JT Nesbitt calls out Victory.

[Anden]

Mr. Wine,

In the grand American tradition, I am henceforth issuing you a call out. I can tell by the derivative motorcycle company that you run, namely Victory, that you do not possess the testosterone that would be a prerequisite for having past knowledge of what a “call out” is, so I will elucidate.

In American racing, one party issues a challenge for competition on a level playing field, referred to as “a race track.” I know that this is all new to you, so I will try to take this one step at a time. Anyhow, “the challenger” (that’s me) will usually preface his challenge with what is widely referred to as “smack talk” in an attempt to goad and shame his would-be opponent (that’s you) into taking enough offense that it spurs them into action. Not wanting to break with time honored American tradition, I will now commence with the talking of smack.

Polaris has had years to come up with a reasonable street/sport motorcycle, yet has failed to do so. I think it’s because the management at Polaris must be populated by barnacle butts who think that Harley-Davidson is the greatest motorcycle company in the world. The proof of that is evident in the copycat motorcycles that wear the Victory badge. Falling down on their knees to worship Harley-Davidson at every opportunity, Victory pantomimes a bloated, obese company that, at it’s core, is nothing but a grand marketing scheme dreamed up by a group of Wall Street business types. But I digress, we are not talking about Harley here. Unlike you, I do not care what Harley does or does not do and I do not spend my days dreaming of sucking at the teet of fat Harley profit margins. Yes, it is apparent that all you want to do is dip your biscuits in a tiny drop of that tasty Harley gravy.

But wait a minute, you say, Victory has all of this performance stuff going on, like aluminum chassis and wild overhead cams! Our bikes are bristling with all kinds of bleeding edge technology like Mono shocks and fuel injection! Now I know that it might put a dent in your plans for a mission to Mars next quarter, but I have to point out that your high performance advantage is purely contextual and only holds water when compared to the likes of Harley-Davidson.

But we are competing with Harley-Davidson! And we build the best American Motorcycle in the world! You shout. This is unpatriotic and I am now going to tell you why.

There once was a time, long ago, when Americans took pride in competing with the rest of the world, not just with the folks a couple of blocks over. It was the passion of crafting finer things that motivated men. Now, apparently, it is profit and a desperate groping for a false identity, that perfect marketing message, that motivates you and your cowardly ilk.

The thing is, Mr. Wine, you understand competition. Your company’s snowmobiles are among the fastest in the world. Your snow products can go toe-to-toe with any company in the world. Why can’t your motorcycles?

Tiny companies around the world humiliate you. Small teams of passionate men, with no resources shame you, and still somehow Victory trudges along. “Victory?” What victory? What are you victorious over? “Best Cruiser Of The Year?” That’s like saying best American automobile of 1982. Quite the feather in your cap.

Hey sucka, a Kawasaki GPZ900 from almost 30 years ago would blast into oblivion any one of the motorcycles in your 2011 lineup! A THIRTY YEAR OLD MOTORCYCLE! If for no other reason than pride, I would assume that you would eventually grow a set and build a motorcycle that is better than a now-antique UJM. Yet every time I hear a reference to Victory it is always followed by the pointing out that the parent company, Polaris, is this huge conglomerate with all kinds of engineering, acumen, talent, and money. Frankly, I don’t see it. Bimota kicks your ass. BIMOTA! What, they have like thirty guys working there?! True, the guys at Bimota don’t do tribal flames with quite the same flair that Victory manages to decorate their “Hammer” motorcycle with. It has been thirteen years since the debut of Victory and. since neither polite suggestion, nor your own sense of personal or national pride has seemed to motivate you, it’s time for the insults.

It’s not as if building a decent motorcycle is a task too monumental for a company of Polaris’ size. Look at Triumph. When John Bloor revived it in the early ‘90s, it took them only six years to put a bike on the road that was honest-to-god as good as the Japanese. That first generation of fuel-injected triples were fast, they had good suspension, good motors and looked great. No, they weren’t race winners, but they were motorcycles the British could be proud of. You’re a bigger company than Triumph and we always hear about what talent and resources you have. So why can’t you do what Triumph did? Why can’t you make America proud? You’ve had twice as long with Victory as it took Triumph to bring out those first good bikes and yet you’ve done nothing.

Ah, I remember those heady days, when Polaris announced its intention to build a motorcycle. All my buddies were so eager. Such promise! Finally a real motorcycle made in the USA!! And then the first sighting. With my lips curled, making that awkward smelly diaper face, I beheld the sad Victory. Lumpy and misshapen. An almost comical attempt at building a Harley. The design-by-committee, lowest-common-denominator, JC Penny-looking thing, dripping with every sad cruiser cliché that that first, and subsequent, motorcycles have been festooned with. An anti-intellectual design brief, surely the result of an overreaching accounting department, with no aspirations of attaining any sort of enlightenment about the world beyond Harley-Davidson.

Logic dictates that there must have, at one time, been at least a few true motorcycle people working at Victory (we have quietly infiltrated most organizations), and I could almost hear them speaking through the utterly ugly can-of-corn motorcycle before me. They said “but if we just make a few of these, the boss says that we can build something cool next.” As the years passed, I am sure that the frustrations mounted and, one by one, the disillusioned motorcyclists left your organization. Hey no problem, you said, we will just have to bring in some fresh blood. We will scour the earth for the finest motorcycle talent to bring this product to new heights of avant-garde design! We will engage with the best minds in all of motorcycling, some real world class chassis engineers, super slick stylists and race-winning engine builder. Enter Arlen Ness.

That the motorcycle you currently produce is regarded as something of a joke by real motorcycle people is not at issue. What is at issue is the insult that you continue to perpetrate to American motorcyclists and the anti-American ethos that you have enveloped your company with. To wit: These motorcycles are “good enough” for Americans. By flatly refusing to engage with true American talent, like Michael Czysz, Kenny Roberts, James Parker, Erik Buell, Brian Case, any number of motorcycle designers, racers, and tuners, you have shown yourself to be insular and afraid of stuff that doesn’t justify your current, lame path to anonymity. There you sit in the conference room, eating potato chips, brushing the crumbs off of your clothes from time to time.

Now you have Indian.

Mr. Wine, this concludes the smack talking phase of the call out and we will now proceed to the actual issuance of the challenge where I will lay out some specifics.

I challenge you and the Indian brand to a test of lap times at the Barber Vintage Motor Park in Birmingham, Alabama in one year’s time. Five laps, fastest lap time wins. As for riders (a big variable in motorcycle racing, you see) I am more than willing to enter into arbitration.

Your motorcycle will be wearing an Indian badge and the motorcycle that kicks the **** out of it will be wearing my name.

I think that me and my buddies can come up with a better motorcycle in my GARAGE than you and your entire chump-ass crew can build in your whack-ass whole factory (oops, a little smack accidentally came out, sorry)!

Now, I don’t expect you to build everything, It’s ok to buy your wheels, battery, electronics and you can even use the engine that you are currently producing (although I wouldn’t advise it) and I, being just a lowly motorcycle dude with limited resources, should be able to buy in my engine. The details of this area could also go to arbitration at your request. Perhaps the readers of HFL could have some input?

So how bout it peckerwood? You down for getting your teeth kicked in by some nobody from a backwater town called New Orleans?

You stated, “We have no desire to start a battle, to get back into the Harley-Indian wars of the ’20s and ’30s, that’s not what we’re trying to do here.” Well, if you’re not prepared to compete with Harley-Davidson, how about competing with me, a washed-up, no-talent, has-been redneck? Think you could at least build a better motorcycle than me? Mr Wine, I am calling you out.

[Hoblick]

funny, but stupid.

this guy is pissed cause victory doesnt make a sport bike??

or what?

i mean i admit some of the victory styling just isnt my style (vision)

but i think they are pretty nice bikes

but they dont make race bikes.. you want a flat out performer look for something in that category

[ponyjr]

If he think the Victorys don't perform well, try riding one with a stage one kit. World of difference. Those motors are very powerful and fun.

Victory has always danced to their own tune, and i think this guy, is trying to ride one like something it's not. They are cruisers and touring bikes, sure it might have some power and handle well but Victory didn't grow up at the race tracks like most bike makers.

HOW do you compare a GPZ900 to anything they make?

though i do have to say, i'd like to see one of these motors in a Buell type bike, and i'm interested to see what they do with the Indian line.

[MidgetTodd]

Wut and why? Dont like it buy somthing else. How was this post worthy?

[Zach]

funny, but stupid.

this guy is pissed cause victory doesnt make a sport bike??

or what?

i mean i admit some of the victory styling just isnt my style (vision)

but i think they are pretty nice bikes

but they dont make race bikes.. you want a flat out performer look for something in that category

JT is actually doing Polaris a favor here. He's a pretty credible guy when it comes to American motorcycle design and his words should be taken pretty seriously. Maybe this is the poke that Polaris needs to get out from the Harley shadow.

This challenge isn't about him not liking their particular bikes, it's about the fact that the only thing they do is make bikes that are slightly different than HD's. He's trying to spur American motorcycle development, to grow the industry. He's saying that American bike makers do not have to compete for the same clientele. That Polaris can go after different riders- If they chose to.

Buying Indian is a great opportunity for Polaris, but if they just slap a Chief head on a Victory, it'll be a travesty.

[redkow97]

HD and (if what this guy says is true) Victory don't give a shit about advancing motorcycle development; they care about making a profit.

Why spend millions in R & D on a race bike and new technology when they can do what they've done for years and rake in the profits on R & D from 30 years ago?

I'd like to see more American made sport bikes too, but if it was easy to make a profit doing so, people would be on top of that.

there is something to be said for sticking with what you're good at, and there is a duty to the stockholders to make smart financial/business decisions.

Should Victory make generators and lawn mowers too? Honda does. Should victory make heavy construction equipment? Kawasaki does. Should Victory start making guitars and trumpets? Yamaha does. Should victory start making cars and SUV's? Suzuki does.

[Anden]

Polaris already has some ridiculously fast engines. With little time or money Polaris would stomp this guy.

[redkow97]

Polaris already has some ridiculously fast engines. With little time or money Polaris would stomp this guy.

an engine is like 1/4 of a motorcycle. It's a very important 1/4, but look at any major racing series - the best chassis is usually the one winning.

BMW and Kawasaki have monstrous horsepower numbers from their liter bikes, and yet both struggle in World Superbike. BMW is getting better. Why? Because they're figuring out the chassis setup.

Even Suzuki's moto GP bike puts out plenty of power. The problem is that they can't get the thing to turn and still maintain speed AND traction.

[jagr]

Um yeah. I'm no Polaris cheerleader but I would hardly call a Victory a HD copycat.

I really don't know why I even read all that. Should I know who the author is?

Unrelated opinion: I also still strongly believe "Na'Lins" should have been drowned and left to die.

[Zach]

With little time or money Polaris would stomp this guy.

you obviously don't know who he is.

[Zach]

I think you guys are missing the point here.

JT isn't saying that Victory needs to build a sportbike, per se. He's saying that they don't have the balls to build anything except for bikes that compete directly with HD. He's challenging them to create something NEW and exciting, not just another piece of butt jewelry for doctors and lawyers.

There are several bike companies in the US that can put out a handful of bikes a year, but with those small numbers, those companies can't really give us an American brand to be proud of. Polaris has the size and technology to do just that but instead their business model is "Let's see what slice of Harley pie we can get this year."

[C-bus]

Americans sometimes have trouble putting their money where their mouths are. We scream for that hot nekked that we saw in Europe, they bring it, and we don't buy it. Buell brings us an American sport bike and sales fall flat. We cry for the Tenere, but have you seen any? Cruisers are supposed to be low-tech, heavy, pretty machines to, well, cruise. I get this cat's point and am not mad at him, but I think he's missing the point too. I'd rock a Hammer.

[curby]

you obviously don't know who he is.

He's pretty hot for a dude.

[max power]

I kinda have to agree with the guy. Victory is a lame harley wannabe.

It would be interesting to see them pickup where Buell left off. Let's face it guys, The pool of biker wannabes that they sell these things to is shrinking and getting old. If they want to please their shareholders they better diversify.

[C-bus]

you obviously don't know who he is.

I don't know why we don't see more $90,000 Confederates around.. I absolutely do value innovation. I don't see the Wraith competing with Harley. Ducati maybe. I don't want to see any business fail.

[MidgetTodd]

I'd ride her all day long, that bike however looks like shit and I wouldnt buy it.

[Zach]

I don't know why we don't see more $90,000 Confederates around.. I absolutely do value innovation. I don't see the Wraith competing with Harley. Ducati maybe. I don't want to see any business fail.

Wow, you really don't get it. It's not about JT competing with Harley, they can't compete WITH HIM.

My point in showing who he is/what he's designed, is to show that maybe he does understand where the motorcycle industry could go.

All JT said was that he could build an all-around better bike in his garage than Victory could come up with. He didn't say he wanted to go head to head with anybody in the marketplace.

[shadyone]

How many of you that are calling Victory a copy cat of HD have ridden them. they have monster engines, great ergonomics, and are well built motorcycles. I would also like to point out that their is oly so much you can do to a cruiser to make it look different than everything else. HD has a huge lineup so of course something is going to end up looking like the Victory and vice versa.. i like the fact that not everybody and their grandmother has a Victory. and the fact that Im not paying for a name. i absolutley despise harley for that exact reason. they build a $20000 motorcycle that is slow and just within the last few years finally FI with a 6 speed. Really? seems silly to me. when i can get equal or more from another company.. not just victory but suzuki yamaha honda....

[dorifto240]

The guy responsible for the Wraith has no business calling someone else's bike "lumpy and misshapen."