Goodbye victory

[GARYD]

http://www.motorcycle.com/manufactu...m_breaking&utm_source=V-twinforum.com20170109
What took so long. Never liked them - too radical....especially the Vision.

I think the dealer network or lack of contributed to the end.

Indian should be OK if they keep Arlen Ness away from it. Hopefully Indian will last longer then Victory.

 

[Jerry/MD]

Agreed. Their dealer network was close to nil.

On a positive note I bet you could find some awesome deals on a Victory right now.

 

[Bill G]

http://www.motorcycle.com/manufactu...m_breaking&utm_source=V-twinforum.com20170109
What took so long. Never liked them - too radical....especially the Vision.

I think the dealer network or lack of contributed to the end.

Indian should be OK if they keep Arlen Ness away from it. Hopefully Indian will last longer then Victory.

Gary I agree.

To date I have never really liked the looks of the Victory line. I really can't recall one model I liked the looks of.(Of course looks are subjective to each person). Yes by all means keep Arlan Ness away from the Indian motorcycles. I think he played a big part into Victorys failure long term as a motorcycle company.

Ride Safe,
Bill G

 

[Mykneesbehurtin]

I for one liked the one that looked like a Street Glide,but just couldnt switch brands.I guy I work with has a Victory and as of today they are offering 80% off on accessories.If you thought HD accessories were high Victorys were a lot higher.

 

[Capt.Bob]

Not Gloating

I for one am not gloating about the demise of Victory. If you look at the trade press, the overall market for large displacement bikes is really suffering. Apparently, 2015 was an anomalously good year but 2016 was crap for the motorcycle industry as a whole. The predictions are for flat to declining sales across the board for all large displacement motorcycles for the next few years.

There is currently a glut of low mileage large displacement bikes and it is thwarting production of new bikes. It is going to mean loss of jobs and likely, eventually loss of shareholder values. Polaris supposedly has deep pockets but sales of Indians and Slingshots have been reportedly lackluster this past year from the limited information I have been looking and hearing about. I have known people that really liked their Victory bikes and it is a sign of the times that Polaris decided to discontinue the brand. The overhang of a bunch of unsold Victorys will likely depress a glutted market even further for the foreseeable future. Sad news whether you liked their styling and offerings or not.

 

[rhino 2]

Its sad there will be workers out of work, From the factory all the way down the line to suppliers ..And in a short time the 3 Victory Forums will soon dry up.. The motorcycle market is over saturated, And not with just cruisers, All classes of bikes..

 

[GARYD]

Constant recalls and non existent parts is the big reason.

 

[rhino 2]

Constant recalls and non existent parts is the big reason.

I have the Gunner. One while you wait recall, My Ram truck 4 leave it there recalls. And a 5th one 3 months waiting [still] for parts, Recalls wore'nt the problems , Styling on the touring bikes AKA The George Jetson look..The Gunner 'Judge' Hammer 8 ball could have competed in a Japanese bike dealership.. The weird styling of the tourers stopped people from looking further!.. I was one, and if my Harley dealer didn't also sell Victory i would have never thought to look at them... :Shrug:

 

[Steve on 3]

Agree with the George Jetson look. I like the Indians but again dearer network and availability to indies may kill Indian. You ccan go into any town and find someone to work on a Harley and stocks some parts.

 

[consitter]

Agree with the George Jetson look. I like the Indians but again dearer network and availability to indies may kill Indian. You ccan go into any town and find someone to work on a Harley and stocks some parts.

And just what you're saying is what will keep Harley alive. The fact that a major competitor bit the dust won't hurt matters. I just hope that they don't get more complacent than they already are, and start treating customers badly.

 

[consitter]

And just what you're saying is what will keep Harley alive. The fact that a major competitor bit the dust won't hurt matters. I just hope that they don't get more complacent than they already are, and start treating customers badly.

I want to add that I think it's sad that Victory is shutting down, because I think any competition Harley has is very healthy. Maybe Polaris will add to it's Indian line to be more competitive with HD. I have my opinions of Indian, both good and bad. I always loved the original Indians of old. In my opinion Indians now look a little 'cheesy'.

 

[rhino 2]

As much as Polaris tried to sell the Victory as a competitor of Harley it never was! VTwin aircooled American made yes! Most people who bought a Victory (not me) Wanted a American bike and are to sugar coat it Harley dislikers After that they Victory were very simmar in feeling as a Japanese bike ' But With the Japanese bikes being faster and thousands less ......

 

[bronxbill]

I agree that Harley needs some competition to keep them customer focused. Personally, I could never get past the "space age" look of the Victory touring bikes.

 

[consitter]

I agree that Harley needs some competition to keep them customer focused. Personally, I could never get past the "space age" look of the Victory touring bikes.

Neither could I. I would say 'to each his own' in that regard, but it seems that has passed in this case.

 

[hogcowboy]

They should have dropped the Vision as their marque bike. But would it have helped? We'll never know but when people mentioned Victory, that ugly thing was the first thing to pop into their heads. Victory and Jap became synonyms. I test rode a couple when I was in the market and they always felt cheap. I wanted a reliable bike but didn't really want one of the Jap bikes. Or for that matter another Harley or BMW.

That didn't leave much to look at. I almost went ahead and bought a Cross Country Tour. But on the way I stopped off at a Indian dealer simply because I rode right by it. 2 test rides and I was hooked. I prayed from then on that the darn Roadmaster would be reliable. I'm still praying after a year. Strangely it only took less than 500 miles for either Harley to need something done. Same with the 1 and only BMW.

My RM breezed by that mark. Yes it's had 3 recalls. All 3 were none issues on this bike. I figure though it's only about time I got lucky with a bike. Now and then all of them make 1 or 2 that are good. But I still keep praying and have my fingers crossed. I won't say Indians are reliable until or if I can get passed the warranty period without something needing fixed. They are just too new even though Victory might have been practice for Polaris.

 

[woodmnctry]

Not sure what the model name was as I never really studied the Victory bike --- but --- assume it was their top of the line touring model --- every time I saw one all I could think of was "Batmobile" -- that sucker was fugly!!!

 

[MikeyTX]

http://www.motorcycle.com/manufactu...m_breaking&utm_source=V-twinforum.com20170109
What took so long. Never liked them - too radical....especially the Vision.

I think the dealer network or lack of contributed to the end.

Indian should be OK if they keep Arlen Ness away from it. Hopefully Indian will last longer then Victory.

Hopefully they will. If they don't, it will be down the tubes to.

 

[MikeyTX]

Agreed. Their dealer network was close to nil.

On a positive note I bet you could find some awesome deals on a Victory right now.

Would you want to ? I can just imagine what the resale value will be in a short time.

 

[MikeyTX]

Its sad there will be workers out of work, From the factory all the way down the line to suppliers ..And in a short time the 3 Victory Forums will soon dry up.. The motorcycle market is over saturated, And not with just cruisers, All classes of bikes..

This truly sucks for all, happening as it has. None of us wishes to see hard working folks kicked to the curb. I can empathise having been in that situation more than once with several trucking companies I've driven for over the years. If we are fortunate, this may be the wakeup call the Harley Davidson has been needing.

 

[MikeyTX]

And just what you're saying is what will keep Harley alive. The fact that a major competitor bit the dust won't hurt matters. I just hope that they don't get more complacent than they already are, and start treating customers badly.

Scott, a lot of that it seems happens in the areas where there is little competition. Around here that is not a problem. Plus, there are a number of excellent indie's with lower labor rates and techs that came out of the franchise dealers.