Victory stopping production

[kyzrex]

Polaris Industries has just announced that they are ceasing production of the Victory line of motorcycles.  They do plan to provide parts, service, and warranty coverage for up to 10 years into the future.  In the meantime they will be helping dealers to sell out stock.

They will continue to manufacture the Indian brand and the Slingshots.



 .   I was really hoping they would develop and sell a lineup of sport/standard bikes in the future and am very surprised by this announcement.

[Sport-Touring]

[SLK50]

Rather continuing to be bold and innovative,
Polaris has instead chosen the path of least
resistance, becoming another dead fish and
going with the flow.
A real shame as Victory had some real strengths
compared to its competitors.

[DosEquis00]

This will be a big bump for Indian as this is where they see the growth.  

[Baz]

It actually may harm Indian with potential customers worrying about another failure of the brand.

[PatM]

It actually may harm Indian with potential customers worrying about another failure of the brand.

Maybe, then again Polaris had to chose between an iconic brand that is growing vs a brand that isn't.
Never mind that Indian is (was) canibalising Victory's sales. Boards and investors have little patience for business units that don't show healty growth or profits.

[Blue is Best]

That is too bad. The bean counters couldn't see taking money out of the left pocket to put it in the right pocket. Speaking of sales here.

[Stripes]

I personally feel that this is GREAT news!  

[Sport]

Rather continuing to be bold and innovative,
Polaris has instead chosen the path of least
resistance, becoming another dead fish and
going with the flow.
A real shame as Victory had some real strengths
compared to its competitors.

Agree.  If I wanted a bike that does what the Victory does I'd certainly choose one over HD or Indian.  I love the looks of the Indian motor, like fine art, it's beautiful but, the Indian and HDs all weigh 900 pounds before you even sit on them much less pack them for a tour.  Sad seeing any brand go under.

[Sport]

I personally feel that this is GREAT news!  

Why not enlighten us as to why this is "great" news?

[Delegate1k]

Here's an article on this announcement

Polaris says it's the end of the line for Victory Motorcycle brand

and here

Victory Motorcycles cease production

[rajflyboy]

I was sad to hear this.  I have had a chance to ride a few Victory motorcycles and I appreciated the brand.  I love the motors on the Victory over the HD's.

I hope they expand the Indian Brand with a few of the victory models although I realize that will likely not happen.

Slingshots ?   I guess people are buying these things?

[FJRider]

Breaking news ....

[PatM]

https://www.sport-touring.net/forums/index.php/topic,120025.msg2648338/topicseen.html#new  

[motrhead]

Sad. They were good bikes not just trading on an old name. Harley buddies that bought Victory bikes raved about the handling and power. It's just sad that people are taken in by an old name with zero connection to the current bikes. Indian died 60 years ago...

[BobW]

Rambling thoughts of an old swiss cheese mind

Not sure why it's good news as it speaks to the overall (poor?) health of motorcycling in general.

Baz has a point that mirrors my thoughts. I may be wrong (often am  ), but they display no depth of motorcycling knowledge or interest and I question will they pander to the Indian Brand just long enough to recoup costs for R+D and Certification on the two new engines and then pack their toys and return to their very profitable roots? What they have was great to see get started, but moving forward this may be a chicken or egg thing as this focus on one Brand they think will cause better profit may be offset by people like me that will look elsewhere because they are not worth risking my $ with an unknown long term vision (no pun intended) as a motorcycle company.  

 I just sold (good timing?) my Victory Cross Roads and got another BMW as I wanted something more agile, but believed this year or by next all their 156 Pikes Peak bike teasing would lead to an offering on the showroom floor I would be "first in line" for. Obviously not going to happen unless Indian expands their line greatly from their Sportster and 'Glide competitors. The styling on the Chiefs is polarizing and they don't fit tall riders as well and the Scout is teeny, this leaves a huge gap in market coverage where standard/roadster/scrambler/GS demographics are enjoying huge interest.

I bought the Victory as I wanted to "buy American" and after renting a Road King (very nice!) I found that even though the Victory wasn't as "polished" as the Harley it was a much better "motorcycle" for me.  I rode the Victory all over the U.S. for 30,000 trouble free miles and it was beyond easy to service, had a great frame, suspension, brakes and performance. I was pleasantly surprised what a good motorcycle it was/is be it cruising at high speeds out west or taking on our local mountain roads. RIP  

[Oilhed]

I liked the Vision and the Octane.  Granted some will say the Octane was a rebranded Scout but actually it was designed as a Victory and branded an Indian only when it went into production!  The Vision needed a make over visually.  The rest of the line I was not excited about.  Maybe that Scout/Octane motor in a Standard & Adv. Tourer frame....

[rajflyboy]

Rambling thoughts of an old swiss cheese mind

Not sure why it's good news as it speaks to the overall (poor?) health of motorcycling in general.

Baz has a point that mirrors my thoughts. I may be wrong (often am  ), but they display no depth of motorcycling knowledge or interest and I question will they pander to the Indian Brand just long enough to recoup costs for R+D and Certification on the two new engines and then pack their toys and return to their very profitable roots? What they have was great to see get started, but moving forward this may be a chicken or egg thing as this focus on one Brand they think will cause better profit may be offset by people like me that will look elsewhere because they are not worth risking my $ with an unknown long term vision (no pun intended) as a motorcycle company.  

 I just sold (good timing?) my Victory Cross Roads and got another BMW as I wanted something more agile, but believed this year or by next all their 156 Pikes Peak bike teasing would lead to an offering on the showroom floor I would be "first in line" for. Obviously not going to happen unless Indian expands their line greatly from their Sportster and 'Glide competitors. The styling on the Chiefs is polarizing and they don't fit tall riders as well and the Scout is teeny, this leaves a huge gap in market coverage where standard/roadster/scrambler/GS demographics are enjoying huge interest.

I bought the Victory as I wanted to "buy American" and after renting a Road King (very nice!) I found that even though the Victory wasn't as "polished" as the Harley it was a much better "motorcycle" for me.  I rode the Victory all over the U.S. for 30,000 trouble free miles and it was beyond easy to service, had a great frame, suspension, brakes and performance. I was pleasantly surprised what a good motorcycle it was/is be it cruising at high speeds out west or taking on our local mountain roads. RIP  

Very well said     And my thoughts after just a few short rides on a few different Victory models

[DosEquis00]

It actually may harm Indian with potential customers worrying about another failure of the brand.

Indian is growing rapidly while Victory never achieved the potential that was expected. Harley vs Indian is where the money lies and Polaris will get a much larger share of the market than Victory could have achieved. Time will tell but it makes sense to concentrate on one brand.

[rajflyboy]

Indian is growing rapidly while Victory never achieved the potential that was expected. Harley vs Indian is where the money lies and Polaris will get a much larger share of the market than Victory could have achieved. Time will tell but it makes sense to concentrate on one brand.

I wonder if the Indian brand line of motorcycles will be expanded with more models?

[kyzrex]

I wonder if the Indian brand line of motorcycles will be expanded with more models?

My ability to see into the future is nonexistent, but my gut feeling says probably not.  I read an interview of the head of the motorcycle division for Polaris a year or so ago.  In it he talked about the difference between the two brands...Victory and Indian.  He described Victory as being the brand that would be used to try new things and bring out cutting edge technology and design, and that Indian would be for the person looking for traditional style, but still wanting an alternative to the Motor Company.  It looks to me like they have decided that there is not enough of a market for those wanting a cruiser and still wanting modern technology.  

On a side note......I thought I saw a report that Yamaha was dropping their "Star" line of marketing for their cruisers and was bringing them back into the "Yamaha" lineup of bikes.  Seems that companies have decided that they just aren't going to be able to overcome 100 years of established history by HD, so why try?