Victory Motorcycles

Greenson

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Does anyone have any experiance of owning or riding a Victory motorcycle ?
I fancy a different steed for the spring and looking at the American cruisers I can't help but think they are such good value at the moment compared to Indians and Harley's . Probably cos they are no longer produced thanks to the parent company Polaris playing games in the market with their other preferred brand Indian .
Any thoughts
Rich
 
Does anyone have any experiance of owning or riding a Victory motorcycle ?
I fancy a different steed for the spring and looking at the American cruisers I can't help but think they are such good value at the moment compared to Indians and Harley's . Probably cos they are no longer produced thanks to the parent company Polaris playing games in the market with their other preferred brand Indian .
Any thoughts
Rich

I know one Guy who has owned and ridden them for a number of years and I've never heard of any Issues other than Residual Values.
I know they Handle, Go and Stop pretty well as I've ridden with him on a number of Occasions and neither he nor the Bike were a Slouch.
From what I understand though (and this ls only what I've been told as I've never owned one) they don't hold Value at all well.
 
Yes that's about the long and short of it according to the reviews etc and as a Yorkshireman with sewn up pockets the low purchase cost is a major attraction for what is a Wurlitzer on wheels ! And the bloody noise !!!
 
I wouldn't mind the heads up on which he had and his genuine thoughts on it
 
I wouldn't mind the heads up on which he had and his genuine thoughts on it
He had the Hammer S in blue and white last I heard.
I know he really rated it,
Of course That may have been because the rest of the Club ran HD and he probably didn't want to admit to his bad Choice :augie
Joking apart though, I know he liked it and it was his second one so I guess it couldn't have been all that bad.
 
Cheers for that - it's like a school playground out here when you buy a bike and the gang bully everyone for being different or individual and not cow tailing to the trend - I recently tried to strike up a chat with a mature couple on a guzzi stelvio at the services and the acerbic witch who was with him said she didn't want to speak to a gs owner cos they are like lemmings with their bikes and attitude to others !!!!! I only wanted to say hello , couldn't get my breath ... We aren't are we ? Well not all of us . Lol
 
Cheers for that - it's like a school playground out here when you buy a bike and the gang bully everyone for being different or individual and not cow tailing to the trend - I recently tried to strike up a chat with a mature couple on a guzzi stelvio at the services and the acerbic witch who was with him said she didn't want to speak to a gs owner cos they are like lemmings with their bikes and attitude to others !!!!! I only wanted to say hello , couldn't get my breath ... We aren't are we ? Well not all of us . Lol

Found the same myself over the years Pal.
Personally I couldn't give a Stuff, let em think what they like.
I've owned Harley's and been tarred with the sad Hoggie / Wild Hogs Brush and been called a Ewan McGregor Wannabe cos I was on a GSA.
I Ride what I like because I like it.
When my Taste changes, my Bike changes.
Who gives a Flying Fck??
If you Ride it and you like it, you buy it Pal, I'll Ride with U :thumb2
 
Does anyone have any experiance of owning or riding a Victory motorcycle ?
I fancy a different steed for the spring and looking at the American cruisers I can't help but think they are such good value at the moment compared to Indians and Harley's . Probably cos they are no longer produced thanks to the parent company Polaris playing games in the market with their other preferred brand Indian .
Any thoughts
Rich

Ive owned 2, Victory Judge and this year a Gunner both with stage 1s and pipes brilliant bikes bulletproof they are and will go up in price wished I had never sold the Gunner but heyho we all make mistakes and I will buy another also owned 2 Harleys one I hated massive mistake the other was spot on its like everything get the right model
 
Cheers for that - it's like a school playground out here when you buy a bike and the gang bully everyone for being different or individual and not cow tailing to the trend -

Don't get yer knickers in a twist....he's taking the piss....I don't know anyone stupid enough to try and bully Oblertone...and I know some pretty stupid people....
 
Did someone call ?

Yes, until recently I had a Victory Cross Roads which is the sort of Road King equivalent, hard luggage but a QD screen rather than a fairing. I had it for over three years, went to Spain, France and Italy as well as all over the UK, nothing went wrong, nothing fell off. Mine also had a VAST QD trunk, or topbox, large enough to swallow a small child, or take three slabs of beer without complaint.
Went well enough in stock form, but with the addition of a Stage 1 kit and a quarter turn throttle ring it went very well indeed. Stock suspension was USD non-adjustable front and air mono shock at the rear, fabulous ride even two up and loaded to the brim.
I tell a lie, the OEM horn failed, a new one was a tenner.

Finish wasn't great as the headstock had some creeping corrosion when I sold it, and the cylinders were painted which I always thought was a bad idea as some of the crackle finish was flaky at the cut edges. But that's about it, and I'm no fan of cleaning bikes. Paint on bodywork was A1 and all the body parts were proper metal with very little (side panels) plastic.
Dealers were universally inept, I'm still waiting a call back regarding some bits I fancied.

Servicing was very straight forward, hydraulic tappets meant you never touched the top end, everything else was industry standard stuff; easy enough for even a numpty like me. Cable clutch was a worry, but I carried a replacement inner, which went unused with the bike.

The bike was designed rather than evolved, and it showed. I've a very good book about the development process and engineering that went into the Victory range. Why did I sell it, I suppose you could call it a lack of involvement but I just fancied a bit less-is-more.

Depreciation is oft quoted as a downside, and while it's true I never met anyone who paid 'book' price for a new one either. Superb motorcycles that provide class leading handling and performance straight out of the box and in my opinion were entirely responsible for HD upping their game in the last decade.
 
Many thanks for your honest and concise response - sounds like some of the surviving brands ought to take a leaf out if their book regarding simplicity and reliability of product - well let's go hunting then ..... I don't suppose anyone wants my 2006 1200gs - 22,000 miles with all the bits included ready to tour , it's on the bay tonight but ls PM me if anyone interested
 
I have two mates who have them, one has a Gunner the other a Vision, the vision has done big miles 70k ish trouble free. The Gunner is a lovely bike, he traded a Harley for it (Fatboy) and is much happier as it goes stops and handles much better than the HD. Servicing is cheaper as its a unit lump so only one oil to change. Gunners and Highballs are becoming quite sought after so residuals may start to get better as supplies run out.

I would also have a look at the Indians, I have a Chief Dark Horse and ran it alongside a Harley Streetbob for 18 months, the Indian is by far a better machine in terms of handling, braking, performance, build quality and running costs, the Harley is now gone as it just felt like an underpowered wallowy moped by comparison.

If your budget is low you could always look at Harley, certainly in Scotland they are worthless and can barely be given away, mine went for £5.5k and a mates 2012 for the same same money, the guy who got the Gunner traded his Fatbob (2007) for only £4.5k, seen some nice full dressed Electraglides up for £5k or near offer. I think HDs are losing their value quicker than Indians and Victories these days and probably because there is a glut of them on the market as there are better bikes out there for the money. I won't knock Harley for some its all about the brand and perceived lifestyle and in the end its whatever floats your boat and your happy to ride, the big difference for me is that Victories and Indians perform straight out of the box, an HD requires a lot of money to be thrown at it from new before its performance is even up to keeping up with normal traffic and for that sort of money its a piss take. I toured the states on a new electraglide ultra the new 1690cc at the time, it was so underpowered it was dangerous, I could not keep with the traffic flow on an incline on the freeway and had trucks blowing their horns at me as I was holding them up.

In summary if you want a cruiser and you have a limited budget look at HD, they are being given away especially north of the border, 4-6k will get you a nice big twin, if you want something different that will out perform a HD in all aspects then 8-10K will get you a very nice or even new Victory if you can find a Highball or a Gunner and if you have 10k plus then I would look at Indians.
 
Thanks for the info , I’ve got my thoughts on a gunner or a 8 ball or a judge , subject to a demo ride on each and a budget of £8k so it looks like I could be onto something..👍
 
The 8 Ball refers to a (minimal) level of trim and can be thought of as the entry level bike for each model.
 


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