Polaris is shuttering the doors on Victory ....

We have had a very high profile ex footballer advertising them since they came out, my bet his was a donated machine

 

We have football and basketball players advertising everything else. The best of the bunch are the PI lawyers who have pix of themselves on bikes.

No reflection on our real rider lawyer..

 

Ok, I almost never post.. but someone has to mourn the Vic's. I have a really clean, stage I 2007 hammer that is simply.... snotty. Pipes are epic.

Foolish and childish with the big back tire, no doubt. Well made, very unique, and uniquely american- yes. If you wanted a unique bike that had USA and badass going on, mine does it. I can speak with some objectivity, since I also own:
2014 Indian
2 old collect-able Harleys
Some british iron
a 1986 VFR that is nearly perfect

I mention the other bikes for perspective. Every bike has its own appeal, market, and attributes. Never met a bike I didnt love. When Victory, EBR, or back in the day the British manufactures close shop- we are all diminished a bit. My hammer will likely never be collectible, but now a least it will be a reminder of lots of impossible to replace memories.

 

Quite a list of bikes there, zxmikez.

Partial the the '79 GS, if you still have that. I had a '78 GS750, have a story about the '79 1000 I took for a demo.

Two Wheels = OK with me. I have preferences, but IF I could actually have a ride-able "Collection", there would likely be quite a diversity.

 

Isn't the Modus made here in the good ole U, S, OF A. ?

 

Yes, Motus is built in Birmingham to be exact. One parked next to me in Lynchburg, I looked it over real good and just didn't see $36K worth of motorcycle sitting next to my 8th gen. It would be faster in a straight line but there aren't many straight roads around here. Push rods are obsolete as well. No dealers for service/warranty either. Think I'll just ride an obsolete, low powered, undesirable, heavy Honda VFR......

 

Anybody have the real poop why this particular machine has been dropped from the Polaris line?

First on the agenda IMO would be insufficient sales levels.

 

At some other forums I've read that dealerships which sold both Indian and Victory were consistently selling about five times as many Indians as Victories. It started already in 2015 and never tapered off. Victory sales have been in decline since 2012.

I think Indians cannibalized Victory sales much more than even Polaris had expected. I'm guessing many more people prefer the Indian styling.

Indian sales booming. Victory sales in decline. Polaris is choosing to focus on the much more successful brand. Just basic business.



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Sure looks like fun to me--


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Gawd, i would rather ride a honda aquatrax, NOT :loco: a moped ride to the beach would be more appealing than that t-rex knock off, (what a way to ruin a perfect motorcycle engine.)

 

I rode the piss out of one, did a review on here about it. It is not worth 36k but it is extremely well made and a hoot to ride.

 

Another "what if" thing before somebody decides that what they read on some manufactured news site is real and stick it up here.

Polaris does a joint venture with Motus and produces a bike that costs less than a Harley.

Polaris does a joint venture with Buell and produces a bike a bike with a V4 engine.

 

Yeah , the GS is a special piece of iron. Lots of fun in nearly every dimension of riding, and for every style of rider. Truly quick and comfortable. I bought a 79 gs1000e as my first bike as a broke 19yr old in 1984. A lot of years, one marriage, and one divorce passed by. I found myself wishing I had kept that 1st bike. Stumbled across an absolute clone of the one I had (black, e model, etc) that was a 9. Couldn't pass it up, and I still ride the hell out of it. Good fun

 

Probably several versions beginning with a flat tracker clone followed by a roadrace looking machine. SOS, racebikes sell streetbikes. Polaris bought "Indian". Aboot the only thing that resembles the old Indians is that the Polaris Indian is a V twin. Joe Kopp and Chris Carr got paid big bucks for their time and expertise. I think maybe Polaris now wishes both guys weren't so honest aboot their comments. That's the way they roll, take it or leave it.

There are bike sites on the www that have history and all the numbers that obviate the BS associated with corporate speak. (from other quarters too)

Back in the day before mine or yours and corporate speak lifting and then attributing "Wrecking Crew" to Indian instead of the term being a Harley-Davidson appellation, another of the great Indian riders was Ed Kretz. aka "Ironman". Not to be confused with the movie version or Donald Trumf.

http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=72

 

Did you read the comments section underneath?
Some really well-voiced opinions there; the venom is palpable.

 

Nice read on Kretz. My grandfather road Hendersons and Harleys, don't know aboot Indian.

 

A guy in my club has a 1924 running but unrestored Henderson. Ya gotta be an octopus to ride the damn thing. Somebody ought to make a chip for bikes like that.

 

From that, Polaris may find it a tad difficult to place the new "Indians" on some showroom floors.

Corporate pressure on dealers to stock everything ain't nothin new. Honda and Yamaha included, even to the point of demanding that dealers expand to make room for related products to be sold. "You have our bikes and they sell well so now you need to put in our lawnmowers and ........."