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Victory to Introduce Liquid-Cooled Engines at EICMA

The future move from Victory is so obvious that we would not take any bets on this one if we were bookies. Victory is planning to add liquid-cooled big-displacement engines to their line-up, and we can prove this using the latest photo they revealed.
Project 156 has the same alternator cover as the mysterious bike 3 photos
Photo: Victory Motorcycles
The engine cover of a new VictoryVictory Project 156 engine
It took us a little to link the enigmatic photo we received and the new engine Victory developed for the 2015 Pikes Peak race. We frantically searched through the archives and found the exact set of photos Victory had surfaced when they decided to show their PPIHC Project 156 bike in full.

There was no surprise to find out that the two engine covers match, hence the assumption that we've got liquid-cooled engines coming from Victory. The tech specs are still a thing of mystery, but we surely hope that Victory comes up with a brutal bike.

Cometh spec sheet

As far as we know, the 60-degree mill comes with a displacement of 1,133cc (69 ci) and was last said to deliver 86 hp, which is rather conservative, even though we expect its peak torque to make things feel truly vicious.

Judging by what other American and metric cruisers deliver even from larger displacement, the Project 156 engine is not a slouch. Still, if Victory has plans to make it big on the European markets, their bike might use a little bit of extra grunt.

It will be interesting to find out whether Victory retains the input Roland Sands provided for the Project 156, and if so, to what extent. A rough bike by any standards, the 156 looks like a promising platform that should not be that hard to transform into a vehicle with premium sport looks.

A tad too radical in its racing guise, the new Victory could, however, fill the gap that has been left open for such a long time in the American motorcycle industry.

While we hoped that Polaris would buy Erik Buell Racing and merge it with Victory, it appears like the mother-company had solid plans for their modern brand.

The unveiling of the all-new liquid-cooled Victory is scheduled for Wednesday, November 18, 2015 at EICMA, and we'll be there to bring you live photos.
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