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Iron Butt
Posts: 691
Manchester, CT | From a post above..."The person went on to say that Motorcycles are mechanical and like anything mechanical"
Victory is way out of bounds on this. The fender, although it is associated with mechanical components, friction, energy heat, combusion etc, it is a STATIC component with no moving parts. NO MOVING parts eliminates the definition of mechanical. An example Victory would probably use is the seat started on fire because of the heating element and the wires wore through due to wear and tear because Motorcycles are mechanical. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 802
| Back in 2009 I bought a Harley Street Glide which I subsequently turned into a Road Glide. I also bought their 103 kit and installed it along with a set of their cams. I really enjoyed that bike other than the buffeting, heat and lack of suspension. After installing the 103 kit and cams it wouldn't hardly start anymore. Seems the starter couldn't handle the increase in compression. After doing some research I found out that all of the police bikes Harley was building with the same parts I had put in mine also included electronic compression releases due to the starting problem. This really pissed me off since no place in the installation instructions did it make any reference to potentially needing compression releases. I thought this really unfair so I called them up and asked them for some help in paying labor to remove the heads again so they could be drilled for compression releases like their own police bikes. I was willing to pay for the parts since I would have had to have bought them originally anyway. In so many words they simply blew me off. Of course this got me even madder and I found myself making the same statements you guys are about dumping the bike, etc. I eventually calmed myself and realized that it wasn't the BIKE I was mad at it, it was the PEOPLE who make the bike I was mad at. A pure case of misdirected anger. Here I was contemplating getting ride of a bike I really liked because I was mad at the assholes that represented it. There is the distinct possibility you're doing something similar. You obviously like the bike, its the people you're pissed at. If that's the case then don't take it out on the poor bike. If you do that the only one that will suffer is YOU without your Vision. Think about it :-)
Marc |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 691
Manchester, CT | Spiderman and opas...another way to approach this might be to keep loving and riding your Vision. As we all know the Vision draws attention where ever you go. The past 2 days I've been side tracked by folks that loved my bike. We can utilize this opportunities to let other folks know how Victory treats their customers when it comes to potentially a fatal situation.
You can love the bike at the same time get the word out about Victory. If it were time that I would be looking for a new bike, at this point in time it would be an Indian.
I wonder if Polaris is aware of one of its subsidiary's inexcusable customer satisfaction issue. |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | marcparnes - 2013-08-29 3:18 PM If you do that the only one that will suffer is YOU without your Vision. Think about it :-) Marc the hardest decision in my life. I started to get another Vision, but I don't know what to do with two Visions. If I get the new one, then the old one is done. So, If I get another bike that is not a Vision, I still got the Vision, I just can't give up the Vision. Did I say I can't give up my Vision. I don't know what life would be like if I lost my Vision, I mean, what would it be like. I know it would be pleasant, no matter how cool I LOOKED, it just wouldn't be a Vision. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 100
Hudson, Ohio | marcparnes - 2013-08-29 3:18 PM
Back in 2009 I bought a Harley Street Glide which I subsequently turned into a Road Glide. I also bought their 103 kit and installed it along with a set of their cams. I really enjoyed that bike other than the buffeting, heat and lack of suspension. After installing the 103 kit and cams it wouldn't hardly start anymore. Seems the starter couldn't handle the increase in compression. After doing some research I found out that all of the police bikes Harley was building with the same parts I had put in mine also included electronic compression releases due to the starting problem. This really pissed me off since no place in the installation instructions did it make any reference to potentially needing compression releases. I thought this really unfair so I called them up and asked them for some help in paying labor to remove the heads again so they could be drilled for compression releases like their own police bikes. I was willing to pay for the parts since I would have had to have bought them originally anyway. In so many words they simply blew me off. Of course this got me even madder and I found myself making the same statements you guys are about dumping the bike, etc. I eventually calmed myself and realized that it wasn't the BIKE I was mad at it, it was the PEOPLE who make the bike I was mad at. A pure case of misdirected anger. Here I was contemplating getting ride of a bike I really liked because I was mad at the assholes that represented it. There is the distinct possibility you're doing something similar. You obviously like the bike, its the people you're pissed at. If that's the case then don't take it out on the poor bike. If you do that the only one that will suffer is YOU without your Vision. Think about it :-)
Marc
Hey Marc...good post and great comments - thank you! |
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Tourer
Posts: 500
| Street Eagle...Yu got a point good brother!!...I just got back from a short ride to drop off something at a friends house and I do love riding the Vision..I have it the way I want, chrome wise, S1L1 pipes, etc. and really want to do the Lloydz thing next spring..It does all I want it to do and will surely miss it if I decided to trade...And as Marc has said above, I am actually more upset with the management at Victory for their "stupid" assessment of this fender problem than at the bike itself...But, I will continue to let anyone that wants to talk about this make them acutely aware that Victory puts it profits and corporate CYA ahead of rider safety and customer satisfaction.....Thanks, and I feel better now.....Ride safe
Edited by opas ride 2013-08-29 3:53 PM
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Cruiser
Posts: 154
Danbury, Connecticut | Street Eagle - 2013-08-29 2:19 PM
Spiderman and opas...another way to approach this might be to keep loving and riding your Vision. As we all know the Vision draws attention where ever you go. The past 2 days I've been side tracked by folks that loved my bike. We can utilize this opportunities to let other folks know how Victory treats their customers when it comes to potentially a fatal situation.
You can love the bike at the same time get the word out about Victory. If it were time that I would be looking for a new bike, at this point in time it would be an Indian.
I wonder if Polaris is aware of one of its subsidiary's inexcusable customer satisfaction issue.
Why would you even consider an Indian-the same people that won't offer you a fix for a simple fender half are the ones that will be making those decisions on Indians when parts fail-maybe it will be for something really expensive on that application.
I personally would buy another Vision in a heartbeat. Does it suck that Victory/Polaris won't man up for a design failure-yup. Eventually, if these things are failing that frequently, the NHTSA will force them to recall them and retrofit a new design. Hopefully that happens while it is limited to close calls. If not, some lawyer will make them wish they had done the right thing. And at that point they will be forced to do the right thing anyway. Regardless of if, when and how this ultimately gets resolved, Victory will likely be taught a lesson in public perception, trust and loyalty. They dropped the ball here in a bad way. You could almost understand it if it was a big money item. As I stated in the beginning, I will buy another Vision because I know first hand just what a phenomenal bike it is in areas most important to me, but if I was just shopping for a new touring bike right now or even a non-touring bike, I'd seriously question if I wanted to spend my hard earned cash for a motorcycle with a company that doesn't step up to the plate when things go wrong. |
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Tourer
Posts: 500
| That is what really got my "dander" up as I am normally a pretty easy going kind of guy..5 children of my own and 15+ grandkids I have learned some patience and discipline over the years...Personally,I love my Vision and even more after every ride...But the apparent arrogant attitude of Victory' "engineers" and "their riders" as they quoted, is what really did the damage for me...This issue will not die easily and many Vision owners will think twice about buying another one, especially those who have gone through this fender breaking, with no real results..Victory has never been, as far as I know, a very responsible company when it comes to customer satisfaction with their products..This includes Polaris and its management...Maybe one day they will wake up and realize the damage they have caused to the Vision image, but as I said elsewhere, its looks as if they don.t care.......
Edited by opas ride 2013-08-29 6:14 PM
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Iron Butt
Posts: 965
New York State | I am as mad as any other Vision pilot but I will not give up my bike. Polaris has shown their hand we the owner are left to fix the problem. This example of customer Service will cost them more than they have saved by not fixing the problem.
We ride the most recognizable Victory motorcycle on the road we all know how many people question us at stops.
I will say I own and ride a great touring bike with a potentially fatal flaw, the haters will run with it.
From day one of my 2008 I wanted Mavic to activate the trunk lights.
When I bought my 2011 I added the Tri-Star XP module, my bike has Brake,turn signal marker lights on the trunk.
The Victory badge turns on when I brake as well.
I am going to put a Kewlmetal Vision fender on my bike and hold the Plastic parts if I trade it I will move the metal fender to my new Vision.
Edited by Trekwolf164 2013-08-29 6:56 PM
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 47
| My front fender was just replaced under extended warranty. I'm going to fiberglass the bolt area inside the fender before I put it on. This should help with any future cracking. When the old one broke I used plastic weld and fiberglassed inside over that and the fender seemed as strong as new. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 691
Manchester, CT | Opas...DO THE CAMS!!!! I just did them and other upgrades (see my signature line). The vision went from a great ride to a torque beast. The throttle response is awesome and at 3000 Rpm hang on. Tonight I jumped on it taking 1st to 5000 then hit 2nd the forks at that point were close to pulling 0 Gs. It's like having twin Holley 4 barrels when all 8 barrels kick in! |
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Cruiser
Posts: 281
| Marc - great post.
Victory is responding to Vision owners that provide them with VIN & contact details, and it is on a case-by-case basis. I believe that if your Vision is under warranty the cracked fender replacement may be covered. If you have any questions you should elevate the issue to Victory and speak to them about it. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 100
Hudson, Ohio | Double Vision - 2013-08-30 7:19 AM
Marc - great post.
Victory is responding to Vision owners that provide them with VIN & contact details, and it is on a case-by-case basis. I believe that if your Vision is under warranty the cracked fender replacement may be covered. If you have any questions you should elevate the issue to Victory and speak to them about it.
Hey DV....replacing a defective part with another defective part is not the solution. I contacted Victory, they sent me to the dealer, the dealer submitted the case and they replaced my fender under warranty exception. That's great. This does not solve the problem. This is a design flaw and they need to rework it with a suitable replacement. My Vision is 2 years old - Victory claims it breaks under normal wear and tear. What a joke. They need to do the right thing and redesign it and offer a recall. They won't - but that is what that should do.
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Cruiser
Posts: 281
| Spiderman - 2013-08-30 9:37 AM
Double Vision - 2013-08-30 7:19 AM
Marc - great post.
Victory is responding to Vision owners that provide them with VIN & contact details, and it is on a case-by-case basis. I believe that if your Vision is under warranty the cracked fender replacement may be covered. If you have any questions you should elevate the issue to Victory and speak to them about it.
Hey DV....replacing a defective part with another defective part is not the solution. I contacted Victory, they sent me to the dealer, the dealer submitted the case and they replaced my fender under warranty exception. That's great. This does not solve the problem. This is a design flaw and they need to rework it with a suitable replacement. My Vision is 2 years old - Victory claims it breaks under normal wear and tear. What a joke. They need to do the right thing and redesign it and offer a recall. They won't - but that is what that should do.
Bill, I'm not disagreeing with you on the need for a permanent solution. In the meantime, I'll take the new fender.
If they let me keep the old cracked one, I'll put a fix on that. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 1066
Peru, IN | I still think the Vision is the best touring bike currently made and I'm not mad at the bike at all. I'm beyond pissed at corporate Victory. Whenever it's time to trade my bike in (next year, 5 years or 10 years from now?), I don't know what I'll buy. I DO know it won't be a Victory/Polaris product. (Just to "flip Victory off" without getting rid of the Vision, I looked at one of the new Water Hogs today. HA!) |
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Visionary
Posts: 2300
Georgia, west of Atlanta | Spiderman: I saw in the other post about your dealings with Witchdoctor. Very good brother............. |
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Visionary
Posts: 2300
Georgia, west of Atlanta | Monkeyman: I looked at the water hogs Thursday in Charlotte. I actaully thought they did a good job in the design and application phase. How it works, I'll give it a year. I hope they bring the RoadGlide back as a early '15............. |
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Visionary
Posts: 4278
| Mine was not a flaw. Factory never bolted it down. Bolts were loose and after I tighted them they have not come loose |
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Cruiser
Posts: 100
Hudson, Ohio | Just so everyone knows...To be fair - Victory did cover my OEM plastic fender AND the trim around the fairing that got jacked up as a result of the failed fender. Bair's was great - Tom Yarger submitted my case and he suggested putting the trim in for warranty repair as well. Tom is one of the best Vic Techs out there IMO. My local dealer had done all the things that I would hope for and I have no issues with Bair's whatsoever.
I am working with WitchDoctor because I do not want the same thing to happen to the OEM plastic fender that was replaced. I want a more permanent fix. Which is what I think Victory should be offering the Vision pilots. |
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Tourer
Posts: 500
| It has become very obvious that nothing from Victory will happen on this fender issue...I think the post from KevinX on the recent Indian recall was due to the NHTSA forcing the issue with Polaris..As very few have filed the Victory fender problem with them, nothing will move on Victory's end, as they have washed their hands of the safety factor and apparently are addressing those that file a claim with their dealers, as Spiderman did on a one-to-one basis. Better than nothing I suppose...
Edited by opas ride 2013-08-31 9:15 PM
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Cruiser
Posts: 100
Hudson, Ohio | opas ride - 2013-08-31 10:11 PM
It has become very obvious that nothing from Victory will happen on this fender issue...I think the post from KevinX on the recent Indian recall was due to the NHTSA forcing the issue with Polaris..As very few have filed the Victory fender problem with them, nothing will move on Victory's end, as they have washed their hands of the safety factor and apparently are addressing those that file a claim with their dealers, as Spiderman did on a one-to-one basis. Better than nothing I suppose...
The first thing I did was file a complaint with the NHTSA. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 100
Hudson, Ohio | A nameless member (he can chime in if he wants to) of a different forum has a VP level contact at Victory and put me and Bigfoot (on the VOG) in touch with Ryan Guy about this finder issue. I talked with Ryan Guy from Victory yesterday evening. Ryan is in charge of all consumer affairs for Victory. For those of you that talked to Wes - Ryan is Wes' boss. He really did not tell me anything different than Wes. However, I feel like he now understands that the Victory community is taking this issue seriously and do not accept the response that Victory is standing behind. I made sure he understood that even though the major failure has only been reported by a limited amount of riders that many others have reported the cracks. It is my strong belief that many of the complete failures are being averted due to the exposure we are giving the issue via the forums, facebook and face to face with other riders. He actually agreed with this. I also said there are hundreds, potentially thousands of people that don't visit forums and facebook. Bottom line, they are not planning to change their response on the issue.
It was a very professional discussion and I made sure he understood we are not a handful of guys sitting in a room trying to figure out how we are going to bash Victory. Our motivation is to get the word out, keep people safe and to work with Victory to develop a fix. Honestly, I think they are coming up with a redesign soon and they are focused on that rather than a fix for older Vision - just my opinion.
Anyway, that was it. I am moving on. I will continue to make others aware of it when I have the opportunity. I have fixed mine with the WitchDoctor fender - which is really well done (and I made Ryan aware of that too).
This will most likely be my last post on this thread about the issue. I feel like I have done as much as I can do to get the word out, elevate the issue to Victory and to my part to come up with a non-Victory fix.
Ride safe!
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Iron Butt
Posts: 691
Manchester, CT | Thank you Bill...those of you out there will understand when I say...give me the serenity to accept the things I/we can't change. Is Victory's stance right?....absolutely not. The positive outcome is Bill has documented in this email a conversation he had with the folks at Victory that could initiate a fix if they wanted to but they have declined. As for myself, I will reinforce my current cracked fender while saving to purchase Witchdoctor's solution. TIme to let this one go |
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Visionary
Posts: 1365
Central Maryland | Street Eagle - 2013-10-17 10:14 AM
Thank you Bill...those of you out there will understand when I say...give me the serenity to accept the things I/we can't change. Is Victory's stance right?....absolutely not. The positive outcome is Bill has documented in this email a conversation he had with the folks at Victory that could initiate a fix if they wanted to but they have declined. As for myself, I will reinforce my current cracked fender while saving to purchase Witchdoctor's solution. TIme to let this one go
If you decide to reinforce it, you won't need Witchdoctors solution.  |
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Front Fender - Major Design Flaw
