Victory Demo at Pony Powersports May 14-15

[Iron Pony]

[Iron Pony]

Come hang out, ride a new Victory, talk to the people from the factory.

Free Victory T shirt for those that take a test ride. (While supplies last)

Bring your M endorsement & long pants.

I'll be taking riders on a 15 mile loop. Plan to hang out for a while and you'll probably have a chance to ride several different models.

It will be lots of fun.

Edited May 10, 2013 by Iron Pony

[Iron Pony]

[C-bus]

If you haven't test-ridden a Victory, you should.

[Gunner75]

To bad this takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday, if it was tomorrow and monday, I might have shown up

[mfs81]

To bad this takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday, if it was tomorrow and monday, I might have shown up

With ya on that one...

[Iron Pony]

I understand guys, I wish it were on the weekend too. Scheduling a truck full of motorcycles to travel around the country is no small feat for Victory.

I'm glad Victory has a demo truck, not all motorcycle manufacturers do.

We do everything we can to get the truck here when it is in our part of the country. In the past it has always been on a weekend, but this was the only option this spring.

[Hoblick]

will there be a hard ball to demo?

[Tonik]

I understand guys, I wish it were on the weekend too. Scheduling a truck full of motorcycles to travel around the country is no small feat for Victory.

I'm glad Victory has a demo truck, not all motorcycle manufacturers do.

We do everything we can to get the truck here when it is in our part of the country. In the past it has always been on a weekend, but this was the only option this spring.

Two of us coming down from CLV. We will be there at 10 with bells on.

[Tonik]

Thanks for doing this. Had a great ride. The dude that lead the first group of bikes...shortish kind of guy on the yammy did an outstanding job. Great route and gave us room to let the legs out when it was appropriate.

[C-bus]

Thanks for doing this. Had a great ride. The dude that lead the first group of bikes...shortish kind of guy on the yammy did an outstanding job. Great route and gave us room to let the legs out when it was appropriate.

Which one did you ride?

[Tonik]

Which one did you ride?

Ooooo, this is going to be a long answer. I was debating posting my review as I road home. Your question has decided the issue. I am one season away from my next bike. Just paid off my car and our house. By spring next year the wifes car will be paid off. So that will mean a new bike. It's just a household rule, no more than one vehicle payment at a time, ever.

So my short list is: Victory Cross Touring, Kaw Voyager, Yammy Venture and a Wing. Mandatory comfort and storage for 2UP week long trips, but still make me grin when I roll on hard coming out of a corner.....

So I tried the Cross Country Tour. That is their top of the line. 24K as I tested it. Luggage rack on the trunk and on both saddle bags, backrest and a few other items of bling. So on to my review:

Ride: Pretty awesome, it shifted like a dream. At first I was concerned, there is a hard clunk on each shift but after paying attention it is clearly just a solid hit of full engagement and actually very reassuring. Zero to 50 very peppy. But roll on after 50 was underwhelming....after 70 it was a pretty weak for a 106. But not terrible. Corners really well and is fun to throw into a corner. Reminded me of my Honda 750 Shadow from years ago. It was a blast to carve corners with it. Extremely well balanced and took bumps and dips very very well. Went down the road great. Exhaust was cool, whisper quiet at a light..a little growl on hard excel but got quiet again as you leveled out the speed. The perfect balance for me in noise vs long haul quiet.

Styling. I know this is controversial with Victory. This is their big touring bagger. So it has some of the hard angles the Vision does but it still has a classic look. I really liked the look overall.

Creature comforts. Well equipped, cruise, heated grips, very well done lowers with a big handle so you can open them up easily while rolling down the road for air flow. Concerned about the windscreen. There is like a big air induction scoop in the bottom of it that feeds air off the fairing to the back side of the windscreen. Nice on a hot day, I worry about that in the cold. No way to turn it off. Nice stereo. Controls for the stereo and cruise were a bit difficult to use without looking. But probably could get used to them. Outstanding instrumentation. Temp, gear, amps, rpm..everything well laid out.

Now my major bitches.

Trunk and bags sucked. They are odd shaped, not smooth inside..its like they stair stepped the inside to make the cool lines on the outside. It really chops them up and cuts down on usable space. And they are not linned like most I see with some felt or high density foam. Looks like they hired a crack head to spray bomb the insides with a rattle can of flat black.

Much of the bling is f'ing plastic chrome. Key is on the side of the engine. Handlebars are far too narrow..hands too close together. And they are light/cheap. You would need to rip them apart and fill them with shot. And the grips are made for babies or midgets or something. My hands are big but not that big and my fingers went all the way around and were hitting the heals of my hands. So new grips would be needed, but guess what....they are factory heated. <sigh>

Fairing is fork mounted. WTF, this is a 24k touring bike and the fairing isn't frame mounted?

Did I mention the 100 dollar heal shifter option this one had? The one that is two inches higher than it should be and 3 inches closer to the engine than your heal normally is...it isn't right behind the toe shifter it is way to the right of it. No, it isn't adjustable. And it is narrow as hell, it's almost a straight rod you are trying to hit...with no rubber on it. The heal shifter is a real WTF for me on this bike.

Rear seat. You know me, I am a skinny fucker. So is my wife. There is no way in hell she will be able to sit in the back if I have the backrest installed. I sat there if it had been in the slot it would have clearly been hitting both of my thighs.

Too many misses on the details on the bike. It's like they built the best frame, suspension and motor you can get on a big touring bike then let the crack heads finish the rest of it.

To IP, still eternally grateful for the opportunity. To each his own, there are many people that love this bike. I am just not one of them. But I am digging the new boots I got today from you folks.

Edited May 15, 2013 by Tonik
spelling of course

[C-bus]

Good write-up. I have the Cross Roads.... Similar to a Road King concept. Not sure if the bags are different, but I find them to hold plenty and are shaped well. I can fit helmet, jacket, boots in one side when I travel for work. I agree with chromed plastic... Does kind of leaves me flat. One of the reasons I'm not a big fan of the Japanese Cruisers. Other than that, the cornering is outstanding and the ride is great. I would not have the heel shifter though. Such a waste of all that great real estate to move your legs!

IMO... Top +:

Comfort on the long haul

Engine performance

Lines

Cruise Control

Leg Room/foot room

Storage

Top -:

Chromed Plastic

Sewing machine exhaust at idle

Key on the side (don't know why it bugs me, but it does)

I really love riding it though. I'll get a second bike next year for sporting around, but I'll keep the Vic. I've been lusting after a red or white Thruxton.

[Tonik]

I forgot to mention the leg room, glad you brought it up.. I have long legs, and this bike had a ton of leg room. They did that very well.

[conn-e-rot]

The bags may look chopped up but they are by far the biggest on the market. That is the one thing I wish my vision had was bigger saddle bags but I manage.

[Iron Pony]

shortish kind of guy on the yammy did an outstanding job. Great route and gave us room to let the legs out when it was appropriate.

Thanks Tonik.....I'm 5 11, perhaps my width makes me look shorter than I really am.

We have a great time doing these and were glad you enjoyed yourself. These demos really are a fantastic way to evaluate a bike.

Thanks for coming out.

Scott

[Kmanlyst]

Heading up there today to check these out.

[Koreo]

Was fun yesterday! Definitely a different but not bad feeling. Excited for the Yamaha demo this weekend!