Victory Motorcycle Forum banner

Thinking about a Victory Cross Country

5K views 39 replies 15 participants last post by  RICZ 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi, new to the board...

I currently ride an '05 Harley Davidson Nightrain and love my bike. We are going to become empty-nesters in couple of years and cannot picture ourselves in an RV. But we ride the Softail together whenever we get the chance. The idea of getting a touring bike to travel and visit children and grandchildren has become something we are keen on. Being a Harley owner I of course went and looked at Road Glides and the newer Electra Glides. I'm no HD sycophant though, I'm constantly amazed at the Motor Company's dated technology and insistence on dated philosophy (for lack of a better term). I'm glad to see that HD is improving their technology for the '14 Electra Glide and the Road Glide is supposed to get some of that in '15 or '16. I've seen Victory bikes on the road and admire them, but haven't paid them much attention.

So anyhow...

As I am looking at touring bikes, I happen on a series of Youtube videos from some Victory dealer about the engine design of Victory motorcycles. The design seems much more technologically modern and/or well thought out. I've looked at the Victory models and like the looks of the Cross Country Touring. It's still cold here, so I haven't test rode either bike, but I hope to when it warms up. I figure I probably won't get a good answer about Victory from my HD friends, so I've joined here to learn about them.

Concerns. Well even thought the technology is more up to date, that doesn't always mean quality control is. I know what the problems with Harleys are, and sometimes people stick with the devil they know over the one they do not. What are your general impressions of the quality of Victory bikes. So far all I've heard from my HD friends is about "all that plastic". Another concern is the dealer support. Victory obviously doesn't have the base of dealerships and aftermarket parts that HD has. What have been your experiences with break downs on the road and dealing with Victory service departments?

And final question for now, is there anything you wish you knew before you bought your Victory. I'd especially like to hear comparisons from people that have, or had a HD so I can get an idea of what you find different. Since I already have an HD, it gives me a base of comparison.

Thanks.
 
See less See more
#35 ·
Thanks Pop, that was very helpful. I'll also say I love that red that was available for a couple of years but isn't this year. That is the color I really want one in, so a used bike is a very good possibility if I go Victory.

I thought I would post this guy's video links. This, so far, is the only guy I've found on Youtube that had a Victory and has problems with them. I'd like the analysis from experienced Victory owners on his comments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNVIggLdTwk

This video I figure he was expecting more from these stage kits. Given what y'all have told me here there are better upgrades out there than the Victory offerings. It also sounds like he wants a very loud bike. Not my style anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsKhRCVhiRk

This one he again mentions problems with the Cross Country Tour that sound like the same issues before except the "wobble" or "vibration". Could this just be buffeting from wind on the faring?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TdF7X-crOA

This one actually has me the most interested. The clutch problem sounds serious. But, with a grain of salt, this could be someone that wanted a bike for burnouts and such that messed up his clutch from abusive operation.

Anyhow, thanks. So far y'all have been very helpful.
 
#36 ·
Thanks Pop, that was very helpful. I'll also say I love that red that was available for a couple of years but isn't this year. That is the color I really want one in, so a used bike is a very good possibility if I go Victory.

I thought I would post this guy's video links. This, so far, is the only guy I've found on Youtube that had a Victory and has problems with them. I'd like the analysis from experienced Victory owners on his comments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNVIggLdTwk

This video I figure he was expecting more from these stage kits. Given what y'all have told me here there are better upgrades out there than the Victory offerings. It also sounds like he wants a very loud bike. Not my style anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsKhRCVhiRk

This one he again mentions problems with the Cross Country Tour that sound like the same issues before except the "wobble" or "vibration". Could this just be buffeting from wind on the faring?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TdF7X-crOA

This one actually has me the most interested. The clutch problem sounds serious. But, with a grain of salt, this could be someone that wanted a bike for burnouts and such that messed up his clutch from abusive operation.

Anyhow, thanks. So far y'all have been very helpful.
He is right about the stage 1 for $1k not being worth it. That's all though.

He has a wobble at 22k miles. Big deal. Wanna bet he didn't change the fork oil at 15k miles like it was supposed to be. He probably just needs to do the basic maintenance on the XCT which would also include adjusting the pre-load on the neck bearings. Many times though; the wobble is caused by something happening on the back end like a bad tire, bad alignment, or although not likely, bad bearings if he rode it with the belt too tight.

As for the High Ball; I wrote this in the comment section of the video.

Other than your anger; I didn't really get much out of this video. I've had a bunch of HD's and poured more money into them than the law allowed and still never had enough confidence to go much farther than the county line with any of them. I own two Vic's; a Cross Country and a Kingpin and both run flawlessly. I would take either of them cross country and back in a second.

If you are that unhappy with the bike; maybe you should just sell it. Personally I would just fix it and keep riding. Those clutch parts don't go bad for no reason. Just sayin'. Good luck either way.
 
#37 ·
Thanks for the reply BBob. I hadn't thought of the other possibilities of the front end vibration. Makes sense when you think about it.

I've got another question that may seem pretty minor to some. How hard is it to find nutral after the bike is running. Compared to my old Kawasakis, the Harley drives me nuts with the transmission clunk and neutral that is constantly evasive.
 
#38 ·
On the 2011 and newer Vic's there is a neutral finder. Basically once stopped just shift up and you are in neutral.

I can't speak for every Vic out there but the 3 I had pre-2011 finding neutral was pretty much like every HD I had. Took a little practice but after that it wasn't something I needed to concentrate on. Just came natural.

It seems to me the guy in those videos was madder at his dealership than anything. Just like with any vehicle there will be good shops and bad. Mine was great and after the one year warranty was up I just took it from there.
 
#39 ·
Sarge
Buy with confidence. As the proud and extraordinarily satisfied owner of a 2012 XCT with 20K miles in two riding seasons (MN), I have the following random observations/recommendations:
- Speakers are overrated. At 75mph, I don't care what you invest in upgrades. It's gonna sound lousy. Best investment I made was some in-the-ear custom fitted headphones that keep out the road/tire/wind noise, but let me listen to my tunes at a reasonable level. Save the hearing is my thought.
- Storage is incredible. Absolutely blows away anything that HD has out there.
- Dealer network isn't near that of MoCo. But they've got about 85 years headstart. Give Polaris a chance. My experience with the dealers I've come across is that they are small businesses. Some suck, some are great.
- I've had two issues. An annoying squeak/chirp in my belt drive. I've improved that GREATLY simply by scrubbing the belt with a brush when I wash my bike. Takes about 2 minutes and doesn't chirp anymore until it gets really dirty. Second, I had a front break ABS sensor go tits up. Other than that, it's been trouble free
- Comfortable as hell. My longest day was kickstand up at 6am EDT in Charleston, WV, pulled into garage in Mpls, MN at 9pm CDT. Long-ass day, but I wasn't hating it.
- Main reason I bought Vic was that it WASN'T MoCo. I wanted something different. USA made, V-Twin, cruiser style. I was looking at the Kingpin for several years until I saw the Cross bikes in Sturgis (rode there on Road King). Knew then and there that was the bike I wanted. I gave them a year or two to work out the bugs and bought my 2012 in Feb of 2012.
- 10K miles in year one, 9K in year two...couldn't be happier.
- The XCT is a bit top heavy when fully loaded and with two passengers. I don't think anymore than other bikes, but it is a bit hard to handle at slow speeds.
- Don't bother with the factory stage 1 upgrade. I wish I would have saved the money and just brought it to Rylan at TheVicShop.com for some Lloydz upgrades
- You must remove the side covers and the seat to take off the trunk. Takes less than 3 minutes, but a little it of a pain
- I struggled with the windshield. Someone in this thread said that the stock shield is either too tall or too low. He's right. The low looks good, but wind management is poor. Tall is great for wind, but I can NOT stand looking through the windshield. It only can be done with trial and error.
- Be prepared to catch some crap from your HD pals. Just look a them and laugh. Or bleat like a sheep and see if they get it

Have fun
 
#40 ·
Bucket, you jumped into this forum with both feet and a great post...welcome. To those H-D guys that try to give me guff, I say; You laugh at me because I'm different--I'm laughing at you because you are all the same. Baaaaa.:)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top