As long as we’re talking about possible Victory sportbikes, it occured to me some of you may have forgotten about, or never even heard of, the cafe racer Jesse James built. It seems the Honda guys were tossing around ideas for something else to do with their then new (early 2002) VTX 1800 V-Twin engine. Someone came up with the notion that Jesse James might be just the right person to push the envelope a bit so they gave him an engine, some money and said, “Build us a bike.”

Jesse retired to his West Coast Choppers workshop and produced the VTX Cafe Racer, first shown at the Cycle World show in Long Beach. It has an airbag rear suspension, an inboard rear disc brake on the driveshaft, handbuilt frame and bodywork, but in the end, it’s a very interesting example of another direction for these big cruiser V-Twin engines the manufacturers already have in their back rooms.

Although there are many things about this bike that would never see production, it shows that cruisers aren’t the only place for these engines. Could Honda build something like this? Sure. Will they? Chances are slim. They should, but they probably won’t.

Victory, on the other hand, might have the desire to do what the big boys shy away from and if they do, I think they’ll have a winner.

Link: West Coast Choppers

Photos: West Coast Choppers

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