2010 Victory Cross Country Review

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Original Article:
2010 Victory Cross Country Review

Please discuss the Motorcycle.com article 2010 Victory Cross Country Review in our Motorcycle Forums below. Use the reply button to let others know your comments or feedback on the article. Constructive criticism is always appreciated, along with your thoughts and personal opinions on the bikes and products we have tested.

[mscuddy]

Great test, nice pics. But you have to ask yourself one quesiton: How many V twin American built cruisers can the market absorb? Call me a pessimist, but things aren't looking too good for the old Yankee Dollar at the moment, and it is only going to get worse.

If you look at what HD has gone through in the past few months, that should be an indicator to the marketing types at Victory of things to come. Releasing a new bagger in this environment is a losing proposition.

And I'm sorry to say ANY V twin cruiser will have to measure up to the leader, Harley Davidson. And if Harley's lost 61% of the market, what does that portend for the industry in general?

[jmdonald]

[quote=mscuddy;228847]Great test, nice pics. But you have to ask yourself one quesiton: How many V twin American built cruisers can the market absorb? Call me a pessimist, but things aren't looking too good for the old Yankee Dollar at the moment, and it is only going to get worse.

If you look at what HD has gone through in the past few months, that should be an indicator to the marketing types at Victory of things to come. Releasing a new bagger in this environment is a losing proposition.

And I'm sorry to say ANY V twin cruiser will have to measure up to the leader, Harley Davidson. And if Harley's lost 61% of the market, what does that portend for the industry in general?[/QUOTE
I agree. I would love to review some real market data from all the Mfrs.

[seruzawa]

Polaris admitted that Victory sales are down over 50% this year. But Polaris hasn't cut Victory (yet).

HD cut Buell even though Buell sales had increased. Go figure.

[longride]

I'm sure the Victory is a nice bike, but no matter what they do, no matter how hard they copy, no matter how they try to compare, it still isn't a Harley.....and it never will be. And that, as they say, is that. They should have gone their own way with their own kind of bike, but when they tried that, they ended up with the (Bad)Vision, which might possibly be the most hidious thing on two wheels. So they ended up with a Road King copy and a Road Glide copy to try to salvage something from that Vision monstrosity. The poor guy that buys one of these has to hear "Hey is that a Road Glide" over, and over, and over. Sad.

[V2Rider]

Saw one at the local dealer a few weeks back. The bike looks better in person but those engine guards would have to go. The standard engine guards off the Cross Road will fit and I can imagine a lot of buyers will be swapping out. There have been complaints on the Victory boards about buffeting and having to swap out for the higher windscreen. Other than that most seem pretty happy with the bike. I couldn't see replacing my RG with one though.

[sarnali2]

That's the hell of it for them, I think they're great bikes we some nice lines. The 8 ball in particular is a sharp looking bike, the way the seat, tank and rear fender interface is a nice touch, they seem to have plenty of grunt and a pretty loyal following. I'd take one hands down over a Japanese cruiser however I want to know they're going to be around for the long haul and I ain't a gambler. I know my Harley will be supported foer as long as I'll be around. Not sure about the Victory

[Kenneth_Moore]

Nice article Pete. I have two questions:

In a couple of the photos, it looks like the headlight is pointing downward pretty severly. You can even see the light beam on the ground right in front of the bike. Is that just a photo effect?

What is that reddish-orange stuff in the background of the first photo? It looks like you're outdoors, but I've never seen an atmosphere like that. Did you use a filter to get that color in the sky?

[Pete_Brissette]

Originally Posted by Kenneth_Moore

Nice article Pete. I have two questions:

In a couple of the photos, it looks like the headlight is pointing downward pretty severly. You can even see the light beam on the ground right in front of the bike. Is that just a photo effect?

What is that reddish-orange stuff in the background of the first photo? It looks like you're outdoors, but I've never seen an atmosphere like that. Did you use a filter to get that color in the sky?

Good questions. But my answers would be best guesses rather than the real answer. Therefore, I'll get the Fonz in here to demystify the story behind the images.

[Auphliam]

Good write up, Pete. A couple notes...for y'alls.

1) Unless you're countin the oil, it ain't liquid cooled. Air & Oil cooled.
2) While they do share the Vision motor, the XC/XR bikes utilize different cam profiles. Supposedly, they have the Hammer cams in them. They also breath through a different airbox.

They're nice looking bikes, and I know they'll outrun and outhandle any bagger the MoCo puts out. I just don't know if I'd drop that kind of coin for it (and I ride a Vic now). I don't know, but my idea of the ultimate bagger has always been the RoadGlide. Just my opinion, but that's how I feel. If I was going to lay out that kind of cash for a bagger, the '10 RoadGlide looks pretty damn good to me.