Victory In the Desert
Victory in the desert
UP FRONT
SAVE FOR THE OCCASIONAL STARstudded entombment of former popstar/mayor/congressmen, Palm Springs, California, is a sleepy little desert burgh best known for Bob Hope sightings, multitudinous golf courses and the highest per capita Mercedes ownership this side of Beverly Hills.
For those of you squirreling away information for future moto-trivia contests, Palm Springs was also the location for the first-ever Victory Motorcycles dealer convention, January 15-18, 1998.
To the canned strains of "Leader of the Pack," wraps were pulled off a new violet-blue-and-black V92C cruiser (cue the spotlights and smoke machine) as the 130 or so charter dealers in attendance let loose with enthusiastic applause.
Hall Wendel, CEO of parent compa ny Polaris, took the podium first, set ting an upbeat, infectious tone. "It's a work of art, isn't it?" he baited. More applause. Already a $1-billion-a-year company making snowmobiles, ATVs and personal watercraft, Polaris appar ently didn't need much convincing to enter the bike biz. "It all added up and made sense-we had everything it takes to build the world's finest cruis er: passion, engineering, the dealer network, the customer base. Eventual ly, we see ourselves as worldwide leaders with a diverse, full product line," said Wendel, who claims to have parked his custom Harley Softail for good.
Next to take the stage was Victory General Manager Matt Parks, who filled in some of the blanks. By spring, V92s should be popping off the final assembly line in Spirit Lake, Iowa (motors will be put together at the company's Osceola, Wisconsin, plant). Approximately 2000 `98model bikes will be built, to be sold through an increasing dealer network that could number 300 by the end of the year. America, of course, is the prime market-Canada comes online in 1999 and by the year 2000, Victorys will be exported overseas.
"We want to sell a high-quality American streetbike, both here and abroad," he said. "And when we ex port our bike to Europe, we'll have a bulls-eye product with a ready market. We're looking at the Pacific Rim, pri manly Japan, New Zealand and Aus tralia, too."
What about Wendel's promise of an upcoming, extensive product line? "We'll eventually have models in four market segments: cruiser, touring, sportbike and standard," Parks de tailed. Later, he revealed that Victo ry's next model will debut at the 1999 dealer show this coming November. No additional hints were offered, but a traditional bagger based on the V92C would be a logical deduction.
And then the answer to the question every dealer wanted to know: How much will it cost?
"Below Harley-Davidson and at or slightly above big Japanese cruisers," Parks revealed. "We've set suggested retail at $12,995." Applause, ap plause, applause. Each dealer will be allocated 10 units, and most have al ready taken deposits from eager buy ers, a fact not lost on National Sales Manager Terry Nesbitt, a 12-year Po laris vet with experience at Suzuki and Kawasaki.
"Let's have fun and make some money!" Nesbitt enthused as he leapt into a high-energy spiel worthy of a tent revival. Referring to glowing press reports of the Polaris prototype (see "Victory!" CW, September, 1997) as if they were gospel, he promised, "This is one impressive high-performance package.. .an image that will be solidi fied with demo rides. Most cruisers handle like they have a hinge in the middle, but the V92C loves it when
you roll-on the throttle in a set of curves. It's the best-handling cruiser available-the others aren't even close, folks, aren't even close."
Nesbitt fairly raved about the Victo ry's tech sheet: 1507cc; EFI; sohc, four-valve heads; oil-cooling, 6-quart capacity; counterbalanced, rigidmount motor; 637-pound dry weight; 28-inch seat height; 5-gallon gas ca pacity; 63.3-inch wheelbase; Brembo brakes; 45mm Marzocchi fork; Fox single shock. Horsepower is a claimed 73 at the countershaft, which by the time it makes its way to the rear wheel via a toothed-rubber drivebelt, should be an honest 68-70 bhp, more than any of the (non-Titan/Big Dog) V Twins in last month's "Lucky 13" cruise-off.
Winding up, Nesbitt couldn't resist throwing a few barbs when comparing the Victory's styling to some of its com petitors. "There are no fake parts-we didn't put lipstick on a pig," he joked. "The V92 has an honest look-no unnec essary cosmetics-it's the real thing."
Done in comparatively short time, too. After research into market viability, Polaris gave the green light in February of 1994. Clean-sheet design engineering went full-bore through mid-1996, with prototype testing occupying summer and fall of `96. In February of last year, Polaris officially announced the bike ("Well, that's the first time we didn't deny it," quipped Parks). Four months later, Al Unser Jr. fired up a Victory V92C and rode it through the Mall of America's Planet Hollywood before the assembled media. When the Victory hits showrooms later this year, it'll be the first all-new American streetbike in 60 years.
Kevin Mollet, Victory marketing manager, insists that Polaris has no in tentions of taking on cruise-king Harley-Davidson in a head-to-head sales shootout. "Our target is the Japanese cruiser rider," he explains. Soon, Victory will kick its advertising campaign into high gear. Billboards and magazine spreads will feature a pair of lovingly lit V92s set against the surreal beauty of Arizona's Monu ment Valley, accompanied by what may the best tag line to come down the copywriting pike in many a year: "It's a free country. Act like it."
And the beat goes on...
David Edwards
