Staff bikes: Victory Hammer S: Vic 'n chips

For an upcoming long-term test feature in the print edition of MCN, I invited Harley owners out for a ride on my Victory Hammer S.

Yesterday myself and three Harley owners headed to the coast to swap bikes, swap banter and see where 12 year-old upstart firm Victory fits next to Harley-Davidson, riding on 107 years of history and glamour.

The ride to Hunstanton on the Norfolk coast took is a 120 mile round-trip with a few miles out in the wilds of the county to give all the bikes a back-road workout, and some A-road cruising too.

You’ll have to wait until my story goes in to print to find out what my three Victory virgins made of the Hammer S, but one thing is clear to me: the Hammer doesn’t shame itself next to the Godfather of the cruiser world. Parked up or stopped anywhere, it drew its fair share of admirers – here’s the staff of Fish, Chips and More with Bentley the dog coming for look. Incidentally, it’s a fab place to grab a fish supper if you’re on a rideout to Sunny Hunny.

The Hammer S ticked over 2000 miles on the journey, so it’s booked in with Freedom Motorcycles for the 2500-mile service. It’s an irritatingly short service interval, especially as reported problems with the 1731cc motor are rare – but I’ve taken the opportunity to have a Stage III tuning kit added – new cams, air filter and ECU set-up should yield more power and torque further up the rev-range to complement the low and mid-range shove. New tyres (only for research purposes – the OE Dunlop Elite 3s are wearing well, with reports of 10,000 miles from some owners) will also go on. Neater indicators and all-black brake hoses are the only other tweaks I’m planning – I like the rest as it is.

Further reading:
Staff bike blogs | Victory Hammer S blog

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