Test Rode a Victory Vision

[etcswjoe]

Test rode a Vision today and it was a smooth ride, however I think the bike I rode was defective it clunked really bad when you changed gears and had no power on acceleration. The handle bars seemed way to high does anyone know if they are adjustable?

[Guest scarylarry]

I don't know about the bars, but the first 3 gears will have a loud clunk to them..

 

As for power should have ran scalding dog, or the ones I looked at did...

[Snaggletooth]

Power should not have been a problem. The one I test rode was a trip to twist on. Easy to forget how fast you you were going and not hard to get there.....at all!

 

And clunky shifting seems to be the norm from what I've been told by owners.

 

Still, it's not a V4. What a shame.

 

Mike

[Wrench]

Overall, did it feel as good comfort-wise it as it looks? The seat height is what I really like about the Vics, but most every article I've read say the tranny is clunky, and I've heard that things tend to "loosen up" from the vibration after a few miles. I got REALLY hot for one back in the summer, first the Vision 8-Ball, but I really did'nt think I'd like the fixed fairing, then the dealer got in a Cross Country,,,, WOW. I just wasn't at a place at the time where I was ready to let go of that many $$'s, so that's how I wound up with another used Venture. But I still get that warm fuzzy feelin' when I see a Vic,,,,,,,,.

[BigLenny]

Overall, did it feel as good comfort-wise it as it looks? The seat height is what I really like about the Vics, but most every article I've read say the tranny is clunky, and I've heard that things tend to "loosen up" from the vibration after a few miles. I got REALLY hot for one back in the summer, first the Vision 8-Ball, but I really did'nt think I'd like the fixed fairing, then the dealer got in a Cross Country,,,, WOW. I just wasn't at a place at the time where I was ready to let go of that many $$'s, so that's how I wound up with another used Venture. But I still get that warm fuzzy feelin' when I see a Vic,,,,,,,,.

 

I feel the same way about the whole Victory idea. They are very intriguing to me, but letting go of the duckets for one is something I'm still not ready to do. I test rode a Vision, and Cross Country Tour a few weeks back, and I think both bikes are smooth. A couple things that made me go hmmmm, was A. The vision had quite a bit of wind swirling around between me and the windshield (pretty lengthy space between rider and shield(, and B. I was quite surprised to hear a couple rattles on the Vision and Cross Country since they had very few miles on them. Makes me wonder about the "loosen up" statement from above.

[etcswjoe]

The seat height was good but with my wife on the back I had no room up front and my wife sis not like how the passenger backrest sloped. The fairing does seem a long way from the rider but I think you could get use to that. The wind does catch it pretty good but i don't think anymore than the RSV. They are nice bikes but just not for me as they are now.

[Wrench]

Yeah, the guy that put me onto my Venture said he rode a Cross Country and he said almost exactly what you did. He said his wife was less comfortable on it than she was on his old Roadstar. He was also the one that told me that they loosen up, he knew a guy that bought a new Vision and traded it on a Gold Wing after about a year.

[dynodon]

I rode a used Venture 2 years ago and was fairly impressed, but the back brakes didn't work and there were a couple other major faults, but as a used bike, I couldn't hang those on the make, but the owner/dealer.

 

Then earlier this year I rode a Cross Country Tour and was amazed at the vibration. As in a LOT of vibration! Plenty of power, good protection, and I liked the looks, but the vibration killed it for me. A Harley vibrates to beat the band at idle, but smooths out, a Victory is pretty smooth at idle, but vibrates more the faster you go. Was a deal breaker for me.

 

I wound up with another GoldWing. I started out my modern era of riding on a Yamaha Venture Royale (86) and loved it, but did sell it late this summer. The Wing is something I am absolutely in love with at the moment. But if Yamaha came out with a true wing competitor, I would consider it and give it a real chance. But I am just not into stuff that looks like a Harley, if I want that look, I will get a real one.

 

I do have two friends that own Cross Countrys, and they both seem to love them though.

[we2riders]

I got involved with Polaris's factory test ride last summer, they had em all lined up and a friend and I test rode all day - what a hoot.. They had one model, cant for the life of me remember which one it was, that we called the "weeble" - as in that ol song "weebles will wobble but wont fall down". This thing just screamed, go ahead and try to make me fall over, it was inspiring to ride!! Real low saddle height and you could literally step off it at a stop and it would just lean on its outer bars and sit there - really cool.. It might have been an 8 ball... Anyway, it was a BLAST to flog!! I thought motor wise that they had everything HP and torque that any other stock V-Twin their size had but yea they all did make weird noises..

I think they must have double wide extra heavy gears in em or something cause they all had that clunky tranny deal going.. I liked the Visions ride too but I am also way spoiled on the ol 1st gen Venture, nothing seems to fit me like these ol yammers..

I think Victory is going to have to back off on their pricing in order to compete with the other American made bike (HD), maybe have a "buy one get one free" like KIA did a few years ago.. Going toe to toe with the motor company aint gonna work.. HD has worked for wayyy more years developing their market. Kinda like the Chinese thinking their gonna do in 5 years what it took the Japs the last 50 to do..

On another note, I cant wait to see what, if anything, Polaris does with the Indian.. I have always loved the looks of the Chief. Maybe make Victory their lower end bikes (dollar wise) for a while and spin the Indian into an HD competitor?? That would be great!

[icebrrg3rd]

I rode on all of their models on one of those all day Victory test drives, not too bad of bikes, but with me accustomed to my high rev'n Yamahas, I was bouncing off the rev limiters on those low rev'n Victorys when I floored them. I'd take a Vision, even with all their faults, but they're not in my price range now. They vibrated, but it didn't seem to be all that bad to me.

 

-Andrew

[SilvrT]

 

Then earlier this year I rode a Cross Country Tour and was amazed at the vibration. As in a LOT of vibration! Plenty of power, good protection, and I liked the looks, but the vibration killed it for me. A Harley vibrates to beat the band at idle, but smooths out, a Victory is pretty smooth at idle, but vibrates more the faster you go. Was a deal breaker for me.

 

 

I've test rode the CCT twice and had a really good test ride the second time. I noticed the exact same "vibration" issue the first time ... then on the second ride I realized that they will vibrate .... if you LUG them and that's what I was doing ... once I realized that, and then kept the revvs up at least 2-2500 rpm it was as smooth as anything (Wings excluded of course LOL). Furthermore, from that rpm on up there's lots of power.

 

FWIW I would be riding one if I had the bucks.

[shmily]

I took a test ride on a Vision yesterday during Victory Demo Days at a local dealer.

 

It was a surprisingly nimble bike in turns considering the size. I felt very comfortable laying it over on the twisties.

 

I didn't like the transmission "clunk" at all. I don't know if I could ever get used to that.

 

I also didn't like the mirrors. While they look sporty because they're molded into the fairing, at least half of the field of view was my gloves and the clutch/brake levers. They sit too close to the grips and you can't adjust very much for a better view.

 

I loved the adjustable windshield.

 

All in all, my Venture smooth and friendly after about 30 minutes on the Vision. While there were things I liked about the Victory, I wasn't inspired to make a change.

[djh3]

I didnt notice a issue with the mirrors. Maybe its a difference in seating position between us. We really liked the bike and would probably trade. What we didnt like was the storage space. while it looked to have a good amount it was all slanted and odd shaped so not real usable. Now the Cross Country oh man..........

[cowpuc]

Indeed,, I spent a lot of time goofin off at a Victory test last year,, everything they had, had that clunky tranny... Someday I would like to do some research into whether or not they are clunking due to being overbuilt,, I would like to hold a gear set from a Victory in my hand next to a Venture gear set and compare em... If the clunkyness is due to overbuild,, makin em virtually indestructable (double size gears/ramps/dogs),,, I wouldn't necessarily consider that a bad thing and could actually grow to like one to pound on!!

[Eck]

Test rode a Vision today and it was a smooth ride, however I think the bike I rode was defective it clunked really bad when you changed gears and had no power on acceleration. The handle bars seemed way to high does anyone know if they are adjustable?

 

From what I have been told by others who test rode or even purchased one, each of them have said that all Victory's clunk / clank when shifting....its their nature..

[Ventureless]

Joe,

 

I loved the Victory. I test rode the Cross Country. It felt light and was very roomy for some one my size. The shifting was no more clunky to me than my Venture has been since I've had it. My only problem with them was that it seemed to touch down around curves much sooner than the Venture. That was really my only complaint from both test rides I have taken. I also liked the quick release trunk on the CCT. Since I ride alone 99.9% of the time, it would be great. I know you and I have been going through the same thoughts lately of getting rid of our 99s and buying newer or something different all together. After my most recent issues, I am really done. I do love the Venture when it is tip top, but I have opted to go a whole different route. I am trying to sell my bike now or find a trade. I am going with a Suzuki Vstrom adventure bike. A little more sporty. FI. ABS. Off road capable which opens more riding for me with all the fire roads and dirt roads near me. Plus I can pick up a 2007-2011 for pretty cheap ($3500-$6000).