| Author | Message | ||
     Old_mil |
Seeing what has happened, how long can victory be for this world? Does Polaris actually sell any? I think I've seen two on the road... | ||
| Cycletlh |
My wife really wants a Vision. If they go out it would fit right in with our Excelsior Hendersons and the Uly. May have to start a museum!  | ||
| Bculy |
Along those same lines.... What gets me is that Indian Motorcycle Company was resurrected. How many $30K+ cruiser motorcycles can they sell??? | ||
| Buewulf |
Victory is hurting badly with sales down 56% for Q3 2009, and dealer inventories are elevated. Polaris is actually pumping more money into the brand to keep the division alive and kicking, though no specifics of their strategy going forward were really discussed. Polaris says they are going to be riding out the recession with Victory in-tow and have so far put their money where their mouths are. But who knows: cutting an entire division usually comes without any hint or notice. One day it's there, the next it isn't as everyone here knows quite well. | ||
| Atoms |
I see Victorys more often than I see Buells, at least when I'm riding out of town. Polaris is so much more diversified than HD that I don't know how valid a comparison we can make. But if anyone is listening at Polaris: PLEASE make an adventure bike, a naked standard and/or a non-cruiser tourer! (Message edited by atoms on October 26, 2009) | ||
| Tootal |
On a trip we stopped in a Victory dealer to get a new tire put on my friends Ultra. I was walking around the shop and spied an open engine. I loved the gear drive primary and the four valve heads. I read good things about the FI too. Their bikes just have too much form over function. The Vision has little saddlebags and I'm sorry, but it's just ugly to me. Their so called touring cruiser has little bags too. They really need to build a true touring bike like Kawasaki just did with their Vulcan. I think if they built a real functional touring machine they could sell them. To do that they would have to copy some of Harleys assets. I mean even the Kawasaki's trunk, "tour pac", opens from the right side so when your on the side of the road your away from traffic and if somebodies in the back seat it's still accessible. If they want a non-cruiser or a sport bike then they need to buy Buell!!! | ||
| Conchop |
I've been riding HD since the 70's and was a Victory dealer for 3 years [Sept 11th = bust]. Two things I can give Vic is toughness and quality. Here's my take on a Victory built Adventure touring bike. It would have superior suspension and brakes. It's styling would have elements of a Ness built California desert racer. It would handle really well and would be bullet-proof. Smaller versions would have the vertical twin motor and automatic transmission from the ATV's. It could handle a lot of weight and the range would be around 250 miles. I really like my ULY .... BUT..... I HOPE POLARIS BUILDS ONE - IT WOULD BE A BAD ASS! | ||
| Atoms |
Conchop, Do you have any contacts from your time as a dealer? Lets run this stuff past somebody! Seeing your take on it inspires me to wonder if Polaris might want to build a line of adventure/agricultural bikes (like two wheeled ATVs for military/agricultural purposes?) using Victory technology when appropriate, but under the Polaris name or a new brand name perhaps? | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
One thing I'd like if Polaris got into the Adventure Touring market is the Spirit Lake, Iowa location. That's no more than a hop, skip and jump from Omaha, NE. Problem is this. It would take a few years to hammer out all the kinks just like it did with the Buell ULY. Polaris does know how to build an engine, true dat. Victory engines never have looked anywhere near as beautiful as Harley engines. In fact, in my opinion that is one of the major problems with the Victory motorcycles, the engines are so plain jane looking. Harley engines are jewel like, all of them, bigtwins, vrod, sportsters, and Buells. | ||
| Skinstains |
Three cheers for Victory and a big wet stinky Bronx Cheer for HD. I can't wait untill all the Harley sheep realize they have just been being fleeced for years by that fake ass American company and start seeing Victory as everything HD says it is and isn't. | ||
| Discochris |
Someone said that Polaris tried to buy KTM a few years back, but it fell through. I can't for the life of me figure out why a company based on off-road recreational vehicles, went into the cruiser market, instead of the dual-sport/adventure market when they decided to make motorcycles. | ||
| California |
The biggest problem Victory has is not it's product, not it's commitment, not it's warranty, not it's support, but it's dealers! They don't make enough money to survive, they don't have qualified technicians, they don't carry enough accessories... IMHO, Victory builds a quality motorcycle, at least equal, if not superior to Harley in many respects. They are a c-hair away from being a truely viable competitor for HD. I hope the stick it out, it would be good for everyone! I personally have two friends that owned Victorys and have switched to HD and Honda because of the service problems. It's too bad, maybe the Cross Roads/Country will give them a boost in sales, and take a bite out of the MoCo. | ||
| California |
The biggest problem Victory has is not it's product, not it's commitment, not it's warranty, not it's support, but it's dealers! They don't make enough money to survive, they don't have qualified technicians, they don't carry enough accessories... IMHO, Victory builds a quality motorcycle, at least equal, if not superior to Harley in many respects. They are a c-hair away from being a truely viable competitor for HD. I hope the stick it out, it would be good for everyone! I personally have two friends that owned Victorys and have switched to HD and Honda because of the service problems. It's too bad, maybe the Cross Roads/Country will give them a boost in sales, and take a bite out of the MoCo. | ||
| Atoms |
I can't for the life of me figure out why a company based on off-road recreational vehicles, went into the cruiser market, instead of the dual-sport/adventure market when they decided to make motorcycles. I'm guessing that at the time they made that (crazy to us) decision, the market for cruisers appeared to be more lucrative. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Polaris is riding HD coat tails. Cruisers, V-twins. The only thing they didn't get the same is a good looking engine. Looks like two loaves of burnt toast in a V. (Message edited by electraglider_1997 on October 29, 2009) | ||
| Buewulf |
I'm guessing that at the time they made that (crazy to us) decision, the market for cruisers appeared to be more lucrative. I'd have to agree. At the time Polaris was researching the market potential, cruisers made up a huge piece of the US motorcycle sales pie. Not only that, they saw HD selling every bike they could make at large margins for the factory and even larger margins for the dealers with the markups over MSRP. Not to mention all the Village People costumes they sold with the bikes. If you are going to be entering a new market with low initial production, it helps to have high margin products. They just copied HD's business model, made a "me-too!" product and hoped to capture (just guessing) one or two percent of the market. Elementary, my dear Watson! Triumph is the only "new" motorcycle manufacturer that understood how to succeed. Victory and all of the other hopefuls (Indian, Fischer, Norton, etc.) should take a few notes. | ||
| Buewulf |
Looks like two loaves of burnt toast in a V. LOL! I have never owned a cruiser and never will. Just not my thing, so I wouldn't really understand what cruiser buyers are looking for. But I always though the "Burnt Toast" engine looked very clean and purposeful, and I though it complemented Victory's most recent bikes very well. Victory's newest bikes look much nicer to me than the HD and Japanese offerings. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I've looked at a Victory right up next to a Road King, and both were beautiful bikes. The attention to detail *everywhere* was obvious on the Vic... it was a fantastic looking cruiser, they put a lot of good work into it. | ||
| Atoms |
the "Burnt Toast" engine looked very clean and purposeful And at least we can *see* the dang thing. One of my very few minor gripes about our Ulys is how that beautiful engine is so hidden under the frame. (I do appreciate our frames though and the lowered center of gravity provided by sticking the fuel in there.) | ||
| Zane |
Just got off the Victory website. Sorry, I think those bikes are God awful ugly. They all look like some 1930's idea of what a Buck Rogers future will look like. And while I'm at it, what the heck is an 8-ball motorcycle? Blech on Victory! | ||
| Buewulf |
that beautiful engine is so hidden under the frame. I'll second that. A bike with it's engine proudly displayed always makes for a more visceral reaction to the design, IMHO. | ||
| Buellsrule |
If anyone is interested in a smoking deal on a new, never titled '09 Kingpin Premium. Check this one out: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ewItem&item=160369426811&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK %3AMESELX%3AIT | ||
| Freyke |
I went and looked at a Victory the other day, not for me... too "cruiser" like across the entire product line... I did a have a look at the BMW R 1200 RT though... I think I'm smitten with it... | ||
| Buewulf |
I did a have a look at the BMW R 1200 RT though... I think I'm smitten with it... The R1200s are pretty sweet. I sampled an R1200R not long ago, and it was a heck of a machine. Did you ride the RT? | ||
| Freyke |
No, Just sat on it and fiddled with the switchgear and leavers and such... weather was cruddy and I didn't bring my helmet with me.... | ||
| Charlie_zulu |
Harley engines are jewel like, all of them, bigtwins, vrod, sportsters, and Buells. The Uly's engine does not "look" like a jewel. As owners of both brands I just felt that I needed to point that out. I think the MoCo does there chrome better as well, if that's your thing I to wish that Victory would venture into the Adventure market.Hell they make enough four wheelers and such I wouldn't think an offroad bike would be that far of a leap. |
