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Victory no more

Robert Gibson

High Miler
GT Contributor
Joined
Jul 20, 2016
Messages
590
Location
Menorca, Spain
I have just found out that Polaris is to wind down Victory motorcycle operations, although not a brand I have ever considered buying I have always appreciated the style of the bikes. A sad day.
Comments Todd?
 
I wondered how they would work selling a low volume brend such as Victory beside the much higher volume Indian. They did Indian right from what I have read and seen so it does make sense to cut Victory. Victory had a good reputation but their models never really called to me. Actually, neither do the Indians. Not my style. I can't believe they want to devote the resources to the Slingshot though. How many of those are they selling? Or maybe the larger markup makes it more profitable. Plus, they don't have to design the engine since they use GM.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/motorcycles/a24667/polaris-cease-victory-motorcycle-production/
 
Didn't they just roll out a new engine and corresponding line of bikes?
Well, like others here, I won't miss them but it is still sad that there will be one less motorcycle manufacturer.
But I do think the slingshot is seriously cool. A co-worker has driven one, and it seems to be a blast. And for the money they go for it is a pretty good deal.
 
Comments Todd?
I'm on my way home today after a Indian Press event in Lake Havasu. I will post more tonight. However, in short, Polaris was looking simply at the numbers of units sold, and has chosen to steer the ship in the direction of the stronger brand Indian, which then gives 100% of their two-wheel resources to Indian. This is a very good thing.
That said, I am sad to see Vic go as I have been a small part of the Victory story since 2009 or so, as their rider for all print ads and online media through 2014, and I've done some video work with the Slingshot (which is selling well for them).
 
While I understand the immediate business rational for terminating the Victory line, I can't help but be skeptical of what the future holds for Indian. Motorcycles, unfortunately, are not a significant source of revenue for Polaris.

As time marches on, corporations like Polaris, are constantly changing their long term goals. For them, they are always looking at at maximizing profit out of a given dollar. So if an opportunity arises where Polaris can put dollars in a new venture and make more money than if they put those dollars in Indian, then odds are that's what they are going to do.

Put another way, it's hard to see Polaris ever having a true passion for motorcycles. Unfortunately that takes many years to prove and they've just taken a giant step backwards by terminating Victory.

To counter the negativity of the demise of Victory, it would have been smart to have simultaneously released an aggressive Indian campaign. At the same time it would have been good to have reached out to newly orphaned Victory owners.
 
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I can't help but be skeptical of what the future holds for Indian. Motorcycles, unfortunately, are not a significant source of revenue for Polaris.
I can tell you, with what little I personally have learned (I do not work for Polaris of course), that I would not be skeptical at all. The future is very bright and is being heavily invested into.

Put another way, it's hard to see Polaris ever having a true passion for motorcycles. Unfortunately that takes many years to prove and they've just taken a giant step backwards by terminating Victory.
They are very passionate about Indian, and are really grasping how significant of a brand it is for them. Indian sales predictions have been shattered every year since the (re-)launch. Victory sales never met any.

To counter the negativity of the demise of Victory, it would have been smart to have simultaneously released an aggressive Indian campaign. At the same time it would have been good to have reached out to newly orphaned Victory owners.
I don't disagree, however the corporate machine always has their reasons.
 
I can tell you, with what little I personally have learned (I do not work for Polaris of course), that I would not be skeptical at all. The future is very bright and is being heavily invested into.


They are very passionate about Indian, and are really grasping how significant of a brand it is for them. Indian sales predictions have been shattered every year since the (re-)launch. Victory sales never met any.


I don't disagree, however the corporate machine always has their reasons.

I guess you can tell, I still remember the Buell debacle. I had a Buell Ulysses around that time and came within a whisker of getting a Buell 1125R. Fortunately I went a different direction (Ducati S4R).

But I digress. Shortly after I bought the S4R, the bottom fell out from under Buell. Buell prices were slashed and there was seemingly very little support for dealers from Harley during this time. Even less support for Buell owners.

With regards to Victory, the price slashing has already begun, at least here in Tennessee. And if you like the electric Victory Empulse, you're in for a treat. It's been slashed from $19,999 to $6,999. I would hate to have been an early adopter.
 
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It was reported that Victory dealers were only selling 20 units a year. 20 a year!

It's not hard to understand why Polaris pulled the plug.
 
I guess you can tell, I still remember the Buell debacle. I had a Buell Ulysses around that time and came within a whisker of getting a Buell 1125R. Fortunately I went a different direction (Ducati S4R). But I digress. Shortly after I bought the S4R, the bottom fell out from under Buell. Buell prices were slashed and there was seemingly very little support for dealers from Harley during this time. Even less support for Buell owners.
I owned and raced a X-1 Lightning professionally c96-00, and met Eric in '96 at his factory building under VIP Racer invite, staying in touch with him frequently... still to date. He was elated and bummed within months of HD buying him out, stating that the companies days were numbered within that short amount of time after it was purchased. The fact that it lasted as long as it did was surprising, and when they went to the Aprilia motor because HD refused to give him any R&D budget or engine direction help, I knew the end was near. I really thought they would've handed over the VR-1000 motor to him (that bike was being raced when I was), but he told me back then the R&D for it would be used for a new model (aka V-Rod). Such a head-scratcher all the way around. I really would like to see him team up with Motus.

The Polaris decision is completely different, and I think you will find that is a choice that is largely in part of their own failure with Vic, but the writing is on the wall for Indian in a good way. They are 100% committed to the brand... Returning to racing (FTR-750) and I know you will be pleasantly surprised with what is on the horizon.
 
I work at a Indian/Victory dealer and we were pretty shocked by the news but not hard to understand why they did it. They just worked all of last year building a completely new race motor for Matt Smith to compete on. And he still will be racing it this year. It's a shame Vics are on their way out. The motor is bullet proof and a great performer. Even over Indian and HD. But what turned off people from Vics, was the styling. You either love it or really hate it and the majority seemed to be on the latter.
Polaris is 110% committed to growing the Indian brand. I'm really expecting them to come out with a inline 4 in the near future. Just this past Christmas they posted a picture with a faded out Scout in the background with a carb set from a inline 4 on a table in the foreground holding votive candles, staying "Happy Holidays"... I'm thinking that was a teaser. We would also like to see something in between the Scout and the full size bikes.
 
The video below is just a taste of the fun I had with Victory... ~80% of the riding shots is yours truly.
I'll never forget the very first year riding for them (for their annual video/print ads/brochures) when every bike I sat on had '0' miles, I asked how easy I needed to be on them; The engineers there told me to "try and break it." I've jumped, slid them & spun tires on the rev-limiter countless times... and was about as hard on them as anyone would possibly be outside of flat out abuse. Never had even one issue in year after year of this, weeks at a time, in weather climates you can't even imagine from hot to cold, to over 14k feet of elevation. Always puts a smile on my face at the thought. R.I.P. Vic.
That said, I'm excited to be part of what Polaris Indian will bring to life. I am trying to secure one of their FTR-750s for some AMA Pro Team duties. Gotta admit it's an impressive kit from an OEM in this day and age, and it's debut at the Santa Rosa Mile was equally impressive as well, to say the least.



IndianScout FTR750
 
I owned and raced a X-1 Lightning professionally c96-00, and met Eric in '96 at his factory building under VIP Racer invite, staying in touch with him frequently... still to date. He was elated and bummed within months of HD buying him out, stating that the companies days were numbered within that short amount of time after it was purchased. The fact that it lasted as long as it did surprised me, and when they went to the Aprilia motor because HD refused to give him any R&D budget or engine direction help, I knew the end was near. I really thought they would hand over the VR-1000 motor to him (that bike was being raced when I was), but he told me back then the R&D for it would be used for a new model (V-Rod). Such a head-scratcher all the way around. I really would like to see him team up with Motus.

The Polaris decision is completely different, and I think you will find that is a choice that is largely in part of their own failure with Vic, but the writing is on the wall for Indian in a good way. They are 100% committed to the brand... Returning to racing (DTR-750) and I know you will be pleasantly surprised with what is on the horizon.

I hate to admit it, but somehow I missed the Introduction of the FTR-750. Let's say that my faith in Polaris may well be restored.
 
Polaris is 100% committed to the Indian brand. And not that long ago they were 100% committed to the Victory brand.
What happened to Buell was terrible. That Polaris did it to Victory shows they are no better, and I have no doubt that if the situation warrants it in their corporate view they would do the same thing to Indian.
 
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