Clown suit required

I was clearing out the kitchen this morning in anticipation of a floor covering crew coming at 9 a.m. to replace the vinyl flooring.

Gathering up the clutter, I found a copy of Road Runner magazine that I hadn't yet taken out of the plastic mailing bag. The cover photo was a front-on view of a motorcycle I didn't recognize, but the look struck me as strange.

So while I waited for the floor crew - they're 48 minutes late at this moment - I paged through the magazine and discovered the bike on the cover was the 2008 Victory Vision.

I realize there is no accounting for taste and there are doubtless a lot of people who think this bike is just what they've been waiting for.

But to my eyes, this is the most absurd looking motorcycle I've ever seen. They should call it the Victory Hallucination - a ponderous 800 pounds of absurdity that looks like something out of a 1930s Buck Rogers comic book.

Or maybe the designer didn't go far enough with the '30s streamlined look. Here's my suggestion.

There aren't many motorcycles I would actually be embarrassed to be seen on, but the Victory Vision is at the top of that list.