victory motorcycle going out of business

[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.
nojoke

 

[Bob Denman]

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

 

[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. :thumbup:

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":thumbup:.

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.hyea: (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 :thumbup:

 

[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..:yikes: You cannot continue to run a business and loose money. :shocked:

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.