We're delighted to be able to announce that we'll be putting some serious miles onto Victory's 8-Ball Vision through the summer, capitalising on the long-legged tourer's mile-eating capability in this, its most austere finish and specification.

Introduced a couple of years ago in Street and Tour form - with or with a trunk/top box - the Vision has long been considered the Marmite bike of its generation: you either love it or you hate it. The number of people that love it are on the increase, largely on the basis that many more people have now actually ridden one, and with this black-on-black edition looking more like a long black limousine than any touring motorcycle before it, and - to my eye - better than any previous Vision, it's going to be an interesting few months.

This bike belongs in music videos, but it also belongs on the street beneath a hard core rider who not only wouldn't miss the stereo, cruise control, electric screen, heated seats and grips, and all the frippery that marks the regular Vision out as a superb 21st Century Tourer, but who wouldn't have expected them in the first place because they wouldn't have featured on the bikes they will have ridden to date: a rider who wants the distilled essence of the freedom that a motorcycle offers without the distractions of electronic gadgets.

This is the nearest thing that an uncompromising hardtail chopper rider can expect of a comfortable retirement this side of the Big Bear GTX, which has styling issues of its own: low in the saddle, tough on the street, oozing attitude and celebrating the minor victory of form over function in its sweeping panniers, while acknowledging the practicality of lockable storage to complement a big touring pack when the open road calls.

Victory are unsure of how the market will react to it - especially in the light of their impending Cross Roads / Cross Country touring model, which are much more conventionally styled - but we're really looking forward to seeing how the 8-Ball Vision is received in this remarkably conservative market.