Victory Motorcycles Is Fifteen!

Happy Birthday Victory Motorcycles | Skagit Valley Polaris Washington Dealer.

Skagit Valley Polaris is proud to say that “We have been a Victory dealer since day one.” It hasn’t been easy, inexpensive or even, fun (at times) trying to help build the next iconic brand of American motorcycles but one thing is certain, Victory Motorcycles are the highest quality, best performing American made motorcycle on the planet, period!

In the beginning (1999) the first Victory Motorcycle (the V92C) rolled of the assembly line in Spirit Lake Iowa. It was a weekend and all of the employees had already worked overtime getting ready to fire up full production of the new American motorcycle. This weekend was special though and the workers all agreed, they would work around the clock so their baby would not miss this special day, fifteen years ago, this July 4th, Victory Motorcycles was born.

Polaris Industries had a new baby that was about to go head to head with an American legend, Harley Davidson…WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? I’ll tell you, America is and has always been about doing things better. The promise of Victory “The New American Motorcycle” is that, it was built from the ground up, to be better than any American motorcycle had ever been, in terms of; Power, Handling, Ride, Comfort and Quality.

The first Victory Motorcycle did accomplish some of these things but it sure was not without its faults that year. Some of the bikes had been assembled with soft production gears in the transmission that came apart and took the others with it and in some instances, took the crankcase too! But it was a cool bike with newer technology; 92 cubic inches, overhead cam, oil cooled head, hydraulic lifters, fuel injection, Brembo brakes and a stiffer chassis to hug the road like a sport cruiser.

In 2002 Victory would begin to make great strides toward the quality and performance they touted from the beginning, by introducing the new Freedom V-Twin engine. The displacement was still the same at 1510 cc but the overall power output was much higher and it also ran cooler due to a new cylinder design. This was a great motorcycle and it would drive right around ANY other American made motorcycle, right off the showroom floor.

The HD crowd didn’t care! They were happy farting around on old technology, turning their nose up at the threat of someone trying to steal their thunder, so to speak. One thing the HD crowd had respect for is that Victory wasn’t trying to be a “me too” motorcycle. In 2003 with the birth of the Victory Vegas, customers knew right away, that, this was NOT their Grandpa’s motorcycle.

With the help of Arlen and Corey Ness, the Victory Vegas was born and it made a huge splash in the world of American motorcycles. The new Victory Vegas had the curves of a hot chick but could boogie down the road like the Road Runner with Wiley Coyote far behind wheezing like the inferior opponent he was.

Tune in next week for the continuation of our Victory Motorcycles Happy Birthday celebration post. Thanks for reading!

SVP