Road Tested | 2012 Victory Cross-Country Tour

Fuel Door

The Fuel filler door opens from front to back, making it more difficult to get a fuel nozzle into the tank than it has to be. The problem is compounded by the handlebars being very close to the filler door. The door is attached to the tank by five Allen head bolts, and if the internal passageway of the tank allows the cap to be rotated, the simplest solution may be to move the fuel filler door assembly 145 degrees clockwise (or two “Allen-head bolt positions” to the right) so that it opens from back to front, which would allow much easier access when putting a fuel pump nozzle in the tank.

Horn

I would put a horn on the bike that has a little more “oomph!” The horn has a “small bike sound” and is probably not loud enough to be heard by a driver in a car with their windows up and in traffic. Not only for practicality, but also to match the “personality” of the bike, I would change the horn to one that has a sound in keeping with a full-sized touring motorcycle.

Mirrors

I would extend the mirror stalks ½-inch outward, and make the mirrors about 10 percent larger to get a better viewing angle behind the motorcycle, but only if doing so would not interfere with airflow around the front of the bike, which is truly excellent and should not be altered in any way

Having an opportunity to test a top-of-the-line motorcycle in the Pacific Northwest in the summer is a rare treat, and for all of the 1,700 plus miles and three weeks testing the Victory XCT, the bike exceeded my expectations. Victory has engineered a very fine motorcycle here, and in my experience, few full-sized touring motorcycles more closely approach the level of riding excellence than can be found with this bike. It is a motorcycle tour-de-force!