.

I ride Harleys every year at Americade (in large measure because they’re the only vendor who lets you go out on your own – on a prescribed route – on everything but V-Rods).

Americade weather is usually not hot enough for a good test of heat output, but every once in a while it is.

I rode a Buell Ulysses a few years back on a very hot day, and at the first stop was wondering whether I should’ve been wearing a Nomex suit, especially on my right leg (although the ride itself was a joy).

The Bottom Line

Let’s say my wife and I are going on a two- or three-week trip, which will include plenty of scenic by-ways, some Interstate traveling, and a dash of everything else found in on-road riding.

If I were to have my pick of any bike, I’d choose the Victory Cross Country Tour. You’re probably asking yourselves, “What the heck is he smoking?”

No, really, I’m serious. Let’s review: Fine handling, suspension, and ground clearance. Very good power, shifting, and ABS braking.

Very good weather protection, and air-management adjustability. Excellent ergonomics – seats (front and back), feet options (front and back), etc.

Excellent amenities – heated grips and seats, cruise control, etc. Superb storage capacity.

You want to relax and stretch out? Check. The Gold Wing, Harleys,  et al ., don’t have those expansive floorboards.

My wife thinks the ‘Wing has the best passenger accommodations going, but admits that the back seat of the Cross Country Tour is actually pretty good, including the back support.

And then there’s the adjustable mini boards back there.

Comfort is covered, front and back. And I’ve ridden on Road Glides, Road Kings (even rented one), Electra Glides, etc., and I feel cramped on them. Yeah, I know, the aftermarket has plenty of seats.

And longer floorboards? And Harley’s web site doesn’t even bother to list the suspension travel. And I don’t like how they shake at idle, either…

You want to pack multiple pairs of jeans and a hair dryer? The Cross Country Tour has it covered. You want a bike with as little as possible that can go wrong? Tubeless tires, too?

Check that off, as well. Not too shabby, huh?

A nice touring addition would be an electrically adjustable windshield (see my buddy’s RT, or my former Burgman Exec, or a current Connie, or…), but even a Gold Wing doesn’t have that, and it doesn’t have a fork-mounted fairing like the Cross Country Tour.

So that’s not a unique flaw, and at least you can add a manually adjustable one.

Now, I probably have a different definition of a “tourer” than most of you, anyway.

I’d insist that a tourer have a feet-forward riding position, or at least straight down. If you think that’s a strange requirement, how do account for all the highway peg sales in the world?

And if you’re going to stretch out that way, you might as well have the controls up there, too. Yes, that almost excludes the ‘Wing.

Hey, I rode a feet-straight-down Valkyrie for seven years; while that’s comfortable, any one position gets old after an hour or two, in my opinion. I’d exclude the ‘Wing on the basis of trying to get at its oil filter, too.

And it does exclude every Beemer.

I’d leave out BMW, anyway; their  K 1600 GTL (report)  has a back seat that covers half of the passenger grab rails (design by committee? multiple committees?) and that top case backrest is simply inadequate (as are the top case backrests on a lot of other tourers).

The one caveat I would add is that if that three-week tour’s destination is, say, New Orleans in August, I would opt for something water-cooled…maybe the Vulcan 1700 Voyager.

I rode the Vaquero (essentially the same thing, sans topcase) at Americade last June, and it was a similar experience to riding the XCT or an XC… but just a bit less so, in whatever feature you’re talking about.

On the other hand, one of the “less” categories was definitely engine heat. Sure, the Cross Country Tour is not perfect; no bike is.

Having said that, it has what you need, and most of what you want, to go for a long ride, and do it in style and comfort and ease. Just fire it up, and roll. So I’m sticking with my choice.

Victory Resources

Victory, the “other” American motorcycle company, seems to be doing well.

At any rate, it has done well enough that a cottage industry of Victory-exclusive or at least Victory-oriented aftermarket suppliers has sprung up. Here are the ones I’m aware of.

Victory-Oriented Aftermarket Companies Lloyd’z Motor Workz   |   KewlMetal   |   CycleOps USA   |   WitchDoctors   |   Heavy Metal Designz   |  Rick Fairless’ Strokers Dallas

Aftermarket Windshields for the Victory Cross Country Tour MadStad Engineering    |   Gustafsson Plastics   |   Clearview Shields   |   Cee Bailey’s Aircraft Plastics   |   7Jurock Plastics

Victory Internet Forums VictoryForums   |   TheVOG.Net

Owner Comments and Feedback

From “C.N.” (March 2014):  “I felt compelled to drop you a line and thank you for such a well thought out and comprehensive review of your Victory Cross Country. Hands down the best one I’ve read, and the most extensive (not to mention open and honest).

I nearly bought a XC myself last year, but financially I decided it was best to wait until this year.

The new changes to the HD’s have caught my eye though (“Project Rushmore”), and after riding my father’s 2013 Ultra Classic I put HDs back on the table.

Having said that, I’ve never ridden a Victory as the only local dealer doesn’t seem terribly interested in offering one.

Your review has definitely reminded me of why I was interested in the XC in the first place — they just seem to be better thought out. I’ve been a sportbike rider since my late teens (I survived!), so this is my first foray into the cruiser/touring world.

I still have my sportbike (a mint Suzuki GSXR1K5, best sportbike ever made if you ask me), but it simply is not up to the task of the longer rides my girlfriend and I are interested in. A proper trip on a sportbike can be pretty torturous.

Going back to the XC, one of the things that still gets my goat is the cheap looking trim (e.g. the “chrome” surrounding the headlight).  It just looks flimsier than it should.

Compare that to a new HD’s proper fit and finish, and some of the Victory’s cockpit/fairing bits just looks like they should have a “MADE IN CHINA” label half-stuck to the bottom.

The cruise control buttons and whatnot I’m not terribly thrilled with either. If I had one other complaint about the XC, it’s the ignition position/key setup. The HD just seems much sturdier and well made.

Anyhow, if you’ve read my blurb up until this point, thanks again for your write up. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Any feedback, suggestions, or warnings as I continue my research and pondering is welcome and appreciated. Thanks again and take care.”

Bill’s Reply:  Having ridden the Tour for another year now after writing the review, I still think it’s a terrific bike.

I completely agree with you regarding H-D, though: they have better paint, more attention to detail, and seem to put more thought into overall integration.

Victory falls short in these aspects, and I agree that items such as the cruise-control and radio buttons look kind of just tacked on.

That said, I think the Victory is still a much better long-distance mount, with its better handling and clearance, better suspension, smoother (at idle, anyway) and more powerful (stock) engine, larger storage capacity, and roomier ergos.

I have an H-D dealer about two miles from me, which I often visit, and I continue to test-ride all the Harleys at Americade (less than an hour away) each summer.

And I have a Victory dealer 14 miles away, where I go every time the factory demo fleet is in town, so I keep up with developments.

Since the perfect bike still awaits both of us, it’s a matter of deciding on priorities while we’re waiting.

Also: See  this thread  on the Victory forum. The poster wanted responses from current Victory owners who had switched from H-D, asking why they switched, and got a couple dozen cogent answers.

Since I’ve only ridden and rented — but never actually owned — a Harley, they provide insight that I can’t.

From “S.O.” (August 2013):  “Great article Bill. I too drive a ’12 XCT, red, just like yours. Love it. 15K in 1.5 seasons and it’s been great. Just today in the ship for the first “repair” for my ABS light coming on.

One thing I don’t have is the passenger grab rails. Vic wants $300. You mentioned yours were not Ma Vic’s. Where’d you get them and how much dinero??

Bill’s Reply:  I see now that — if you can imagine this! — I wrote a statement that was unclear. I wrote: The passenger grab rails you see on my bike are not stock!

What I meant by that was that the grab rails are not part of what you get when you buy a Victory “Cross” bike.

That is, I didn’t want readers to think that if you buy an XCT, what you see (in the wBW pictures) is what you get (with regard to the grab handles or the windshield).

On the other hand, the grab rails are made by Victory — you just have to pay for them. Maybe I should have said, the way they do in car commercials, “optional equipment shown.”

As I stand by my description of the grab rails — they’re extremely robust and well-made — I think they’re worth the money.

In addition for use by an actual passenger, you can use them to grab onto if you ever need to “back-walk-up” a dropped bike and also for luggage tie-down points.

I have not read about any aftermarket supplier for grab rails for the Victory “Cross” bikes, so I think it’s Victory or nothing. Sorry about the confusion.

From “J.T.M.” (January 2013):  “Nice bike, but: (1) It’s $22,600! These toys are getting a bit pricey. You can get a pretty nice 2013 Honda Accord Coupe for that much. Or, a real Harley-Davidson.

(2) I’ll never appreciate the looks of the Victory. The “Nessie” style just looks dated, to me. Not classic, dated.”

Bill’s Reply:  “If you start with a similar H-D dresser — fork-mounted fairing, hard saddlebags, and a top case — you’re looking at the $19,699 Electra Glide Classic.

Add (single-color, non-black) paint, ABS (available only as part of the security package), cruise-control, and freight, to make the bikes more or less equivalent, you’re now up to $22,139.

You’ll have better security on the Classic, but you still won’t have the Victory’s suspension travel, cornering clearance, long floorboards, and storage volume.

And you’re more likely to get a greater discount at a Victory dealer, so we’re probably talking less money for the Tour.

I don’t know what makes a Harley any more “real” than a Victory, but they’re certainly in the same price range.

I agree that “these toys are getting a bit pricey.”

Not much you can do about that if you want a full-dressed touring rig. If you want to buy an Accord instead, that’s certainly an option, but it’s not nearly as much fun.”

From “J.K.” (November 2012):  “I am on my second Victory Cross Country. I had an early 2010. I now have a 2012 Tour. I have a few quick comments.

I have not had my saddlebag lids rattle on either bike. There is a small amount of adjustment that is available on each lid (not sure if it will help or not).

I have ridden in very warm weather as well as quite cool weather. There seems to be some variance with peoples experience with heat.

I have ridden in the south during the summer and 100 degree days have not had any significant heat issues (100 degrees just standing is quite warm).

It seems that there may be some variation in some of the bikes that causes this issue for some people.

The HID lighting can easily be remedied for about $50 from Victory HID (it includes both the high and low beam — it makes daylight out of the night).

I had added to the 2010 and replaced the HID bulb in the 2012 with one of their bulbs as well.

Lastly, there are actually 3 power outlets. The two mentioned in the article, but also one next to the iPod connector in the left pod.”

I see you used to be a Valkyrie rider, I am still riding my 97 tour which I love but am considering the cross country tour to finally replace it. I would like your thoughts on comparing the two bikes. Power, ride, reliability, comfort on the long haul.

Comments are closed.

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2012 Victory Cross Country Tour

Posted by Rider Magazine on November 17, 2011

Road Test Review

A year ago this fall, as I was riding a 2011 Victory Cross Country to New Mexico and back from Southern California, I wondered, “What could make this bike even better?” The cruise control worked great, its luggage system held a huge amount and I was enjoying the radio—but we always want a little more now, don’t we? Well, on the other hand, its lowers were really not much more than gussied-up crash bars, and since they did not blunt the wind, my legs became cold in the higher elevations. On those rain-soaked roads anti-lock brakes would have been a welcome addition, and the bike could have used a few additional creature comforts. All of these were on my wish list.

It’s almost as if the good folks at Victory read my mind, since for 2012 it has introduced an upgraded model called the Cross Country Tour that keeps all the good stuff from the original, and incorporates substantial improvements in terms of comfort and function, the sound system and safety considerations. It now presents itself as a state-of-the-art machine with all the amenities any dresser rider could possibly want.

As for the basics, the Cross Country Tour is still powered by the same air/oil-cooled, 50-degree V-twin motor with single overhead cams and four valves per cylinder that debuted several years ago. It displaces 1,731cc—that’s 106 cubic inches for bikes made in American places like Victory’s Spirit Lake, Iowa, factory. This bad boy has a 9.4:1 compression ratio, and sips 91-octane fuel through a pair of 45mm throttle-body injectors. Bore and stroke are 101 x 108mm. The whole shootin’ match is counterbalanced for vibration control, and then set into a two-piece, sand-cast, hollow aluminum frame. Power is leveraged through a six-speed transmission, the top gear of which is an overdrive; it all hooks to the rear wheel by means of a belt final drive.

The first thing you notice about the Cross Country Tour as compared with its predecessor is its new set of lowers, enclosed pieces replacing last year’s open framework. A glove box on each side will easily hold a pair of gloves and more behind its little door, and the left one includes an iPod hookup. Below these is an enclosed section that can fully block the windblast to the legs, or the rider can grab the hand lever on either side and rotate this section out of the way to allow the wind to blow through. Likewise, that clear deflector at the lower edge of each side of the fork-mounted fairing can be positioned to deflect the wind away from the body in cool weather, or pivoted to direct it toward the torso when it’s hot.

Another change this year is the new windscreen, which is even taller than the previous accessory tall screen. My only complaint with the Tour’s amenities is that even though I’m 6 feet tall I still had to look through the screen rather than over it, which can be a problem at night, or in rainy or misty weather. Taken together, however, the lowers, deflectors and windscreen combine to offer nearly total wind control and protection.

Hit the starter button and the Victory comes to life with a muted, throbbing idle. Chunk it into gear and note that this model has an unusually heavy clutch pull. I don’t recall that the bike I rode last year required near as much clutch effort, so this may have been a peculiarity of our test bike.

The rider sits in the bucket of the cushy one-piece, two-up seat, feet on long floorboards, hands holding widely spaced grips. If the ride becomes chilly the rider can close all the wind controls and turn on the new heated grips, which have a high and low temperature setting. Still cold? Activate the heated seats via separate toggle switches for the rider and passenger portions, which are located on the base of the dual seat’s left side; each also has a high and low setting. In a minute or so you’ll feel the seat begin to ooze warmth, which will be downright cozy on those evening rides.

Passenger amenities include the padded backrest mounted on the trunk as before, but new this year are the three-position footboards. They can be placed at any of three heights by unbolting and reinstalling their brackets. This not only varies their height within a 2-inch range, but depending upon how you turn the brackets the ’boards can also be tilted 10 degrees.

Despite its bulky appearance and hefty wet weight of 868 pounds with a full tank of gas, the Cross Country Tour has a relatively light feel on the road. Part of this is its 29-degree rake with 5.6 inches of trail. Still, with that 65.7-inch wheelbase, it’s solid on the road. Another plus is that despite its relatively low seat height of 26.3 inches, the bike has an acceptable level of cornering clearance and doesn’t usually drag parts while cornering.

Victory boasts that the Cross Country Tour provides “the most storage of any bike in the world,” more than 41 gallons worth, and I could not dispute that. The bags are huge, their lids open outward and their flat inner walls make them easy to pack. The rear-opening trunk will swallow a pair of full-face helmets and most of whatever else you wish to carry. Factor in the glove boxes in the new lowers and if the Tour doesn’t provide enough storage for you, you’ve probably over packed. The bags and trunk are all lockable with the ignition key, and unlined, but your Victory dealer will cheerfully sell you a set of liner bags for them.

That trunk has a “Lock & Ride” feature that allows it to be removed or installed quickly and easily without tools. To do so, the rider begins by unhooking the wiring harness for the trunk (located behind the left side cover), then pivots two handles upward that are located below the trunk. This releases the trunk and the entire unit can be removed.

The 106-inch motor has a pleasant note, and with its counterbalancer is a model of smoothness. When last we tested a Victory 106 in a Cross Country, in our May 2010 issue, it cranked out 87.5 horsepower at 4,900 rpm, and generated 97.5 lb-ft of torque at 3,800 rpm, and this engine is identical. Shifting requires some effort and produces some satisfying clunks, especially when stuffing it into first gear. Power delivery is very controllable, and at 60 mph in sixth gear the motor is turning a lazy 2,300 rpm. For simplified maintenance it features self-adjusting cam chains, utilizes hydraulic lifters and oil-change intervals are 5,000 miles.

On my New Mexico trip last year I noted that while riding the highway for hours on end in sixth gear with the cruise control set at 70-75 mph, this big-incher returned a surprising 50 mpg. That, coupled with its 5.8-gallon tank, gave it a potential range of 290 miles. This year, in more conventional all-round city/country usage, our test bike averaged 38.6 mpg.

The bike is suspended by a 43mm male-slider cartridge fork that provides 5.1 inches of travel, but offers no adjustments. The rear single air shock offers 4.7 inches of travel. Access the Schrader valve located behind the bike’s right side cover, consult the small chart in the right saddlebag lid specifying the recommended air pressures for various loads and weights, and use the hand pump provided to adjust the shock’s air pressure. I found the suspension well controlled, short of plush, and very acceptable for a bike this size and heft.

Another upgrade on the Tour model is anti-lock brakes, a nonlinked system that utilizes a pair of 300mm front discs activated by four-piston calipers, and a single 300mm rear with a two-piston caliper. Utilize either brake while upright in a straight line and you’ll feel the wheels repeatedly come to the point of near lockup, then release.

The sound system offers an AM/FM radio standard, with an iPod cord and satellite radio available as an option. Four speakers, a pair in the fairing and a pair on the trunk, surround you with sound. Audio quality is good, but at highway speeds most of the sound is lost in the wind.

The bike offers a high-intensity discharge headlight that Victory states is four times brighter than a standard halogen light, and lasts 10 times longer. We now tend to carry cell phones and GPS, and for charging such devices, the Tour offers three 12-volt plugs, one in the dash, a second in the left glove box and a third in the trunk.

Complaints are minor. I’ve already mentioned the tall windscreen. Also, the control pods for the sound system below the left grip and the cruise control on the right are not illuminated. Until you become familiar with them, you will be fumbling around for them in the dark.

In addition to its large speedometer and tach, the Cross Country Tour’s instrument panel includes a fairly accurate fuel gauge and ammeter, gear indicator and clock. Repeatedly pull a switch near the left grip and the LCD display will cycle through two tripmeters, ride time, average mpg, average mph, range, current mpg, running time and odometer.

With all this luggage capacity and passenger amenities, it’s comforting to know that the CC Tour has a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 1,360 pounds. Subtract its wet weight and you find the bike offers 492 pounds of load capacity.

If you’re ready to spring for a 2012 Cross Country Tour, the bike’s MSRP is $21,999, and color options include the Solid Sunset Red shown, plus Solid Black or Solid Pearl White. An option is the more basic Cross Country model, which is essentially last year’s model without the trunk and this year’s updates, but it does have ABS; it sells for $18,999.

On last year’s long ride I put more than 3,000 miles on the Cross Country, and really came to appreciate its handling, power, luggage capacity and sound system. Now that it has been upgraded with the new airflow controls, heated grips and seats, and the rest, the Cross Country Tour can match other top-line dressers for comfort features, while its ABS provides an additional safety margin. Put it all together, and Victory has a bike that now excels in every functional category of long-distance travel. Hmmm, now where’s my map of New Mexico?

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2016 Victory Cross Country Tour

Back to 2016 Victory Motorcycle Model Review Page

Click photos to enlarge. Our big, clean bike pics make great desktop wallpaper.

2016 Victory Cross Country Tour Review

2016 Victory Cross Country Tour on www.Totalmotorcycle.com

Cross time zones without ever leaving your comfort zone…

The Cross County Tour carries a whopping 156 litres of gear atop a versatile cast-aluminium chassis. Ride two-up with fully loaded bags and the chassis is stable and confident. Strip it down for a solo ride by removing the quick-detach rear trunk. The Cross Country Tour will be on sale in two colours; Gloss Black or Gloss Pearl White over Super Steel Grey.

” 106 Cubic Inch Freedom® V-Twin (1731cc) ” 127Nm at 2,500rpm ” 6-speed overdrive transmission ” 22 litre tank ” Two-Up seating with dual range heated seats ” Passenger backrest ” 667mm seat height ” 18 x 3.5″ front wheel with a Dunlop D418F Elite 3 tyre ” 16 x 5.0″ rear wheel with a Dunlop D418 Elite 3 tyre ” 383kg dry weight ” ABS standard

2016 Victory Cross Country Tour www.Totalmotorcycle.com Key Features

Largest Total Cargo Capacity in the World

Forty-one gallons of storage capacity makes this the most cargo space of any production motorcycle.

Adjustable Passenger Floorboards

Give your passengers the control they deserve. Ensure their comfort with adjustable floorboards that range with three different positions.

Confidence-Inspiring ABS

Own the road in any condition. The Victory Anti-Lock Brake System monitors traction to automatically provide control, stopping power, and confidence in any situation.

Victory Comfort Control System

Turn the winds to your favor. Victory’s Comfort Control System provides upper and lower air controls that channels the wind to maximize your comfort

2016 Victory Cross Country Tour www.Totalmotorcycle.com Features and Benefits

2016 Victory Cross Country Tour – www.Totalmotorcycle.com USA Specifications/Technical Details US MSRP Price: $21,999 USD Specifications

ABS Not Equipped Dry Weight 845 lbs / 383 kg Displacement 106 ci / 1731 cc Oil Capacity 5.0 qts / 4.73 ltr

ENGINE & DRIVETRAIN

Battery YTX20HL-BS/12 Volt 18 Amp Hour 310 CCA Charging System 48 amps max output Compression Ratio 9.4 : 1 Cooling Air / oil Drive/Driven Clutch Wet Multi-Plate/Diaphragm Spring Exhaust Dual-Large Bore Slash-Cut with Common Volume Fuel System Electronic Fuel Injection with dual 45mm throttle body Transmission/Final Drive Carbon Fiber Reinforced Belt Transmission/Primary Drive Gear drive with torque compensator Transmission Type 6-speed overdrive constant mesh Valve Train SOHC – 4 Valves per Cylinder/Hydraulic Lifters & Cam Chain Adjusters Bore x Stroke (mm) 101 x 108 mm Engine Type Freedom 106/ 6 V-Twin

Front Suspension Telescopic Fork/ 5.1″ (130mm) Rear Suspension Single Monotube Air Adjustable Shock: 4.7″ (120mm) travel

Brake System Type Conventional w/ ABS Front Brakes Dual 300mm floating rotor with 4-piston calipers Rear Brakes Dual 300 x 5mm/Floating Rotor/4 Piston Calipers

Tires / Wheels

Front Tires Dunlop D418F Elite 3 Front Wheel 18 x 3.5″ Rear Tires Dunlop D418 Elite 3 Rear Wheel 16 x 5.0″

Fuel Capacity (Litres) 5.8 gal / 22 ltr GVWR 1360 lbs / 617 kg Ground Clearance 5.8 in / 148 mm Rake/Trail 29.0° / 5.6 in / 142 mm Seat Height 26.3 in / 667 mm Wheelbase 65.7 in / 1670 mm Overall Length (in./mm.) 108.1 in / 2747 mm

Colors (Base) Gloss Black, Two-Tone Havasu Red Pearl and Black, Two-Tone White Pearl and Gray

2016 Victory Cross Country Tour – www.Totalmotorcycle.com Canadian Specifications/Technical Details Canada MSRP Price: $25,999 CDN

Specifications

Fuel Capacity (Litres) 5.8 gal / 22 ltr GCWR 1360 lbs / 617 kg Ground Clearance 5.8 in / 148 mm Rake/Trail 29.0° / 5.6 in / 142 mm Seat Height 26.3 in / 667 mm Wheelbase 65.7 in / 1670 mm Overall Length (in./mm.) 108.1 in / 2747 mm

Color / Graphics Gloss Black Colors (Base) Gloss Black, Two-Tone Havasu Red Pearl and Black, Two-Tone White Pearl and Gray

2016 Victory Cross Country Tour – www.Totalmotorcycle.com European Specifications/Technical Details Europe/UK MSRP Price: £See Dealer GBP (On The Road inc 20% Vat)

Manufacturer Specifications and appearance are subject to change without prior notice on Total Motorcycle ( TMW ).

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2014 Victory Cross Country® Tour

Identification

Transmission, wheels & tires, technical specifications, instrumentation, audio & communication, paint & finish, convenience, user reviews, victory 2014 touring.

Great looking and very comfortable

Rating breakdown

Sorry for the last clown on here.

Someone needed to 5-star this since the last guy loves his but 1-starred it.

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As it happened: Another chaotic final bunch sprint on Tour de France stage 5

Uci mtb world cup crans montana: tom pidcock doubles up in switzerland with dominant xco solo victory.

Flückinger a full minute back for second while Braidot pushes ahead of series leader Schurter for third

Tom Pidcock doubled up with the cross-country victory Sunday at Crans-Montana in the WHOOP UCI MTB World Series . He finished a full minute ahead of runner-up Mathias Flückiger (Thömus Maxon).

Luca Braidot (Santa Cruz RockShox Pro Team) outsprinted XCO World Cup leader Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing) for third place, the duo 2:05 behind the searing pace set by Pidcock.

While the reigning Olympic champion in the XCO stumbled through his XCC race on Saturday to take a narrow two-second victory, Sunday’s longer race was a steady demonstration of power and speed. It was his seventh MTB World Cup victory of his career, and a second win of the season, with the Olympic Games next on his mountain bike agenda following three weeks with Ineos at the Tour de France.

This new course in the heart of Switzerland’s Valais was new for the MTB circuit, but the Swiss riders had a distinct advantage having used the course last year for national championship races. The XCO course offered narrow singletrack on long climbs across each 3.5km main lap.

The opening five minutes were very tight, as riders jostled for positioning. For a second day in a row, Pidcock looked a bit unsteady but he slotted into sixth position for the first full lap in a line behind leader Julian Schelb (Stop&Go Marderabwehr MTB Team). On Pidcock’s wheel was Swiss standout Schurter.

Mid-way through that lap Pidcock passed Schelb on a technical line across the rock garden, and soon after crashed when he tried to grab a gel. Pidcock was able to jump back into the race down the line with Schurter, leaving Schelb alone at the front.

On the second lap Swiss rider Flückiger bridged up to the trio. By the third lap, Pidcock had made separation at the front with a six-second margin ahead of second-placed Flückiger. Schurter and Schelb were on their own in third and fourth, with Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV) and Maximilian Brandl (Leware Mountainbike Team) battling for fifth.

Pidcock extended his lead to 34 seconds across lap four. Behind, Schurter made several uncharacteristic mistakes, one on a descent where he hit a muddy rut and went over the barriers, and another wobble in the rock garden, those dropping him out of third place.

But the Swiss rider wasn’t the only one with issues, as Pidcock later lost his front wheel on a root and went down again. Forster wiped out when his rear wheel spun out on a rooty descent, and he gave up fifth place to Schurter.

On the last lap, Pidcock nudged his own lead over the minute mark for the first time and he raised his arms in celebration, carrying the rainbow stripes as XCO World Champion across the line for the victory. 

“It was really tricky in the first few laps just to find my own rhythm. We were just getting in each other’s way,” he said at the finish.

“I made a couple of mistakes after getting my gap. I’ve got big things coming up and I don’t think my team-mates would be too happy if I’d binned myself today.”

In the men’s U23 competition the day before, USA’s Riley Amos (Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli) also scored his second win of the weekend, adding the XCO win to the short track victory.

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Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).

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Aux input, where to plug in?

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Hi everyone, I just bought a 2011 cross country. I thought there was a cord in the right saddle bag to plug in an iPod. Apparently this is not correct, as there isn't a cord in my right saddlebag or left. Where do I hook up an ipod or my phone? Do I have to run a cord from the fairing? Any help is appreciated  

Look under the rear fender, there should be a hot lead there. You will have to tap into that lead, drill a small hole in your saddle bag, and put in a cigarette lighter plug. This lead is not keyed, it is hot all the time. If you want a keyed plug, under the seat at the rear is a keyed plug.  

Sorry, I probably wasn't clear. I'm looking to plug in my phone or iPod to play music through the speakers. Not to charge the phone or ipod  

Behind the fairing is the connection for an adaptor sold at the dealer. You can connect an iPod or iPhone or MP3 to it. All you need to buy extra is the 3.5mm cord and that is sold everywhere. 3ft should do it.  

What kind of connector do you have in the glove box to the left of the center console, underneath the door/flap?  

Are you talking XCT ?  

No, just a cross country. It has the trunk on the rear, but not the hard lowers  

Check the Victory parts /accessories catalog I know they have connection devices even for our 11 models. Look up SENA Bluetooth system and dongle. Not cheap which is why I still run a cord to my IPhone mounted to my handle bars. Totally fine with that.  

You need an extension cable to run from the stereo inside the fairing, under the tank, and exiting just behind the fuse panel. The 30-pin iPod connector attaches to the saddlebag using a rubber grommet which takes the place of the rubber plug installed at the factory.  

Exactly what I was mentioning but didn't mention it that clearly. Huh? The dealer can order you the items required for the CC saddlebag connect for an iPod. It's not rocket science.  

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India Wins Cricket World Cup, Sealing Its Domination of the Sport

In India, cricket has become immensely profitable and a destination for the world’s best players. But a tournament victory had eluded it for many years.

By Mujib Mashal

Reporting from New Delhi

India won the men’s Cricket World Cup on Saturday, defeating South Africa to end a dry spell in tournament victories that had lasted over a decade, even as the nation was dominating the sport globally in other measures like talent, cash and influence.

The tournament was played across several Caribbean islands, with a few of the matches hosted in the United States, including at a pop-up stadium in New York. When the final, in Barbados, ended with India declared the champion, it was close to midnight back home, where joyful crowds poured into the streets across several cities.

“Maybe in a couple hours it will sink in, but it is a great feeling,” said Rohit Sharma, India’s captain, who took a tour of the stadium with his daughter propped on his shoulders to thank the crowd. “To cross the line — it feels great for everyone.”

It was a closely fought match, and a deeply emotional one for India, in part because many of its senior players, including Sharma, 37, were near the end of their careers. India last won the World Cup in T20, the shortest format of cricket, in 2007, when Sharma was just getting started. The top prize had also evaded Virat Kohli, 35, one of cricket’s most recognized icons. Rahul Dravid, India’s coach, had never won a World Cup during his long and illustrious career as a player.

All three men ended the night on a happy note, with Sharma and Kohli announcing their retirement from the fast-paced short form of the game. Dravid, who finished his stint as India’s coach, is normally a quiet, stoic presence. But after the win, he was screaming and celebrating.

India’s president, Droupadi Murmu, and prime minister, Narendra Modi, both congratulated the team. “In the field, you won the World Cup. But in India’s villages, streets, and communities, you won the hearts of our compatriots,” Mr. Modi said in a video message .

Cricket, followed by hundreds of millions of people, is a crucial part of India’s global brand — perhaps even more important than the country’s film industry. The governing body of cricket in India has at times been accused of using its outsize economic heft to dictate terms around global cricket events, reflecting its status as the richest contributor and a destination for the world’s best players.

In an indication of how cash-rich India’s cricket is, Jay Shah, the secretary for the Board of Control for Cricket in India, announced on Sunday about $15 million in bonuses for the winning players and support staff. That is in addition to the roughly $2.5 million winner’s prize that comes with the trophy.

The start of the Indian Premier League in 2007 transformed a sport that was once seen as slow and short of cash. In just 17 years, the league’s brand value has surpassed $10 billion, making it among the richest sports leagues in the world . Players routinely earn contracts worth over $1 million for a season that lasts about eight weeks, with some of the highest-paid bagging close to $3 million.

India has also sought to share the sport’s riches with its female players . A country with an abysmal record of gender parity in the labor market is a leader in efforts to make careers in team sports viable for women.

Last year, India launched the I.P.L.’s sister league, the Women’s Premier League, with $500 million — an investment similar to the one that started the men’s league — and is already expanding opportunity for women in India and for talent from around the world. The league’s wealth has meant more investment at the grass roots to develop more players. Female players long in the shadow of the men’s game are now finding brand endorsements, more TV viewers and thousands showing up for their matches at stadiums.

And the foreign players in both the leagues — all with large followings at home — are a public relations boost for India as they travel around to play, using social media to post admiration for the culture of a vastly diverse country.

In India, a cricket-crazy nation that closely follows the players’ every move on and off the field, many of this generation of stars have been role models that could help the country move the needle on social issues, particularly about a public life that remains male-dominated.

Sharma, the captain, who is married to a sports management professional, and Kohli, who is married to an actor, often speak of the role of their partners in their careers. Sharma’s wife, Ritika Sajdeh, and their daughter are often at his side during tours, while Kohli is frequently seen video-calling his family from the stadium after matches.

“Our daughter’s biggest concern was if all the players had someone to hug them after she saw them crying on TV,” Anushka Sharma, Kohli’s wife, posted on social media after the win.

Jasprit Bumrah, who was named the World Cup’s most valuable player, found himself doing his post-award interview with his wife, the broadcaster Sanjana Ganesan. This was a working couple on tour. Behind them amid the celebrations was their 10-month-old baby being looked after in a stroller.

“Thank you so much for talking to us, Jasprit, and all the best for—” Ms. Ganesan began as she wrapped up the interview. But her husband went in for a hug before she finished speaking and then ran back to join his teammates in celebrating.

Mujib Mashal is the South Asia bureau chief for The Times, helping to lead coverage of India and the diverse region around it, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan. More about Mujib Mashal

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Anyone have Radio Wiring Harness Diagram?

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Ok I'm trying to figure out what color wires run the back speakers and I have no clue..I don't have a trunk just installing new speakers in my bags. Thanks, Brian  

There is an eight prong connector under the left side cover. The four speaker connections are A. Rear left speaker pos- orange / red B. Rear left speaker neg- orange / black C. Rear right speaker pos- pink / red D. Rear right speaker neg- pink / black This is the case on my 2012 and it is what is show in the 2012 / 2013 manual schematic. Might be different on a 2011 but I wouldn't think so.  

Thank you pop..I would think they would be the same from 2011 to 2012/13...  

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