victory motorcycle going out of business

[spacetiger]

....

I think it's the same reason that HD got rid of the Buell. It competed with other HD offerings and something had to give.

I wouldn't say it competed against other HD offerings as much as it didn't quite generate the sales numbers. The costs to develop new Buell models left them in a situation where the "squeeze wasn't worth the juice". In this sense, I could see a similar situation with Indian bikes selling better than the Victory bikes. So where best to invest your future development $'s... behind the Indian marque.

I am looking to get a Buell. I have a Sporty now and I can tell you the Buell is more developed than any other HD bike in terms of a true riders bike.

Jerry

[Safety Man Tom]

IMHO Polaris is making a huge mistake! The Indian is certainly attractive and will have a customer base. But, that base will not absorb all the Victory lovers. The Slingshot is a novelty and in my view will never be that popular.


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[subdude17349]

Okay, some thoughts from someone who's been on Victorys since 2000 (2nd year production bike.) I still ride my 08 Vision, and also had a 07 Jackpot as a second (toy) bike. The Jackpot was sold to buy the Spyder because the wife felt more comfy on 3 wheels. If I'm riding solo, I'm on the vision. 2 up, it's the Spyder.

Polaris has just stabbed an awful lot of people in the back, and it's primarily the guys like me who have been supporting them and preaching the faith for a long time. I don't have any desire to go back to HD, but prefer American built machines. Yes, we've seen it coming, but it still sucks. As soon as Polaris bought the Indian name, they stopped all improvements on the Victory line. All the interest, support, and cash went into Indian.

The Indian is a pricey, "me too" version of a HD. I've ridden them, they're nice bikes. But my Vision is more comfortable, especially for a big guy like me. And frankly, I wouldn't buy one now because I see that as soon as profits drop, they'll be history too, just like their watercraft line. Polaris has lost me as a customer for life with this move.

Someone asked "who keeps their bikes 10 years?" Well, among others, I do. Maybe longer. The only reason I traded the 2000 V92C for the 08 Vision was that the wife was much happier on the back of the Vision. The Vision is now 8, been cross country multiple times, and I have absolutely no interest in trading it for anything else. It's too comfortable to do that.

Commonality of parts between Victory and Indian? None. Maybe a few nuts and bolts.

As for supporting the bikes for 10 years, I call BS on that one right here. Victory parts have historically been hard to get anyway. They'll stock what they estimate the demand will be for certain parts, and when they're gone, they're gone. I don't believe for a second that 8 years from now I'll be able to buy parts for my bike except generic stuff. The good news is that every Victory I've owned hasn't needed anything but gas, oil, tires and brakes. Solid machines. And, I ride a whole lot.

Summation: I feel like I've been abandoned by someone I've devoted 17 years of my riding life to. I just hope and pray that BRP doesn't pull the same crap and abandon us if sales and profits drop.

[asp125]

..... I just hope and pray that BRP doesn't pull the same crap and abandon us if sales and profits drop.

*ahem* No more RS and ST in their 2017 lineup.

[acpd22]

I thought some of the Victory bikes were pretty sharp, but as for the Indians, didn't care for them in the old days and don't care for them now. I guess you have to have a bit of nostalgia at heart to appreciate them. Not my cup of tea. I seriously considered a Vision before I bought my Spyder, guess I made the right choice.

[Jdr00ejr]

I own a 2012 Ness Vision. The wife rides the 2009 GS. I knew when they bought Indian they were paying no attention to Victory but didn't imagine they would kill it off. I agree with some of what has been said. I don't believe for a minute there will be "support for 10 years" because parts are already hard to come by. And what incentive will there be for dealers to continue to service the Vics? I can do my own service and have torn my Vision down and reassembled it for many things "I wanted to do" not that "I needed to do." I will be keeping my Vision and riding the wheels off of it. Part of the "Indian" appeal is the old school look/name/feel - I don't think we'll see much of the Vic line in the Indians. And they came out with a new engine for the Indians so I doubt we'll see the Freedom 106 carry on at all. Sad times for sure.

Both Bikes Airport 2.jpgNess Rear Angle Airport.jpg

[Spyder_Cowgirl]

How much commonality, if any, is there in Victory & Indian parts?

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SOME, and I mean a LIMITED SOME, of the electronics are similar. For example, in order to "wire in" a Garmin GPS unit on the Indian, you need the Victory version of the harness as it is plug compatible with both radios. Alternately, you can buy a standard Garmin GPS harness and an "adapter" from Dave-T-Pilot that provides the plug compatible connector to the radio.

We did the latter on my husband's Indian Roadmaster .....Ann

[MelloYelloSpyder]

I own a 2012 Ness Vision. The wife rides the 2009 GS. I knew when they bought Indian they were paying no attention to Victory but didn't imagine they would kill it off. I agree with some of what has been said. I don't believe for a minute there will be "support for 10 years" because parts are already hard to come by. And what incentive will there be for dealers to continue to service the Vics? I can do my own service and have torn my Vision down and reassembled it for many things "I wanted to do" not that "I needed to do." I will be keeping my Vision and riding the wheels off of it. Part of the "Indian" appeal is the old school look/name/feel - I don't think we'll see much of the Vic line in the Indians. And they came out with a new engine for the Indians so I doubt we'll see the Freedom 106 carry on at all. Sad times for sure.

Both Bikes Airport 2.jpgNess Rear Angle Airport.jpg

Nice looking Vic you have. I had a 2010 Hammer 8Ball at one time. Parts were hard to get back then if something went wrong. I was seriously looking at a Boulevard as a second bike to tool around on when riding solo and keeping the Spyder as a two up for the wife. Looks like I am going to pass on the Vic now and look elsewhere. Found a nice Triumph Thunderbird two tone ABS near me for a great price. Maybe I will go look at that.

[Peteoz]

As for supporting the bikes for 10 years, I call BS on that one right here. Victory parts have historically been hard to get anyway. They'll stock what they estimate the demand will be for certain parts, and when they're gone, they're gone. I don't believe for a second that 8 years from now I'll be able to buy parts for my bike except generic stuff. The good news is that every Victory I've owned hasn't needed anything but gas, oil, tires and brakes. Solid machines. And, I ride a whole lot.

Summation: I feel like I've been abandoned by someone I've devoted 17 years of my riding life to. I just hope and pray that BRP doesn't pull the same crap and abandon us if sales and profits drop.

From a slightly different perspective, subdude......I don't know about the US, but it's a statute out here that a manufacturer provides stock and service for a minimum of 10 years after ceasing production, and I'd be very surprised if the US wasn't the same. I would assume that's where that figure has come from. You should also believe for more than a second that 8 years from now you will still be able to buy parts for your bike. People will step up and produce parts for older, popular machines, as they always have. There are a heck of a lot of machines from 70+ years ago still running around.

Yes, you've been "abandoned", but if a company's sales and profit drop, they go bust and are unable to produce any more product. It is not a case of them simply pulling "the same crap". Victory sales were never strong to begin with, and Polaris did not capture anywhere near the percentage of Harley's market that they needed long term. That's why they went with Indian. Victory sales halved out here last year, making the brand unprofitable. Indian sales on the other hand, increased (albeit by 5 units&#128518.

A company simply can not afford to carry an unprofitable line until the losses force the entire company to close, putting a serious number of people out of work. They have to cut their loses and look at alternatives, as Polaris have done here.

It's regrettable, and I am very disappointed as a 10 year Victory owner, but understandable. Unfortunately, that's business.

[marty1096]

He said he will ride it till the wheels come off. He loves the handling. 2013 CC


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[Sam Mac]

RIP Victory.

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

I don't know about the US, but it's a statute out here that a manufacturer provides stock and service for a minimum of 10 years after ceasing production, and I'd be very surprised if the US wasn't the same.

No such law here that I know of, but since they sell internationally they're going to be bound by other country laws. In that case they may as well support the US customers for the same time period. Makes keeping stock on hand more economical.

[Sccar]

How much commonality, if any, is there in Victory & Indian parts?

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Indian Scout and Victory Octane looks identical

[subdude17349]

Pete,

Hello in Oz from the USofA!

Thanks for the input. I'm not saying I don't understand the need to cut losses on an unprofitable line. My point was that as soon as Polaris bought the Indian name they threw in the towel on Victory. Sure, they paid lip service to it, but it was quite easy to see that Victory had become the red headed stepchild. Marketing and product development was done, the handwriting was on the wall.

As to the 10 years parts / service deal, I know that there are many aftermarket folks making stuff that won't go away. My concerns are the difficult to produce stuff, such as drive belts. No one is going to knock them out in their garage machine shop. If I understand the laws correctly, the manufacturer is obligated to have at the time of pulling the plug an amount of parts that they ESTIMATE will be required for the 10 year requirement. So, let's say the drive belts sell out in 7 years. Do you really believe that Polaris is going to call up the belt company and tell them to tool up to produce a couple dozen belts? I don't. I think when they sell out, they're done. Yes, I can probably find one on the open market, but it may take both an excessive amount of both time and money.

And I too plan to ride it until the wheels fall off ;-)

All the best!

20140715_131720.jpg

[Peteoz]

Pete,

Hello in Oz from the USofA!

Thanks for the input. I'm not saying I don't understand the need to cut losses on an unprofitable line. My point was that as soon as Polaris bought the Indian name they threw in the towel on Victory. Sure, they paid lip service to it, but it was quite easy to see that Victory had become the red headed stepchild. Marketing and product development was done, the handwriting was on the wall.

And I too plan to ride it until the wheels fall off ;-)
All the best!

Yeah, subdude. Sorry, I wasn't meaning to lecture you if I gave you that impression. I agree completely that it was pretty obvious that Polaris lost interest in Victory when they bought Indian. I just think there will be someone come along who will keep supplies of Victory belts etc. It may only be a single source, and they may be more expensive, but at least they will give you the option of keeping the Vision etc on the road.

I must admit that I have been thinking about replacing my recently traded Vision with a 2016 Victory Magnum for shorter trips now that I have the F3-L for the longer trips where my knees won't hack it ! Soooooo much legroom and beautifully engineered....I searched for 40 years to find the Vision and it was perfect. If I hadn't found the F3, I'd still have it. I am so disappointed for current Victory owners.

Pete

[subdude17349]

Pete,

No worries, mate. Didn't take it as a "lecture" at all. Just clarifying.

I do hope that you're correct and someone steps up to supply the critical maintenance parts.

I too searched for the Vision for 40 years, and it is indeed perfect. Massive amounts of legroom, incredibly comfortable, and fast. I've done 3 of my Iron Butt rides on it (1100 mile days are no problem) plus lots of undocumented ones, and would buy another tomorrow if necessary. The pic in my avatar is me at Tail of the Dragon, in the middle of a 2 week camping road trip. That's my tent and lawn chair you see strapped behind me. ;-)

Kind Regards

Jim

[Lamonster]

I must say I'm a little bummed right now. In Nov. my wife and I stopped by a local dealer and wound up buying a Cross Country X1. I've always liked the CC but never could bring myself to getting one. When my wife said go for it I did. I paid list price because they wouldn't budge on the price because they only made 400 of these. I paid $24,499 in Nov. and now you can the exact same bike for $17,999. So that's a $6500 hit in just over a month. I didn't buy it for resale as Victory's have always had bad resale but this was a shock for sure. I had hoped to get the Vic guys hooked on my cleaner and those who have tried it love it.





So a few weeks later I get a call for a great deal on a Octane and the guy that builds my parts loves that bike so I bought it for him and he could pay me back in parts. I bought the bike for $8800 and list was $10500. Right now that same bike is selling for $6500 and I'm going to wind up eating that one too.



I will say that this is good for BRP and Can Am as most of the feedback I'm reading is the Victory guys will never buy another Polaris product as long as they live. I'm sure they're not going to jump on getting a Spyder but their next side by side or four wheeler may be a Can Am product and that's good for the company.

For me I'll just lick my wounds and move on. I'll still have a bike that I can ride when I get the itch but 99.9% of my riding will be on a Spyder. And by the way an F3 walks away from a Victory CC. My wife has proven that many times and there's no way I can keep up with her in the twisties. The fun factor and safety factor is much better on our F3's.

[Bob Denman]

It's not what you've gone it them that matters: it's what you get out of them!

[subdude17349]

Lamont,

That's a beautiful CC you've got there. Hope that you have many miles of smiles from it. Bob is completely correct, it's what you get out of them that counts.

Interesting that the F3 pulls you in the twisties. Maybe you should have gone for a Vision instead. Handles like a big sportbike.

Ride safe, brother.

Jim

[Peteoz]

Very interesting, Lamont, thanks......sorry to see you out of pocket.

I'm sure that there are going to be hundreds of different ways the Vic closure will affect people, with not too many of them "pretty"........except for your X1 of course, which is unbelievably "pretty".

Looks like I traded my Vision in at just the right time (Sept) to get the best trade value on the Spyder. They actually gave me $18k Aussie on a 2011 Vision (around $36k Aussie, new) in good condition with 60,000km on the clock. (The 2016 F3-L is around $37k Aussie by comparison).

It will be interesting to compare pricing next time I head down to the dealers, as they sell Spyder, Victory, Indian, BMW and Triumph. I may be "forced" to pick up a Vic Magnum if the price is right, although like you, most of my riding will be on the Spyder

[Safety Man Tom]

From a slightly different perspective, subdude......I don't know about the US, but it's a statute out here that a manufacturer provides stock and service for a minimum of 10 years after ceasing production, and I'd be very surprised if the US wasn't the same. I would assume that's where that figure has come from. You should also believe for more than a second that 8 years from now you will still be able to buy parts for your bike. People will step up and produce parts for older, popular machines, as they always have. There are a heck of a lot of machines from 70+ years ago still running around.

Yes, you've been "abandoned", but if a company's sales and profit drop, they go bust and are unable to produce any more product. It is not a case of them simply pulling "the same crap". Victory sales were never strong to begin with, and Polaris did not capture anywhere near the percentage of Harley's market that they needed long term. That's why they went with Indian. Victory sales halved out here last year, making the brand unprofitable. Indian sales on the other hand, increased (albeit by 5 units[emoji38]).

A company simply can not afford to carry an unprofitable line until the losses force the entire company to close, putting a serious number of people out of work. They have to cut their loses and look at alternatives, as Polaris have done here.

It's regrettable, and I am very disappointed as a 10 year Victory owner, but understandable. Unfortunately, that's business.

My take on this is, if Polaris executives think they are ever going to compete with HD they are sadly mistaken! I'm not an HD guy but I know and ride with several. HD has a following that will never leave them. If Polaris was smart they would have continued to improve and market the Victory. They could keep the Indian too, but their focus should have been on Victory as that alternative to HD for people who wanted something different.

The same goes for the Spyder. This roadster should be aggressively marketed as an "engineered" three wheel vehicle; which makes it far safer than installing two wheels on the back of a motorcycle. I'm not trying to make traditional trike owners mad, but it only took a few miles for me to realize that I had made the right choice by going to a Spyder rather than "modify" my two-wheeler. Of course, all this is IMHO [emoji1]


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[Peteoz]

My take on this is, if Polaris executives think they are ever going to compete with HD they are sadly mistaken! I'm not an HD guy but I know and ride with several. HD has a following that will never leave them. If Polaris was smart they would have continued to improve and market the Victory. They could keep the Indian too, but their focus should have been on Victory as that alternative to HD for people who wanted something different.
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Polaris frequently reiterated that they were only trying to capture a share of Harley's market, Tom. They never envisaged supplanting them at the top. Unfortunately, their percentages were way below forecast which is why they eventually decided to pull the pin.

Despite what you think, Polaris were indeed smart. They decided NOT to spend money improving and marketing a brand that had falling sales year on year, and concentrate on the brand that had increasing sales (mind you, they were minimal increases, but still). Obviously, most buyers do not want something that is different (Victory), as much as they want old school (Indian)

[Safety Man Tom]

Polaris frequently reiterated that they were only trying to capture a share of Harley's market, Tom. They never envisaged supplanting them at the top. Unfortunately, their percentages were way below forecast which is why they eventually decided to pull the pin.

Despite what you think, Polaris were indeed smart. They decided NOT to spend money improving and marketing a brand that had falling sales year on year, and concentrate on the brand that had increasing sales (mind you, they were minimal increases, but still). Obviously, most buyers do not want something that is different (Victory), as much as they want old school (Indian)

Well, we will have to agree to disagree.


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[trikermutha]

the market is saturated with bike makers. What do you buy,HD,Victory,slingshot,Yamaha,Honda etc the list goes on.. You cannot continue to run a business and loose money.

I did look at the Victory and thought about a conversion at one point. but by the time I was done it would have been 40k. So out with the HD and in with the Spyder.