Up-Close with the 2016 Victory RR Electric Race Bike

It has been a while since we’ve done one our “up-close” sets of photos, so we sent our man Tony Goldsmith into the Victory Motorcycles tent at the Isle of Man TT, to get some snaps of the 2016 Victory RR electric race bike.

The Victory RR is an evolved version of the Brammo Empulse RR project, Brammo of course being one of inaugural participants in the Isle of Man TT’s first electric race, which was called at the time TTXGP.

2016 marks the second year in a row that Victory Motorcycles has competed at the Isle of Man, with William Dunlop taking his seat on the Victory RR this year, after missing 2015’s ride due to injury (Guy Martin filled in last year).

This year, it was another podium finish for Victory, and the team improved its result to a second-place finish, and more importantly increased their best lap time to 115.844 mph.

With all due respect to William Dunlop, part of that improved result comes down to the revisions that Victory has made to its electric drivetrain, thanks to the folks at Brammo.

In 2015, the Victory RR had a motor that was built to make 150hp, a power reduction from the 170+ horsepower that the Brammo Empulse RR featured.

For 2016 though, the Victory RR is back to full power, so to speak, with Victory quoting 174 peak horsepower. The chassis has also been modified, with Victory dropping its extruded aluminum frame design for a steel trellis one.

Between the beams of the steel trellis, we can see more clearly the battery pack that Victory is using (along with its mounted fans) that is said to be denser than last year’s pack, which means more electrons to use getting around the Mountain Course.

If you include the Brammo years, this race team has only had three outings at the TT, so the 115 mph lap time is more impressive than it seems on its face.

It becomes even more impressive when you consider that Team Mugen was only able to muster a 118 mph lap this year, showing the speed of the TT course, which is factor that is often overlooked.

The 120 mph barrier was out of Victory’s reach this year, but there is hope that the American brand will continue to hone its race package, which will be racing at Pikes Peak this year as well, and continue to push the Mugen team further in the coming years.

Enjoy the photos below, which show the details of the Victory RR electric race motorcycle. The bike has some very pleasing lines to its design, along with some very tasty bits of technology.