Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128197
2003 Victory Vegas A firm which began making snowmobiles 48 years ago in Roseau, Minnesota, Polaris added ATVs in 1985 and personal watercraft (PWCs) in 1992. It is now America's largest manufacturer of each (actually, the world's largest in terms of snowmobiles). When, in 1993, after the successful launch of its PWC product line, Polaris management sat down to figure out what to diversify into next, it was a toss-up among lawn tractors, golf carts and motorcycles. Bikes won - but then the decision had to be made whether to target the off-road By ALAN CATHCART PHOTOS By KEL EDGE ~ ometimes it pays to have deep eJ pockets, and as a company with annual sales of $1.5 billion split among the 220,000 ATVs it makes each year plus its range of snowmobiles and personal watercraft, Minneapolis-based Polaris Industries is having to spend somewhat more than loose change in relaunching its entry into the motorcycle marketplace with the Victory range of V-twin products, which debuted in 1998. 16 JANUARY 22,2003' cue I e n e vv s Comeback trail? Although Victory may have gotten off to a rocky start with its cruiser family of motorcycles, its new Vegas custom cruiser may go a long way toward steering the Polaris-owned brand back onto a successful path. (like Cannondale) or cruiser markets. One look at the Harley-Davidson balance sheet - then starting to grow serial zeros on the profit side - was probably enough: Five years later, the new Victory marque was launched in public, and America's. Finest had authentic competition in an individual product owing nothing in engineering or styling terms specifically to Harley, but plowing its own furrow in the field of traditional American motorcycling via a range of long-wheelbase, large-capacity cruisers headed by the kickoff model, the Victory V92C. Cruise-conscious customers interested in buying the Stars 'n' Stripes were now to be offered a genuine choice for their disposable dollar. The first customer Victory bikes began rolling off the company's assembly line in Spirit Lake, Iowa, on the Fourth of July, 1998 - a date evidently chosen for its obvious significance in underlining the fact that here was the first newall-American volume-production motorcycle product in 45 years, the first since Indian stopped building bikes for real back in 1953. But while inevitably competing with Harley-Davidson to some extent, Victory was more specifically targeted against the Japanese cruisers - which have carved a significant slice of U.S. market share in recent years, being positioned pricewise between the Jbikes and Hogs - and in terms of product, too, with a bigger, more powerful engine than Harley, as welJ as marginally better handling. Things looked promising with the resources of an industry giant like Polaris behind the operation. Well, perhaps it's kinder not to run through the list of what went wrong for Victory between then and now, but let's just say that Polaris' attempt to diversify into motorcycles stalled on take-off and crash landed. Problems with engineering, styling, late deliveries and mechanical reliability meant the V92C family of cruisers never really got beyond first base: a marque without the deep pockets of its Polaris parent would have been dead and buried long ago (like rival ExcelsiorHenderson). probably due to a fundamental misunderstanding of what its customeJ" base wanted. The company ignored the fact that the customer has to feel pride in his product as well as rely on it to get him home. Some aspects of the Victory styling seemed incomplete, as if the designer got interrupted by a phone call and forgot to go back and finish off. This was epitomized for me by the comments of Victory's then-sales manager when I first rode the V92C at Daytona's Cycle Week in March '99 and came away so disappointed I ended up never writing about the experience. "There are no fake parts on this motorcycle," the sales manager enthused. "The V92 has an honest look about it, with no unnecessary cosmetics - it's the real thing." Gimmestrength! Unnecessary cosmetics?? The whole point of the North American cruiser market is at least as much the Look as the Ride, and by effectively opting out of this