Has anyone ridden a Victory Cross Country Tour?
I'm closing in on a purchase soon, folks, and the contenders are: 1) The F6B (which I've test-ridden and liked a bunch, although it was a short ride); 2) The Triumph Thunderbird LT (which I haven't ridden but was somewhat put off by the floorboards, having always had the shifter directly under my upright riding position) and 3) The Victory Cross Country Tour -- an outside-the-box last-minute consideration that I'm finding myself drawn to, but haven't ridden yet. I thought the odds were pretty good that one of you has ridden the Cross Country Tour and can compare it to the F6B's ride. All comments are welcome, including thoughts about fit/finish of Victory, long-term reliability, etc. I did notice that Victory scores the highest in owner-satisfaction surveys (beating both Honda and Harley, as far as I could see), but this might just be statistics playing games with us.
Thoughts about the Victory Cross Country Tour?
I have owned a few Victorys
They are fine motorcycles. They fit perfect, and the Cross Country is the most popular. I had the Cross Roads, which is the same bike less the fairing---and not as popular. If I were to by another Victory---which I am not and will explain in a few minutes--- it would be the Vision---and I would look for the 8 Ball version. Much better ride. The CC has a serious wind buffeting problem that takes a lot of tinkering to make go away. Their transmissions have a loud CLUNK when going into first and a lot of guys hate that. It has to do with the compensator ratio---in addition the clutch is manual/cable driven and not hydrolic. That may not sound like a big deal at first--but Google "Sav-UR-Ride". Clutch cables break so often that they make a product designed to get you home WHEN--not IF-- but WHEN it breaks. Even the name of the product tells you it is going to break. EDIT---here is a link. http://savurride.com/
The Vision does not have cable clutch and has no such problem. Like the B, Victory has paint issues as the clear coat scuffs very easy. The Freedom 106 is bulletproof and is very low maintenance compared to Harley and produces decent power, but not nearly the torque or smoothness of the flat 6.
What ran me away---and yes I said RAN ME AWAY from Victory is their dealer and parts. there are some good dealers out there and if you live close to one your life will be much easier. That clutch cable is going to cost you $125 WHEN it breaks--not to mention the $50 Save-UR-Ride you need to spend to get you home when it does break. Your dealer probably won't stock it and you will have to wait a week to get it. Get used to it, because most Vic dealers don't stock ANY parts other than oil filters and spark plugs and my dealer would charge shipping charges. TRUE STORY--I needed the plastic inserts that plug into the dimples on the bars that hold the cable zip ties in place---$1.19 each so I bought 5 at $6 and paid $10 in shipping and handling for a total cost of over $17 with tax! The final straw was when I needed a tire and the 2 closest Vic stores only had Dunlops and it would take a week to get and I was leaving for Bike week in 4 days. I bought the correct tire from a Honda store, but the Vic dealer would not install it because I bought it elsewhere---the Honda store would but did not know how. Not just any shop can switch a rear tire on a Vic, because of the aluminum frame that must sit overnight to cool or your belt tension will be wrong and if the belt is not perfect, you will destroy the rear bearing. So I screwed a sheet metal screw in the hole and rode it 80 miles ONE WAY to get the rear tire installed from a more "sympethic" dealer who also did not stock a tire but understood my deliema. BTW---anybody need a great deal on a belt tension gauage that I bought after the experience --never used!
Summary: The bike is a great design for the most part and probably will never give you trouble-----BUT IF IT DOES, YOU ARE IN FOR A WORLD OF FRUSTRATION!
Shall I continue?