by "Pickup_man" (zekeh)
Published 01/09/2017 at 11:28
by "Pickup_man" (zekeh)
Published 01/09/2017 at 11:28
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STARS: 1
This morning, to my astonishment, my co-worker informed me that today, Victory Motorcycles has ceased production on all new motorcycles. May we all pour one out for Victory, their presence may not have been strong, but they offered a very compelling alternative to the Motor Co, and IMO had the best chance of anyone to knock HD down a notch or two.
This especially sucks because I was hoping to upgrade from my Sportster within the next couple of years, and while the HD Street Bob currently was my top pick, I was strongly considering a couple of Victory models. Currently I’m not at the point in my life where I want or need a large touring bike, but the Victory Cross Country was everything I ever wanted in a tourer, and I really would like to own one some day. I know there will always be used bikes, and Polaris will continue to manufacture replacement parts for ten more years, but this really has me thinking twice about buying a Victory. With a Harley, it’s pretty much guaranteed that there will be parts and replacements readily available for 30, 40, 50+ years. Will the same be true for Victory? I certainly hope so.
Polaris owned Indian Motorcycles will remain in business, so here’s to hoping Indian brings over some of the modern American cruiser bad assery that was Victory.
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"jimz" (jimz)
01/09/2017 at 11:35, STARS: 0
Indian styling is just way, way too vintage for me.
"BIGBLOCK472 - wide and bizarre" (bigblock472)
01/09/2017 at 11:41, STARS: 1
I’m not a motorcycle person by any means, but I always thought the Victory touring bikes were way, way overstyled.
"Hammerdown" (hammerdown32)
01/09/2017 at 11:49, STARS: 2
Counterpoint: I thought the Cross Country was a refreshing take on the classic bagger:
I’m majorly bummed. I always thought Victory was best positioned to create some great looking and modern bikes that could draw in the younger buyers. Instead they’re keeping around the retro brand....
"Pickup_man" (zekeh)
01/09/2017 at 12:20, STARS: 0
Same here, that engine is a work of art, but the rest of the bike needs to be pushed forward about half of a decade. Hopefully some of Victory’s style influences the folks at Indian.
"carcrasher88" (carcrasher88)
01/09/2017 at 12:22, STARS: 1
I’m pretty sure that since Polaris got their hands on the Indian marque and have been building some really great motorcycles, the brand’s been eating into Victory sales.
Probably the reason why they’re phasing Victory brand out, because Victory is a more historically significant name.
Wonder what will happen to the models of the Victory lineup, though...maybe the more modern styled ones will become Polaris bikes (similar to how Yamaha phased the models of the now dead Star brand into it’s lineup), and the classic styled ones become Indians?
For example: a Vision would become a Polaris, while the Jackpot would become an Indian.
What I’m really curious about is what will happen to the newly introduced Octane...
"jimz" (jimz)
01/09/2017 at 12:25, STARS: 0
I don’t know, I think both Polaris and Harley are in a chicken-and-egg situation. they don’t have anything but cruisers to sell because that’s all their customers buy, but they can’t attract new customers because they don’t have anything to sell them.
"Pickup_man" (zekeh)
01/09/2017 at 12:26, STARS: 0
The Vision was definitely too much, the rest of their bikes I thought looked great, especially the Cross Country like Hammerdown posted.
"jimz" (jimz)
01/09/2017 at 12:26, STARS: 1
the Octane is just a rebadged Scout.
"Pickup_man" (zekeh)
01/09/2017 at 12:31, STARS: 0
By the sounds of it Victory couldn’t get the market share Polaris wanted to be profitable, and Polaris wants to strengthen it’s hold on the power sports market (like they really need to do that, I think they’re killing it). So I don’t think we’ll see Victorys re branded as Polaris machines. If anything some of the knowledge, and styling will make it’s way over to Indian and Indian can make a few bikes that are a little more modern instead of their super retro theme that they’re currently using.
"Pickup_man" (zekeh)
01/09/2017 at 12:37, STARS: 0
That’s true, but if anyone had the power to break that mold I think it was Victory. Yeah they were primarily a cruiser brand, but they were somewhat “sport” cruisers. And with projects like the Empulse, and Project 156 I think they were on the right track to bring something different to a cruiser brand. The Octane was a great start and I was really looking forward to see what Victory had to offer in the coming years. I’m hoping Indian will bring over some of the knowledge, talent, and styling from Victory, but I’m afraid that they’re just as stuck between that rock and a hard place as Harley. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
"Nisman" (nisman)
01/09/2017 at 13:19, STARS: 0
Good news for you! Now you wont make a huge mistake not getting a StreetBob ;) I have an ‘07 and nothing but good things to say about it.
"Pickup_man" (zekeh)
01/09/2017 at 14:39, STARS: 0
Glad to hear a positive take! Even though I’ve strongly considered bikes like the Highball, I just don’t seem to fall in love with them like the Street Bob.
"Nisman" (nisman)
01/09/2017 at 14:52, STARS: 0
They’re well built and decent to ride but they’re missing some of the character, not to mention the sound and the aftermarket.
"Pickup_man" (zekeh)
01/09/2017 at 15:38, STARS: 0
I agree, I test rode a couple and never came back in love, yet just sitting on the Street Bob, I said yep, this is the one.
Side note; I always love the character argument, it’s something that can’t be explained, but when you know, you know. I don’t know what it takes for a certain bike to have character, but some have it, and some just don’t.
"Nisman" (nisman)
01/09/2017 at 16:33, STARS: 1
Absolutely. It’s completely subjective but it’s also not.