A little love for the poor Victory...

[JJ]

A few months ago, I tried listing "Moby Dick, aka "The Great White Whale".... For Sale on BaT, and they rejected it,    probably because I had a RESERVE. 

I also listed it on craigslist and NextDoor...and all I got was "tire-kickers and SCAMMERS!!"   I even tried RUMBLE-ON and they offered me HALF of it's CMV (Current Market Value).  So I decided to keep it and changed the oil / filter, and bought a new set of Bridgestone Exedra tires. 

After all, it only has 14K miles from new...(2014 model), it is in mint condition...and needs nothing!

It is the ultimate long distance touring bike   She will be "In The Wind" for another riding season anyway.




photo image hosting

[kingoffleece]

A vastly underrated machine.  After a bit of time on one years ago I came to the same conclusion-possibly the best long distance bike ever.

[Moparnut72]

I've never heard anything bad about Victories.
kk

[JJ]

POLARIS discontinued the Victory line in 2017....but their DNA lives on in all the modern Indians!

[sdcr]

Riders that I’ve spoken with, really like these. Shame that Polaris dropped this nameplate.

[n3303j]

Fun book where the Victory Vision is the main character:
"David & Suzanne’s Big Frickin’ Canadian Motorcycle Adventure"

[bigbikerrick]

Those Visions look cool customized. The Vision and Cross Country are great touring bikes. I like the old Victories better than the current Indians.Current Indians look too "phoney" to me, especially the engines.
Rick

[Dave Swanson]

The great white whale looks like it has transitioned into the great white elephant territory.   

[JJ]

Those Visions look cool customized. The Vision and Cross Country are great touring bikes. I like the old Victories better than the current Indians.Current Indians look too "phoney" to me, especially the engines.
Rick

Two of my riding buddies have modern Indians...a Springfield and a Roadmaster.  They love them!

[JJ]

The great white whale looks like it has transitioned into the great white elephant territory.   

Yes...it has a 66" wheelbase, so it is LONG and LOW....22-inch seat height with the 1-inch factory lowering kit.   

A heavy beast indeed, at 871 pounds, but when you let the clutch out, it loses 200 pounds!  

It handles quite well...just don't park it with the front tire facing downhill!!!

[Guzzistajohn]

I ride with a dude that has a maroon colored one. It's a runnin' mo fo!

[tazio]

My old work-mate and riding pal Jerry(R.I.P.) had 3 Visions.
One with 230,000 miles and had only sent rear shock out for rebuild.
Nearly indestructible bikes..

[bikeridertim]

That's pretty!   

[JJ]

This is SR 395 in Nevada...on the way to Tonopah....and this is where the Vision really shines!!

[Joliet Jim]

Yes...it has a 66" wheelbase, so it is LONG and LOW....22-inch seat height with the 1-inch factory lowering kit.   

A heavy beast indeed, at 871 pounds, but when you let the clutch out, it loses 200 pounds!  

It handles quite well...just don't park it with the front tire facing downhill!!!

Good thing you have the Centauro in case that gets too heavy to get off the sidestand as you age :)

[JJ]

QUOTE: 

Good thing you have the Centauro in case that gets too heavy to get off the sidestand as you age :)

Yes, I'll be 69 in August, and this may be my last riding season with Moby Dick....

[SemperVee]

 Sold my 2012 cross country tour that Owned for 10 years to downsize to my current 07 Norge...  Great bike.  Took a while to find the right buyer at a price I could live with.  I got $12K + $1500 for the tour box sold separately = $13,500 but it did have a lot of extras.

[blu guzz]

I had a Victory Kingpin Tour Deluxe that I ran for 25,000 trouble-free miles.  I traded it on a fairly finicky BMW which was a bad move it turned out.  That was a fine bike and what made it great was that they were not tethered to the past as HD was.  For example, the belt drive on the Harley required taking a large part of the bike apart because all they did when they switched from chain was add the belt in the same configuration.  Victory put the front drive gear on the outside so only a cover needed to be removed.  The engine breathing and design was much more advanced.  However, the nostalgia wave was still too strong to fight and they just were not selling enough bikes.  They tried for about 20 years.  That same good engineering carries over to the modern Indians though.

[Huzo]

I've never heard anything bad about Victories.
kk

Wasn’t there an issue with clutch slave cylinders or some such ?

[Luap McKeever]

I should have bought one of those when I came across it (2012 model) for the price of a short song a few years ago. It only needed tires, battery and oil change. Could have scored it for 3K and procrastinated too long.

Polaris makes fanTASTIC scoots. we have a Polaris Sportsman 570, Ranger XP1000, and my polINDIAN Challenger is an unmatched reliable beast of a 900 lb crotchrocket blast to ride. 21,000 smiles and counting and not so much as a hiccup.

Still loving our old EV's though too and still riding them at least weekly.

[Stretch]

Yes, I'll be 69 in August, and this may be my last riding season with Moby Dick....

I always thought those were really cool bikes - sorta like something from the Jetson's come to life.
And then they earned a great reputation.

I'd be tempted to offer you something for it, but with the Rocket III Touring and the 1400
California Touring in the garage, it's not like I need another huge touring bike......
I'll be 63 in October. We'll see how long I can hold an 8000+ pound bike up.

                                                             -Stretch

[twowheeladdict]

I've test ridden the Vision and although the handling was great, I prefer to be up higher to see further ahead when cresting rises here in Middle Tennessee.  The only negatives I remember reviewers mentioning were the side bags lack of storage capacity, and the reach for some of the controls.

This is the one that grabbed my interest.  Have only seen one on the road, one time.





Arlen Ness edition.

[JJ]

Again, with a fresh oil / filter change, and two brand new Bridgestone Excedra tires, front & rear, I will just keep it for now...and enjoy another riding season in Arizona...

With only 14,500 miles from new (2014), it is just broken in...

Maybe in January, I will get "a wild hair" and ride it up to Vegas and run it through the annual MECUM motorcycles auction (???) which features over 1,750 bikes for sale....

[dguzzi]

My friend had an 8Ball, he loved it!  But...he had a Gremlin too....

[Moparnut72]

I worked with a guy many years ago who had a 390 Gremlin. Nothing to laugh at. A Gremlin just showed up in town. I built a Duster before they were cool. I am not a Ford guy but a Maverick would be another good one. Sorry for the thread drift continuation.
kk

[leroysch]

My friend had an 8Ball, he loved it!  But...he had a Gremlin too....

...at least it wasn't a Pacer.

[moto]

This is SR 395 in Nevada...on the way to Tonopah....and this is where the Vision really shines!!

It’s a funny coincidence that the same Nevada roads (especially US 6 from Tonopah across to Ely on the other side) provided my own best Vision memories, some time ago. But that was a 1983 Yamaha Vision 550 (with the fairing), maybe my favorite bike. Different strokes for different folks.

[Moparnut72]

It’s a funny coincidence that the same Nevada roads (especially US 6 from Tonopah across to Ely on the other side) provided my own best Vision memories, some time ago. But that was a 1983 Yamaha Vision 550 (with the fairing), maybe my favorite bike. Different strokes for different folks.

I road this route 6 years ago when I had my Hardly Dangerous. It was an interesting ride, I was getting a little nervous at the end. A long way between gas stations, 160 miles and running at 80 to 85 wasn't doing fuel mileage much good. Turns out I had about 20 miles to spare. This summer I am planning on Tonopah to Ely again but this time taking the Extraterrestrial Highway instead except with an overnight or two on the way. Great Basin National Park being one of them.
kk

[moto]

I road this route 6 years ago when I had my Hardly Dangerous. It was an interesting ride, I was getting a little nervous at the end. A long way between gas stations, 160 miles and running at 80 to 85 wasn't doing fuel mileage much good. Turns out I had about 20 miles to spare. This summer I am planning on Tonopah to Ely again but this time taking the Extraterrestrial Highway instead except with an overnight or two on the way. Great Basin National Park being one of them.
kk

I ran out of gas on US 6 one time, on my Vision. So I walked into the nearest ranch for a bit of gas and was on my way. That was the time I made the mistake of believing a gas station indicated on some map would actually be open. After that I bought a nice, red steel gas can to strap on the back, and never had the problem again. I have often been happily surprised by the kindness of strangers, as Blanche Dubois would put it.