Hey All

 Its late Thursday night and our bikes are all packed for the weekend trip including my test ride tomorrow......Yipeeee!!!

I would sincerely like to thank all who took the time to offer their thoughts and experiences with their new ride. Understanding no bike is perfect, the general consensus seems to be that despite the hiccups and inconveniences, the majority are very happy with their purchase.

I gotta say that after I made this post I had hoped that I was not stirring up a hornets nest, however, like I have witnessed so many times on this site, I got honest and valuable info from both sides of the coin both good and bad, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

I have a plan to take a few test rides in the next few months, and then because of personal circumstances, I will only be ready to make my purchase in the spring of 09. However, in large part due to the excellent info that I have received from people on this forum I know that I will be going into this very well informed. I will be able to get exactly what I want and know exactly what I am getting.

Once Again Thanks To All

Gerry 

And, well, there is always that.......

 Ha Ha!

golfer - 2008-05-30 9:34 AM Hey Bobby, Since my problems are so minor, would you be willing to cover the cost of my new paint job and other fixes? Shouldn't be more than a couple thousand dollars...Let me know when that check is in the mail. Thanks!

Hey, Golfer. Granted I've only been here for a couple of months, got my bike in March and have had few problems, but most seem to agree that this bike has had few problems for a new model and they love their bike and they would buy it again under the same circumstances knowing what they know now. That says a lot. I agree with you, though. If I'd had the problems you seem to have, I would be upset too. However, it could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others. Thanks for the warning but I still love my bike and would buy it again.

Hippo - 2008-05-30 2:52 PM I think I would buy it again rather than wait. The positives clearly outweigh the negatives, however, I do believe that Victory should have done a little better in several areas: 1) Their iPod interface is a great feature, except that it doesn't work that well. They went the cheap way and did not license Apple's 30-pin connector and used a 3rd party counterfeit connector instead. This resulted in bad pin-outs for some of the newer iPods. In addition, the harmonic frequency issue with hard drive-based iPods is another issue Apple engineers would have assisted upon. One more iPod issue is that while the LCD display indicates song title it is often truncated and could have been a scrolling display that indicated song and artist. 2) Fit and finish issues. The saddlebags are not properly aligned on many Visions and there is little adjustment. Some are difficult to open, too. The clips holding the front fairing in place are fragile and prone to failure with a price tag of about $250 for the part. Victory continues to decline warranty coverage for these clips. Some early models also have an annoying barely discernible dimple in the saddlebag - only annoying to the owner who has to see it every time they clean the bike. 3) I do not think enough thought/engineering was put into maintenance accessibility on the bike. There is a lot of seemingly unnecessary disassembly to accomplish simple tasks. This bike was not built with the mechanic in mind. All that said, though, the Victory Vision is clearly the most comfortable and well-equipped bike I have owned in my over 40 years of riding. I can ride all day and I still want to keep riding when the sun goes down. I see an Iron Butt patch in my future on my Vision... Hippo

Sorry to hear that you are having problems with your Vision. I use the iPod Touch, maybe the most finicky of the iPod's and it does work fine. Maybe you need another cable. If you are use the hard drive type you will have problems and they are very spefic not to use those types. Other may have had success, but they are not recommended, understandably.

Also, as a mechanic, I have yet to see something that was built by an engineer with the mechanic in mind. Some very basic things, yes, but overall, no. I would be afraid to see what something looked like that was built by a mechanic, I know what I would build would be functional, easy to work on, but cerntainly would nto be a pretty sight. Thanks for your comments and I think they'll have to come up with yet another category for the Iron Butt, because to me 1,000 miles is a piece a cake compared to that I did on a GL1200. I would feel guilty just ask for the certificate.

Assuming I could get my same bike each time, I would do it again and again and again and again..............well, you get the point.

Everytime I ride this bike I am more impressed with it. As it gets "broken in", I am getting better mileage (averaging 45-50 mpg), the pipes are "rapping" more and the bike does everything "just right".

I did get a "recall" notice, but, haven't had anything done yet and haven't had ONE problem.

So, maybe I got the only "good" one, but, as my eighth Victory, definately the BEST.

...........and again, and again, and again.................

lowtone9 - 2008-05-30 7:58 PM No. How many minor issues does it take to make a major issue? The paint is ridiculous, none of the plastic fits right, the shock has blown a seal, and the audio is pure cheese. I`m going to sell mine before the stampede. Shoulda kept the Yamaha...

I am sorry you are having these problems. Sounds like you need a good dealer as all of this can be fixed. My plastic fits great, the stereo rocks and the shock  and total suspension is totally awesome, especially doing the tail of the dragon.

The only stampede will be people to dealers to buy this awesome bike. As the poll shows you couldn't pull the Vision out of 90% of our cold dead hands. If there was a better bike I would buy it but there isn't.