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Polaris Shutters Victory Line


John Ranalletta

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Wow, just goes to show you it ain't easy. And now, Harley Davidson owns the big cruiser/touring market exclusively for the foreseeable future. Unless they (polaris) plan on pushing the Indian brand a little harder? (note to Polaris executives, don't use my wording) :grin:

 

 

Pat

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Probably not so much a fault of Victory motorcycles as a problem with the Polaris and Slingshot ( yes, they want to call themselves motorcycles but I/we know better ).

I think this is good for Indian, they have a much better shot at sales to Harley buyers. Now, if they can just forge a modern bike that the non-cruiser crowd might buy.

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Indian outsold Vic 4:1. They wound up just cannibalizing each other. Not surprising. What's of interest to me is what Polaris will wind up doing with the Brammo electric brand they just bought and put under the Victory banner.....

 

-MKL

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Probably not so much a fault of Victory motorcycles as a problem with the Polaris and Slingshot ( yes, they want to call themselves motorcycles but I/we know better ).

I think this is good for Indian, they have a much better shot at sales to Harley buyers. Now, if they can just forge a modern bike that the non-cruiser crowd might buy.

 

Agree! I think this allows Polaris to focus on Indian and not have to split the love with Victory. To the question of Indian building a modern bike that non-cruiser guys will buy ... what I have heard from Indian execs. is that they want to build the bike that the original Indian company would build in 2017! That is optimistic to me. If not they will be suffering with Harley in the declining "retro cruiser" market. Slingshot? Not sure what they plan on doing with that "vehicle". While it is cool ..... just not sure what you do with it? Kind of like a Boss Hoss .... cool to own but now what? I wish them luck with Indian and am sorry to see the passing of Victory. I recall demo riding the first Victory models at Americade years back!

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fourteenfour

Indian definitely had a more nostalgic styling but in the end there was really so little different between the two. instead of trying to improve cruiser riding by dropping the pounds they had two lines of overweight cruisers. HD owns that hands down. With the new M8 they fixed two of their biggest problems, I still think they need to get the weight off.

 

Fortunately there is enough variety in twins to fill the gap left by Victory, if there is one

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No, they do. Polaris will simply shuffle the brand over to Indian or another brand under their umbrella. No way they let that investment simply die so soon after purchasing it. It's their chance to bury Zero.

 

-MKL

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Not really in the market but wonder what kind of discounts could be had on their motorcycles after this announcement.

 

$22.599.00 MSRP on the Magnum shown here. Anyone care to guess? $$

 

2017-Victory-Magnum2.jpg

 

 

Pat

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As a Victory owner, we're disappointed, for sure. But, business it what it is. Many of us had high hopes with the purchase of Indian they'd let Victory go in a different direction and target the likes of BMW. Albeit on a smaller scale. Sadly, that's not going to be the case under the Victory brand. However, I expect to see a few things under the Indian badge, so, time will tell. In all likelihood, we'll see the 750 flat tracker in a road-going bike. It'll be interesting to see which direction they go with that bike. Will it target the Sportster or the Yamaha FZ crowd? If they go for the Sportster crowd expect another cruiser platform.

 

As it relates to Brammo, I don't expect the investment to go to waste as the future of transportation is electric. Knowing Polaris they're likely to do what they always do, follow Harley Davidson. So, if you see the Livewire hit the showroom floor, expect an Indian electric not far behind.

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I too am sorry to see this. in 2008, I had a 2006 HD Wideglide and 2004 RT. I wanted to get rid of both and get one bike that would be a cruiser and let me tour. I bought a 2007 leftover Kingpin Tour Deluxe and traded the HD for it. I then sold my 2004 Rt.

That bike had it all over the HD in terms of performance. There was no catagory that it didn't best the HD by at least a little. Power, Suspension and braking trounced the HD. The 3 pieces of luggage that came with the bike had the same storage as the RT. The King felt very secure on the road and handled far better than a bike of that size and wheelbase should have. The bike turned 25,000 on the day i rode it to pick up my new/used 2003 K1200RS. In those 25,000 miles I used 6 tires, 2 sparkplugs, 1 air filter and routine oil changes. Absolutely nothing else was needed and nothing went wrong. Most reliable bike I ever owned. Wish I could say the same for my Beemers.

With all this praise, the prices were just getting too high. I am not a 1 percenter (neither by income nor lifestyle) and have to budget for my toys. So, that means no new BMW either. Farewell Victory.

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No discounts.

The Franklin Mint has declared Victory as a collector line. :rofl:

I wouldn't doubt that some dealers are going to run with that theme. :ohboy: If so, I predict there will be a lot of dusty Victory motorcycles sitting in dealerships. :read:

 

Pat

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It's labeled as a Polaris, so I'm sure the Slingshot is done too.

 

Just the Victory line is going away.

 

From the Polaris release: said Scott Wine. “Our focus is on profitable growth, and in an environment of finite resources, this move allows us to optimize and align our resources behind both our premium, high performing Indian Motorcycle brand and our innovative Slingshot brand, enhancing our focus on accelerating the success of those brands."

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Unless they (polaris) plan on pushing the Indian brand a little harder? (note to Polaris executives, don't use my wording) :grin:

 

From the story:

The company will shift focus to Indian Motorcycle, which has a higher growth potential - it is a worldwide recognizable brand while offering a better price point and more favorable economics. More research and development will be dedicated to the Slingshot platform as well.

 

I dropped in on a Polaris dealer last weekend and sat in a Slingshot. Unlike the CanAm Spyder, I could probably control a Slingshot. It's more like a modern Morgan 3-wheeler than a bike. I wonder how long before state DOTs figure this out?

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Too bad Polaris seemed on the verge of something pretty interesting with the two brand approach. I was looking forward to Victory being untethered from the nostalgia channel that Indian occupies.

 

I think the board of directors saw the same challenge as HD did with Buell. They faced a squeeze on both the premium and the value end of the market between the Euro and Japanese performance bikes. Add in a strengthening dollar and their plan to position Victory as a performance oriented bike became too fraught with peril. The last nail in the coffin for Victory came from quarterly financial reports, which have a way of forcing a bold long range vision into a timid incremental step plan to maintain share holder value.

 

RIP Victory.

 

 

 

 

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It's labeled as a Polaris, so I'm sure the Slingshot is done too.

 

I've been told by local dealers that the side by side market has represented more of their profit margin than motorcycles for the last decade. Lots 1990's riders seem to be moving to three and four wheel platforms. The Slingshot will probably represent the top of the Polaris power sports lineup.

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Lots of unhappy Victory owners out there. I have to wonder if Polaris considered the fallout. I know guys that are getting offered 50% of what they would have a couple weeks ago. The plus is that a couple of my friends are considering GTLs.

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the writing was on the wall the moment Polaris launched Indian. As for slighshot, I just don't see the appeal. i have seen two in Atlanta and if it were a better motor choice and such it might be cool. if I had to do three wheels the Morgan is just too cool with the right paint

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