THE ANNOUNCEMENT
Polaris decides to streamline their motorcycle business.
Contributed by TRO
Polaris Industries shocked many when they announced on January 9th that they would be immediately begin“ winding down its Victory Motorcycles brand and related operations”. For diehard Victory riders, fans, and even some dealers – there seemed to be complete disbelief.
Polaris began producing the first Victory motorcycle, the V92c, back in 1998 from a production line in Sprit Lake, Iowa. It was an American-made cruiser being introduced as an alternative to the clear industry leader – Harley- Davidson. While there was clearly a learning curve to be conquered – Victory scored some early success with the motorcycle press and built a loyal following of owners. Polaris seemed dedicated to not only competing in the motorcycle market, they were willing to blaze their own path with their own style and some truly unique designs. Probably nothing said this more than the introduction of the Victory Vision in 2007.
Previously introduced in 2005 as a concept bike, the production version was no less groundbreaking with a design and presence unlike anything else on the road. The result of a reported four years of R & D and a $ 20 million dollar investment by Polaris, the Vision was a clear statement that Polaris was focused on creating their own interpretation of“ the motorcycle”. In the case of the Vision, the fixed fairing touring bike has an almost fanatical following. I’ ve never once met a Vision owner that didn’ t swear it was the most comfortable bike they’ d ever ridden. This is further supported by the fact that you almost never see them for sale. At the time of writing this, ebay
motors has only 6 of them listed for sale across the entire country and craigslist came up with 2 in the state of Ohio.
This passion for Victory Motorcycle amongst their riders is further evidenced by a 2015 Consumer Reports survey that rated Victory as the motorcycle brand with the highest owner satisfaction, besting even Harley- Davidson. In fact, eighty percent of Victory owners responded that they“ would definitely buy again,” versus 72 percent of Harley-Davidson owners.( Of course, Harley owners dispute the relevancy of this survey by simply asking“ Why would I ever want to buy another motorcycle, I’ m happy with my Harley!”)
Victory’ s final lineup of motorcycles included 12 models spanning the cruiser, touring, bagger and electric classes: Octane; Vegas 8-Ball; High-Ball; Gunner; Vegas; Hammer S; Vision; Cross Country Tour; Cross Country; Magnum; Magnum X-1; and Empulse.
A New Addition to the Family Victory’ s future may have been sealed though, when Polaris acquired the name and heritage of
Indian Motorcycle in 2011. This gave Polaris possibly the one thing that Victory lacked – a history and a legacy of success. At the time of the purchase, Polaris affirmed that they would be continuing the Victory line as an independent brand. This was supported with the launch of the actual new production Indians- designed from scratch and produced without any real crossover from the Victory line. Three years later, Indian now has nine models with even more promised even this year. Each completely distinct from the Victory models from development to production. Certainly, though, the success of the Indians seemed to dominate the industry buzz and draw sales from everyone in the market – including Victory.
This past year, an attempt was made to further distinguish the Victory and Indian brands for consumers. Indian would be the heritage cruisers, more traditional and nostalgic. Victory would transition to more of a power cruiser, the embodiment of“ AMERICAN MUSCLE”. Polaris invested heavily in Victory race bikes – both gas and electric, and introduced exciting new concept
6 Thunder Roads Magazine Louisiana | March 2017 | www. thunderroadslouisiana. org