First ride: Victory Motorcycles Magnum

The Magnum is the third cog in Victory's local line-up of baggers, alongside the original Cross Country and the Magnum Ness.

With baggers demanding a bigger share of the cruiser pie nowadays, Victory's decision to bring out this customised version of the Cross Country makes perfect sense, and the $29,995 rideaway Magnum certainly doesn't disappoint.

The main differences between the $27,495 Cross Country and the Magnum is that the latter has a 21-inch cast front wheel as opposed to an 18, a slammed rear end, lower seat height and lower suspension travel. The custom paint job in Australia is Magnum Red over Super Steel Grey, and there are also a couple of other options in overseas markets. The Magnum Red is omnipresent, extending right through the dash and into the speaker surrounds.'
The major opposition for the Magnum is the Harley-Davidson Street Glide.

MAGNUM IN BIKE SHOWROOM

The 21-inch wheel on the Magnum, gripped by Dunlop E3 Elite rubber, certainly isn’t a liability, as it seems to 'push' the weight back and down to make it a beautifully balanced bike at low speeds. The slammed back end also helps to maintain the resolve at a crawling pace, and that stability feeds into a bike with predictable handling and nice manners when the pace gets sprightlier, with comfortable ergonomics to match.

But really, after a few days on the Magnum in a variety of environments, I reckon this one's more of an urban cruiser, which is about all that the six-speaker 100-watt stereo can handle before it's muffled out by the amalgam of mechanical clamour, wind noise and turbulence. That's not a nit-pick, but close to inevitable with the lack of screen to really cocoon the rider. It may well be a different story if the new Magnum X-1 (here) makes it to Australia. That bike, already on sale in America, has 10 speakers and 200 watts with a major focus "on pushing the sound barrier".

Further adding weight to its city sicker status, the Magnum has the customisation flair that people will want to be seen on, as opposed to the Cross County which is more for those with a penchant for long-distance travel.

The Magnum's stereo has an AM/FM radio as well as USB and Bluetooth connectivity. All the controls for the stereo are mounted on the left-hand instrument cluster, and don't present any problems for thicker gloves to toggle between settings.

Current settings are presented on a rectangular LCD display under the four white-faced analogue gauges for fuel, speedo, tacho and voltage.

The Magnum's engine is the standard Freedom 106 V-twin, which is unchanged in its tried-and-true and niggle-free 88hp and 146Nm configuration – ample power and torque with a crisp throttle response. It's time for a freshen-up though, and the Magnum may have been an ideal forum to eke out a few more ponies with its customisation flair. But if a new engine is on the way, it's probably not worth it. That's only speculation at this stage, but there's no doubt that Polaris has spent plenty of cash on Indian so commonsense would tell you that it'll now dip into its war chest to show some more love to Victory.

The Magnum's one-piece seat is comfortable for the rider, and the pillion portion is certainly big enough but only has quite a small crown before sloping away. The only Magnum pillion was my eight-year-old son on a school run, and his derriere is that small he couldn't give me any meaningful feedback – and he was that focussed on clinging to me that it probably would have been half-arsed (pardon the pun) feedback anyway…

Throw a pillion on though and the 11kg panniers are capable of getting you out and about for a few nights though, and they are quick-release as well so you can just carry them into your accommodation – or leave them off totally if you are cruising around the city. There's also a power socket in the right-hand pannier.

Pillions make use of footpegs instead of footboards – makes sense -- and the panniers aren't too high that it makes mounting and dismounting an onerous task.

The Magnum has anti-lock braking, with the duties handled by four-piston calipers up front and a twin-piston caliper at the rear.

The Magnum is a smart-thinking extension of the Cross Country platform. It behaves well on the road, it gets noticed and the attention to detail is up there with best. Are you an extrovert? The take one for a test rides in the company's weekend escape program.