Victory Motorcycles Releases Octane Teaser Video And Unveiling Date

Evans Brasfield
by Evans Brasfield

Though the video is only eight seconds long, Victory Motorcycles expects it to raise our pulse rates. How could it not? We hear a potent 1200cc V-Twin and see black and white flashes of imagery of a bike that could only come from Victory. Beginning with a round headlight and a bit of a bikini fairing, we move to a tank badge and the familiar Victory tank shape. Following this, brief, out-of-focus details of items like a brake master cylinder, switch cluster, and speedometer flash, utltimately leading us to the first color we see: a tilting camera move down the LED brake lights. And that’s only the first two seconds.

The engine powering the Octane will displace 1200cc and is based on this Project 156 race unit.

EICMA 2015: Victory Unveils Project 156-Based Production Engine In Concept Bike

We’ve been following the transition of this project from the first sightings of the Victory version of the Indian Scout-based engine in Victory’s one-off Project 156 Pikes Peak racer. Then, at the EICMA show last November, Victory unveiled the Ignition concept which featured a 1200cc version of the Scout’s liquid-cooled 60-degree V-Twin engine that looked dang close to being production-ready. So, we’re not surprised to find out the production bike will be unveiled next month on February 19, 2016.
The Victory Ignition concept displayed at EICMA shows its racing roots.

Top 10 Anticipated Motorcycles Of 2016: Victory Octane

“This new engine offers the most versatility in American motorcycling,” says Gary Gray, motorcycle product director. “Both of the concepts, Ignition and Combustion, are intended to show what this motor is capable of in very distinct, visual forms. While the bikes are different, the powertrain is capable of delivering the performance in both cases.” We expect the Octane to share the basic engine and chassis and, possibly, some of the styling cues on the two show bikes. Being the seasoned journalists that we are, we’re anxious to throw a leg over the Octane. We’re always much happier riding actual motorcycles than ogling promotional erotica.

Victory's second concept built around its new motor is the Combustion, which shows a more urban application of the powerplant and chassis.

So, this teaser video doesn’t reveal much about the upcoming Octane, but it does get us anxious to take it for a spin. We’ll get our chance during Daytona’s Bike Week this March. Stay tuned. Visit the Project 156 website to learn more.

Evans Brasfield
Evans Brasfield

Like most of the best happenings in his life, Evans stumbled into his motojournalism career. While on his way to a planned life in academia, he applied for a job at a motorcycle magazine, thinking he’d get the opportunity to write some freelance articles. Instead, he was offered a full-time job in which he discovered he could actually get paid to ride other people’s motorcycles – and he’s never looked back. Over the 25 years he’s been in the motorcycle industry, Evans has written two books, 101 Sportbike Performance Projects and How to Modify Your Metric Cruiser, and has ridden just about every production motorcycle manufactured. Evans has a deep love of motorcycles and believes they are a force for good in the world.

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