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Victory Reliability

50K views 19 replies 18 participants last post by  Tims_04V92TC 
#1 ·
I'm considering a Victory Vision Touring. All the posts I see are from people with relatively new bikes - 600 miles, 2000 miles, etc.

Is there anyone out there with 20,000 or more miles on their Victory bikes? I'm a bit concerned about there not being many dealers when I travel cross country. How reliable are the bikes? What happens if you break down hundreds of miles away from the nearest dealer?

I'm also considering a GL-1800 and a big advantage is the many, many Honda dealers everywhere you go. I'm very interested in hearing from former GL-1800 owners who have switched to Victory or vice versa.

Any information on these concerns will be greatly appreciated.
 
#2 ·
I just returned to Victory after a long time with other brands and haven't got the chance to rack up any miles on my new one yet.

But to give you a little idea, I bought one of the very first Victory's built when they first started the company (99') and I put 10k on it before I had the first problem. Not bad for a first year bike IMO.

I'm hoping that they have only improved tremendously since then.
 
#4 ·
Since the 99-00 models tranny issue the Victory lineup has been pretty much bullet proof.

Saying that, these are mechanical beings, meaning moving parts. There is always the possibility of problems.

I personally know a rider/customer that has 120,000 on her 06 Kingpin that that she bought new! She has done all her maintenance on time and aside from a broken drive belt (she got 75000 out of it. Should be changed every 30,000) no problems.

Some 2008 Visions needed a reflash due to a surging issue. If you buy a 2008 be sure the TSB's have been performed.

The BIG downside to Victory ownership is the dealer network. There aren't many out there compared to the other brands. You have to remember that even though Polaris is the mother company not a lot of Polaris dealerships carry Victory nor service them. However if you get the GPS with your Vision the dealer network is in there to plan a trip!
 
#5 ·
04 vegas. 60,000 miles. went thru 1 drive belt and except for oil and tires that is it.
 
#7 ·
ive owned various brands of m.c. and belong to a group which includes all types and brands, they all break or at the least have flats, with that said by all means purchase a towing service, check out M.T.S. Motorcycle Towing Service $90.00 per yr. tow up to $300.00 with a Motorcycle specific tow rig. check with the other towing services such as Auto club , you have to purchase R V towing package to get motorcycle coverage. most use a flat bed type truck.

steve
 
#8 ·
Vision reliability

I've owned my '08 comfort tourer since November 1st of 2008. Currently I have 11,200 miles on the clock. Except from replacing a rear tire, the bike has not been back to the dealer since the 500 mile checkup. So far 100% reliable.

Just my two cents.

BTW, this is my first Victory after more than 23 years of riding.
 
#10 ·
Bought my Vision in August '09..I now have 16,000 no issues at all...Three warranty claims and NONE of them mechanical!!

Great bike!
 
#11 ·
I have sold off two Vic's with more then 60K on the clock and I ride VERY hard. Both bikes were sold local, and still come in for service. I have several customers around 100K without ever having to pull a cover on the engine. As a Vic mechanic I hang chrome, and do service work. However I do get the occasional mechanical failure; just not very often
 
#12 ·
to the professor

We went from an '08 wing to an 09ultra classic to a09 vision, with a ST1300 between the wing and HD. The VV is the most comfortable bike I have ever had,and much more fun to ride than the others-couple of hundred miles and it fe bikeels like you just got on-have'nt heard of any reliability problems,remember, they all break- and if it makes a difference Wings arn't made in Ohio anymore ;good luck with your future
 
#14 ·
Had an '04 vegas that I rode until '09 and sold it with about 16K. It was bullet proof. Over the 5 years I changed the oil and rode it with no problems. I had serious seller's remorse so just recently bought an '08 Jackpot and am happy to have a Victory back in my garage. I plan to ride this one for a long time. Having a bit of a problem with finding neutral when the engine is hot and I understand this is a problem that is not all that uncommon. Did not have this problem with my '04. All in all, great bike and I'll learn to live with the finding neutral problem.
 
#15 ·
I bought mine in April of this year and just turned 9,300 miles this morning on my way to work. GREAT BIKE!!! I have not had any issues, and other than routine maintenance of oil and filter changes it has needing nothing...........except gas.
 
#16 ·
new member Victory Vision Reliable so far

I Pulled the trigger sep. 1st 2012 on my vision 2013.sO The break in for my bike was around a week that i comuted to work.So the 1st service came very quick.Under the impression that every 5000 mi. was your service cycle.As of today i have 11,400 1 trip up to see some friends in san clemente ca.Im from stockton ca.Arlen shop:confused mentioned since i ride it so much i should have them service it every 3000.senthetic oil being 10.00 a qaurt.does all vision bikes have polaris senthetic oil??? Arlen ness shop in dublin ca.Where i purchashed my vision. Found a leak on the front cylinder. Under 5000mi.top end, so they replaced it.3 weeks later,very poor customer service,(this being around the holidys) I was very frustrated & evan thought i made a mistake buying my bike from that shop.The customer service is better now,not knowing what good customer service is.Having a issue with digital speed,gear,milage,trip a,trip b,evan the tach speedometer went crazy.So took my i phone & recorded this issue that my bike is having.I explained this problem on my last service,they just reset the digital display & seemed to be ok.So taking it in for the next service & hopefully the will fix it this time???
 
#20 ·
I Pulled the trigger sep. 1st 2012 on my vision 2013.sO The break in for my bike was around a week that i comuted to work.So the 1st service came very quick.Under the impression that every 5000 mi. was your service cycle.As of today i have 11,400 1 trip up to see some friends in san clemente ca.Im from stockton ca.Arlen shop:confused mentioned since i ride it so much i should have them service it every 3000.senthetic oil being 10.00 a qaurt.does all vision bikes have polaris senthetic oil??? Arlen ness shop in dublin ca.Where i purchashed my vision. Found a leak on the front cylinder. Under 5000mi.top end, so they replaced it.3 weeks later,very poor customer service,(this being around the holidys) I was very frustrated & evan thought i made a mistake buying my bike from that shop.The customer service is better now,not knowing what good customer service is.Having a issue with digital speed,gear,milage,trip a,trip b,evan the tach speedometer went crazy.So took my i phone & recorded this issue that my bike is having.I explained this problem on my last service,they just reset the digital display & seemed to be ok.So taking it in for the next service & hopefully the will fix it this time???
Customer service in any dealership, not just Vic, seems to suck. Whens the last time you took your car to the dealer and came up clicking your heals? They all want you money, end of story but on occasion you find some that are worth the trip. End of my thoughts on Dealers, I happen to find one (All out Cycles of Chesapeake) that are good at what they do.

I call BS on their 3K service thoughts.. One of the good deals on your bike is in fact you can safely go 5K on oil changes. Not going to bring up the oil threads as to what type to use, etc but page 58 of your owners manual should give you your service intervals.. I don't see a note on how often you ride.. They must be thinking of the older generation VV, theres a thread on here somewhere. Yes, its synth and at least its only 4.5 quarts instead of 6 :ltr: like my V92 needs.

Digital display, be more specific to the problem but sounds like it may have had a bad flash. Do you get TRIP TIME as one of your options? I noticed that after they flashed mine last year.

You got a good bike and alot of folks around here to help you resolve questions you may have. Download the owners manual if you havent already as well as the repair manual BBob has up and forget the shop.

My only complains BESIDES some production oversights is paint as Arkie chips way too easy and quality that lower deflectors wernt stock. I can even live with my home made trunk liner but that was a little cheap I thought too... lol

Safe ridin
Tim
 
#17 ·
I'm considering a Victory Vision Touring. All the posts I see are from people with relatively new bikes - 600 miles, 2000 miles, etc.

Is there anyone out there with 20,000 or more miles on their Victory bikes? I'm a bit concerned about there not being many dealers when I travel cross country. How reliable are the bikes? What happens if you break down hundreds of miles away from the nearest dealer?
Unless you're out west in BFE, you probably won't be that far from a dealer:

 
#18 ·
I've got a 2012 XCT...16,000 miles (and that was in 9 months since I was down for 3 months with a broken arm)...NOT a single problem.

I LOVES my XCT!!!
 
#19 ·
OK...you want a complaint from me.

Two things. No Trunk liner and the paint chips easily.
 
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