A step into the past
Bargain bobber oozes attitude
Victory Motorcycles gets into the custom bobber game with the introduction of their gnarly new High Ball, which the company unveiled to the public at the International Motorcycle Show in New York over the weekend of January 21, thus giving the motorcycle industry its first model named after a cocktail. (A gutsy move, times being what they are.) Based essentially upon the company’s budget-minded and solo-saddled Vegas 8-Ball model, the High Ball brings a striking dose of retro features and styling to the form, starting with laced wheels and whitewall tires. Tire sizes on the High Ball are a squat 130/90-16 up front in place of the Vegas 8-Ball’s skinny 90/90-21 and a 150/80-16 in back replacing the 180/55-18. The net effect of the lower rear rubber is a corresponding lowering of the seat height from the already low 25.2 inches of the 8-Ball to an ultra-low 25.0 inches.
Adding to the High Ball’s old school bobber profile is a chopped front fender and a set of curvilinear Z-bars that can be adjusted either straight up for that super-cool nosebleed apehanger look, or canted rearward for more roadworthy reach and control from the low-slung solo perch.
Like all of Victory’s 2011 cruiser models, the new High Ball is propelled by a potent Stage 2 Freedom 106/6 powertrain boasting 97 horsepower and 113 foot-pounds of torque.
Cosmetically, the High Ball is a study in monochromatic minimalism with black finishes on virtually all components and a single paint scheme available—matte black offset with a white-sided fuel tank.
The MSRP on the High Ball is $13,499.
