[BBob]

Okay, like most of us, I continue to be disappointed Victory has been discontinued. Life goes on though and maybe I'm just looking for something not really there but I'm seeing a hint of Victory in these new factory custom Indian's.

2017 Indian Chieftain Elite Motorcycle - Fireglow Red Candy with Marble Accents

They do look good but the chances of me ever buying one is still slim to none. Still; we can still admire them and at $31.5k we could buy two and keep one as a backup right. Seriously though, if someone bought the base model and customized it similar to how these are set up they could easily spend much more in the long run to get it that way. I can remember when coming up with $3k was about the standard for a good used Harley in the 80's. Seems like another lifetime ago and just yesterday at the same time.

Truth be known; if I could trade straight across with my two Vic's for one of these - I'd do it in a minute.

 

[BBob]

The "Limited" would probably be more my style until I could paint it myself. For those of us who enjoy the fun of customizing; the Limited is the way to fly.

2017 Indian Chieftain Limited Motorcycle - Thunder Black

And at $24.5k it would be closer to what I might be willing to pay.

 

[Bobbyd85]

I don't see any Victory in there. I see a lot of Harley.

 

[PaiN]

or you could just Vicwrapz your Cross Country ....

 

[Tony.v]

I don't see any Victory in there. I see a lot of Harley.

I agree, looks like a HD. Nice looking bike but not my style.

 

[Bobbyd85]

Coastal Indian in SC has one. They posted pics on FB.

 

[Joe_]

I like the two Vic's we have now and because of medical issues they aren't getting ridden much so I have a couple of great bikes and am not in the market for anything other than maybe a set of cams in the future. (though for the life of me I can't really figure out why I need them)

IF I was in the market I would want to see how Polaris lives up to it's promise to support the Vic's before I would consider another bike from them. I'm a little slow, but not so slow that I would buy another product from Polaris on a promise of we will continue to sell and support this. Got that cup..Seeing how well they honor their promise to continue supporting the Vic line will lead to my rethinking this.

Here is an example of what support looks like.
The hack we have is pulled by a American made 91 Gl1500 from Honda. (Born at Marysville Ohio plant) It became ours two years ago and because the PO didn't do any real maintenance to the bike except the all important air filter and oil changes and lubing the final drive splines in the 125,000 miles he drove it, I needed to go completely through the final drive and fork, wheelsl, cam belts, engine management, cruise control and everything that would be needed for it to pull a double wide sidecar with a 26 yr old motorcycle. Which I did. What I found was that OEM parts from Honda were readily available though the bike has been out of production 17 yrs. The engineering is so good that replacing a clutch is almost unheard of even with a sidehack or trailer no matter what the mileage. They seldom give it up even when loaded way past their original design capacity for 100's of thousands of miles. The weak spot of the bike is the alternator and there are many aftermarket choices for improved alternators. The reason for this Honda doesn't go after the aftermarket like Polaris does so there is one. Iff you need a 90 amp alternator no problem, there is an American company that stepped up to fill that hole.
It's like Honda wants you to keep your bike and ride the wheels off it. I really like that attitude. Look out on the highway there are a lot of other people who like that attitude out there also.

God willing, me riding hard again I will be watching how Polaris honors it's promise before ever considering another Polaris product. Lets hope that the New Polaris proves me wrong

 

[vindex1963]

What?? No burnouts, I thought that was Polaris signature marketing!!

 

[Ghostrider25]

Tell ya what... These bikes look OK. I like to dump on 'em all the time because "apparently" I am still bitter. Truth be told, they are not too bad. I do like the paint on the red one there. But $31.5K?!? They are smoking serious stuff. It's just a Chieftain. A cramped, uncomfortable and now EXCEPTIONALLY overpriced Chieftain that might be a clacker. No thanks. I went down to Spirit Motorcycles in San Jose back in 2014 to buy a Chieftain. I rode out of there with a Vision. The Vision is so much better of a bike it's not even funny. The comfort, the performance, the handling, the overall rideability - no contest. Bang for the buck - Off the charts!

But I am sure they will sell these things, and that is fine. I don't really care. They aren't getting any of my money.

 

[Vinish]

Damn, that's a beautiful bike. My wife and I are good for now and, hopefully for a decade, on our XCT bikes but I would look particularly studly on that Chieftain Elite

G'day,

Vinish

 

[BP6666VR]

I don't see any Victory in there. I see a lot of Harley.

It does resembles a lot like a Harley.... Hmmmm

Andre using TaPaTaLk

 

[Bobbyd85]

Tell ya what... These bikes look OK. I like to dump on 'em all the time because "apparently" I am still bitter. Truth be told, they are not too bad. I do like the paint on the red one there. But $31.5K?!? They are smoking serious stuff. It's just a Chieftain. A cramped, uncomfortable and now EXCEPTIONALLY overpriced Chieftain that might be a clacker. No thanks. I went down to Spirit Motorcycles in San Jose back in 2014 to buy a Chieftain. I rode out of there with a Vision. The Vision is so much better of a bike it's not even funny. The comfort, the performance, the handling, the overall rideability - no contest. Bang for the buck - Off the charts!



But I am sure they will sell these things, and that is fine. I don't really care. They aren't getting any of my money.

If my memory serves me, $31k was about the starting price for an Indian before Polaris got ahold of it. Still a lot more than a Victory costs and mechanically, stylistically and comfortability wise a much lesser bike. They do have nicer paint though... I'm not a 'red paint' guy and custom one-off doesn't mean 350 bikes with the same paint job and 25 hours total build time doesn't mean custom. It's just an upgraded paint job on a production bike, nothing custom about it in my book and opinion.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[steele11b]

What?? No burnouts, I thought that was Polaris signature marketing!!

Dont think Indians can do burn outs!:devil

 

[BP6666VR]

What?? No burnouts, I thought that was Polaris signature marketing!!

Well said.... Never seen an Indian commercial do a burnout too...

Andre using TaPaTaLk

 

[purednec]

My first thought when I saw this, was that wheel looked just like a Harley wheel. Then I thought, wait, I can see the wheel. I really like the front fender on this and the Limited. It's an improvement. Still not as nice looking as my XR though.

 

[BBob]

My first thought when I saw this, was that wheel looked just like a Harley wheel. Then I thought, wait, I can see the wheel. I really like the front fender on this and the Limited. It's an improvement. Still not as nice looking as my XR though.

Ya know; I didn't even notice that. I'm really slipping.

Truth is I have no desire to buy another bike. I'm riding less and less and really don't need two bikes. The smart thing to do would be to sell the XC if I could get at least $12-$13 out of it then sell some of the other addons but I have so dang much money in it that I would financially be better off selling the Kingpin that I really like to ride but haven't in probably 4 months.

If I were in the market right now; I'd at least take a good hard look at that Limited. It fits me because I'm average height so it isn't cramped but Joe does bring up a good point about waiting to see how well Polaris keeps its word about taking care of Victory for at least the full 10 years it said it would.

I have a feeling back orders on Victory parts are going to take longer and longer to get depending on the parts.

I already stated in another thread I personally would not buy another brand new bike just because of the immediate depreciation. It just isn't worth it IMHO. Now a used Chieftain with that Limited front fender might be the way to go though...

 

[GatorJoe]

I don't see any Victory in there. I see a lot of Harley.

Harley Riders say they see a lot of Victory .. Actually I see an Indian with a 19 inch Front Wheel with No Fender Skirt, and probably is somewhat of an asset to Handling, Especially at Low Speed Maneuvering .. Which I think will be a Seller as not everyone likes the Skirted Fender Look .. If the Scout had Skirted Fenders would never have bought one .. But on the Chief pretty much figure it goes with the Looks of the Chief as it was How my Dads 1950 Chief looked and he kept it 20 Years after Springfield Indian went of of business in 1953 .. I did get a close look at the Elite and the Paint is Gorgeous , But if wanted that Style, the Limited at 7K Less makes more sense to me ..

 

[visionjohnny]

You guys know more about indians then I do. Indian came out in 2013 so what has changed other then paint. Have they really did any up grades to the bike. Sooner or later its going to fall on it noise

 

[GatorJoe]

You guys know more about indians then I do. Indian came out in 2013 so what has changed other then paint. Have they really did any up grades to the bike. Sooner or later its going to fall on it noise

You definitely like to utilize that picture in most of the Indian Threads .. Perhaps Polaris will drop Indian in the future, but for the time being they are Selling at a Profit .. The way a Business is supposed to be Run ..

 

[SemperVee]

I recently sat on a black limited and was very impressed with fit and finish and how I fit sitting on it. I am very happy with my CCT and money is not an issue but after reading the COO's comments recently that Indian does not plan to be in the cruiser market in 5 years - gives me pause to again purchase any big ticket item from the Polaris company.