Video: New Victory Judge turned into cafe racer

Victory Motorcycles isn’t a firm you normally associate with cafe racers, but all that could be about to change thanks to Zach Ness, grandson of customising demi-god Arlen Ness.

The bike you see below is the NessCafe. Designed and built by Zach Ness and publicly displayed for the first time at last month’s New York motorcycle show, it’s based on the firm’s new Judge hot rod, which itself was shown for the first time at the Carole Nash MCN Motorcycle Show last week.

“Victory gave me the task of building my own custom Judge for the New York show,” Ness said. “They wanted a highly modified bike, not the usual bolt and paint mods but a complete change from the frame up. The only guidelines I had to follow were to keep the stock headlight and tank, the rest was freestyle.

“I took one for a ride and immediately knew I wanted to do a cafe racer style bike. The concept was simple; gain performance and handling, drop weight and create a simple classic cafe racer stance with modern design details.”