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Owner of #49 of 300: 2009 Arlen Ness Victory Vision

From the moment I picked this bike up I can't take my eyes off of it! I had the stage 1 level 2 exhaust installed. It sounds deep, not crazy loud. This bike is a 6 speed with a 106 cubic inch motor. Every Arlen Ness accessory possible, diamond cut heads, Arlen Ness hot rod wheels, hand stitched ...leather seat and the paint is flawless. I have a 2004 Victory Vegas that is fully customized. If you are planning on attending the 2009 Donnie Smith Invitational in St. Paul stop by and say check them out. My Vegas is painted like a WW2 P40 Warhawk fighter plane. Before anyone badmouths the New American Motorcycle take a test ride. Take care.

Russ Read Full Review

love the bike small problem

my #017 i love the bike put stage 1 and the big honkers plus the side skirts for the back wheel just like arlens i feel like im on the bat cycle,it handles great more than enuff power, butt when i rap the throttle it coughs some times,and up shifting it back fires some times than dies, victory recal...led 2008 for remapping the computer for the dieing problem, just not sure they fixed the problem for the 2009 have had it in the dealer twice, said the twiked it but still have the same problem only has 1,200 mil on it we will see. but every where i go people love it. ps if you get the skirtes make sure you run 50 psi in shock or you will scrap-m going around a tight turn good luck Read Full Review

Best Bike yet!!!

I have ridden HD for almost 40 years and love them. I was in the market to replace my Road King recently. I thought I would look outside of the HD market for a change after having a soft flex frame induced tank slapping experience with the Road King that scared the daylights out of me.



I won't ...bother you with all the bikes I tried, but one day I wandered into a Victory dealer across the street from a local HD shop and admired the Vision. The dealer suggested I take a Tour Vision out for a couple of hours to test ride it. I did, and was I surprised.

I fell in love with the out of the box power, handling and comfort of the machine. I took it up to 110 MPH and let go of the handlebars. With my hands hovering an inch away from the grips I was shocked. The big bike did not waiver at all. I could have gone to sleep as long as I was going in a straight line and there was a road with no traffic. This beast was as if on rails. I put the bike trough its paces with emergency stops, hard floor board carving corners, and hard acceleration; it performed!

What was the real bonus was the comfortable ride it provided. Honestly, this bike is so comfortable you have to try it to believe it.

I headed back to the store wondering if Victory had a Vision that might appeal to me. I am not a fan of the total touring look of any full on touring bike, so I did not hold out much hope. The one thing I did know in those few short hours was that my next bike was going to be a Vision.

After doing a bit of research I found the Ness Vision to be my choice. Here is a bike that does it all. It can tour with the best of them by simply adding a soft sided Victory Vision Tour Bag that takes a minute to remove or install, it can ride clean with a minimalist custom look, it is a tourer and it is a custom bike that can outrun its competition at so many levels.

The bike does not require a lot of after purchase add-ons, much like the CVO Electra Glide. the biggest differences between the two are: CVO-$45,000 (Ness-$21,400), handling goes big-time to the Ness, comfort goes to the Ness no comparison, power-CVO88HP at the wheel (Ness-92HP). As an added extra I managed to add 25 HP to the rear wheel for, hold your breath, under $2000, where the CVO would cost at least $6,000 for anywhere near that increase in HP. This mostly attributable to the Victory V Twin engine design with no push rods and extremely well factory ported and flowed heads. It all translates to instant, inexpensive power on demand. The bike is now running at 115 HP to the rear wheel with very little cash required and no major engine work.

The bike will go faster than I want, handle better than any stock big rig V Twin I am aware of and is unique. Speaking of which, if you manage to acquire one of the Ness limited edition bikes (Ness really means limited edition, there only 185 made in 2009 vs. 5000 CVO Electra Glides), get ready for receiving some attention. This bike actually qualifies as a custom and is as close as you are going to get to having a valuable Arlen Ness custom bike from a large manufacturer.

Case in point. I was travelling with friends in the Yellowstone Park area this last summer and pulled up at a gas bar in a small town. One of my buddies was riding right behind me on a gorgeous freshly minted CVO Electra Glide. We stopped and noticed that a HD HOG Club Fly & Ride group were standing nearby. These folks were from Austria as it turns out and were proudly wearing their Austrian HOG colours and patches. All of a sudden the entire crowd descended upon me and my Ness. In broken English the literally begged for photos of each of them seated on the Ness Vision. The appreciation reflected in their comments and actions was overwhelming. My friend with the CVO, parked a foot away asked me later why none of the visitors even asked him about his bike. It was as if they didn't even see the big CVO.

OK, I get that the Ness bike is unique and different which explains in part why it gets so much attention. But, isn't that why you acquire such a bike? HD has been trying to garner that piece of the market for years with their CVO line. They have done a great job, but have been trumped (for the time being) by Arlen Ness and Victory at half the price for arguably a much more competent machine.

For those that doubt, I say; take a Victory Vision out for a couple of hours on a test ride and see for yourself. Yes, the dealers actually encourage long test rides unlike some other manufactures we know. Read Full Review