15 Years Young, 15 Victory Motorcycles Highlights: The Victory Cross Country Tour, the World’s Premier Touring Motorcycle 

Victory delivered a pair of home runs when it introduced what riders call “the Cross bikes” – the Cross Country and Cross Roads. Then Victory took the next step in model development to create the Cross Country Tour. This bike was introduced for the 2012 model year, was an instant hit and continues to attract avid solo and 2-up riders.

This fully equipped luxury-touring model provides riders with the most or best of everything – most comfort, best performance, best convenience and the most storage of any motorcycle in the world.

Bryan Harley, Cruiser Editor for MotorcycleUSA.com, rode the Cross Country Tour to the 2011 Sturgis rally and praised it highly.

“At 85 mph, the engine is comfortably in its mid-range, the rigid-mounted mill drumming smoothly beneath me. Better yet, it’s good to know there’s still plenty of roll-on available,” he said about trying to outrun a Black Hills thunderstorm.

“The core of this chassis is based on a two-piece, sand-cast hollow aluminum frame and an engine that serves as a stressed member,” he wrote. “The result is a spine that serves as a backbone, the frame showing no flex and making the Cross Country Tour sure-footed at lean.”

The Cross Country Tour is the most completely equipped touring motorcycle in the world. Every Cross Country Tour features:

• The most cargo capacity of any motorcycle in the world, 41.1 gallons of combined space in the trunk, saddlebags and two front storage compartments.
• The exclusive Victory Comfort Control System. The Upper Air Controls (mounted at the base of the fairing) and Lower Air Controls (in the hard lowers) can be adjusted so a rider controls the airflow from the front of the bike. Close off the airflow when it’s cold or rainy, and open it up for cooling airflow when it’s hot. A tall touring windshield complements the VCCS and offers tremendous protection.
• Heated seats (with individual controls) and heated handlebar handgrips.
• Height-adjustable passenger floorboards. They can be set at any of three positions over a range of 2”, and can also be set at a 10° angle.
• Tip-over protection provided by the saddlebag rails and highway bars.
• There’s an iPod® cord in the left front storage compartment so a rider’s personal playlists can create a road trip soundtrack. There are also 12v outlets in the storage compartment and on the console to power heated apparel or a GPS unit, or to charge electronics.

The Cross Country Tour also has ABS, cruise control, 4.7” of rear suspension travel, an adjustable rear air shock, a low 26.25” seat height, long driver floorboards for long-riding comfort, and a padded passenger backrest.

Plus, it’s a Victory-exclusive Lock & Ride® Trunk, so it can be installed or removed quickly and easily – without tools!

“The amount of storage will spoil a rider, as will the heated grips, heated seats, standard cruise control, and big rider floorboards,” Harley wrote.

Harley experienced the bike’s superb handling as he rode through a park in the Black Hills, and reported: “Just inside the park, the road winds down and around, switchbacks and sweepers, and the Victory Cross Country grips the road solidly when banked over and is holding its line true. It’s got the type of rapport with the road that instills confidence in riders. The floorboards are up so you’re not grinding metal on every turn.”

When Victory celebrated its 10th anniversary, the brand created a limited-edition model, the 10th Anniversary Victory Vision. To celebrate 15 years on the open road, the Cross Country Tour was an ideal choice for a special milestone model, and Victory has created the 15th Anniversary Cross Country Tour Limited Edition. Its paint scheme – Antares Red over black with gold pinstripes – is the same as that of the first Victory motorcycle ever built. The anniversary model also has billet wheels, extra chrome, GPS, satellite radio, special 15th Anniversary badges, a numbered plate indicating it is a limited-edition model, and more.

Like so many models that have been featured in the “15 Years Young, 15 Victory Highlights” series here in the Victory Buzz, the Cross Country Tour is a bike only Victory could produce. No one else could combine such outstanding performance, tremendous comfort, industry-leading storage and an innovative weather protection system.


• Learn about the 2013 Cross Country Tour at the Victory home page.


Here is a good view of the left-side Upper Air Control of the Victory Comfort Control System. It is mounted at the base of the fairing and can be adjusted to control airflow, as can the Lower Air Controls in the hard lowers.


Cory Ness is shown on the 2013 Cory Ness Cross Country Tour, a limited edition model that Cory styled.


The Cross Country Tour is always in great demand at Victory demo ride events.


This photo shows the storage compartment, conveniently located within easy reach of the rider, in the right-side hard lower. Visible above the hard lower is the Upper Air Control mounted at the base of the fairing.


In 2011, this white Cross Country Tour was ridden from coast to coast by a team of riders on the World’s Longest Test Ride.


To demonstrate the exclusive Victory Comfort Control System, Victory created the “Master Blaster,” which houses four powerful fans and lets a person adjust the Cross Country Tour’s Upper and Lower Air Controls to experience their effectiveness.


The 15th Anniversary Cross Country Tour Limited Edition.


The 15th Anniversary Cross Country Tour Limited Edition was unveiled at the motorcycle show in New York City in January 2013.