With his company turning 40 this year and almost 10 years riding experience before that, Arlen Ness has built and ridden virtually everything on two wheels. So when Arlen speaks, we listen. When Arlen tells you the Victory Vision is his favorite bike of all time; you know he is being sincere. To celebrate Victory’s 10th Anniversary in 2009, Arlen decided to customize a Victory Vision for his annual ride to the Sturgis Rally. Every year, Arlen and a group of his friends ride to Sturgis from Northern California. The Victory Vision did so well last year, Arlen is riding it again for the 70th Sturgis Rally.
A stock Victory Vision is equipped with a 106” motor, which is surprisingly powerful for a stock motor. To get the 50° V-Twin breathing more efficiently, a Ness Big Sucker was installed on the 45mm throttle body. Team Ness handmade the exhaust and installed one of their Ness Big Shot fuel management systems. The motor is now putting out 110 horsepower at the rear wheel.
Speaking of wheels, a Ness 18” Engraved Billet wheel rides up front with a matching 16” in the rear. Braking is courtesy of Victory 300mm floating rotors up front and one in the rear, and Victory three-piston calipers up front and two-piston caliper out back. The front end has been lowered two inches to improve the ride and to give the Bagger a classic Ness look. The floorboards are Ness Billet items and the stock seat has been cut down and recovered. The handlebars are from Team Ness. Ness has been working with Victory from the start, so they have more accessories to fit Victory bikes than anyone else. The paint is a joint venture between Victory and Team Ness. Antares red with black accents and gold pinstriping was the scheme of choice.
Team Ness and Victory have formed a great partnership over the past decade. One can only imagine what this partnership can achieve in the next 10 years.
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