[Spur]

Just had to vent, sorry. Cannot understand a company with today's technology that will/cannot give you a ship and deliver date. Polaris has screwed this up about as bad as could not be imagined.

Should have kept my bike and waited to see if they could really deliver. So far their sales and service seem to be crap. Maybe they never heard of 'under promise and over deliver.'

At least HD makes you feel good while they are screwing you. Polaris won't even kiss you.

 

[XKnight]

HD does offer a pretty good reach around service while screwing you.

 

[lou8700]

HD does offer a pretty good reach around service while screwing you.

That's because they require soo much service.

 

[mikewll2005]

this is a new production , this happens with everything new. I own a boat dealership and every time there is a new model produced there is a lag in getting product and acc, that is just the way it is. All company want to get there product out as soon as they can. the only way not to have to put up with this is not to buy new production. this is true with Bike's Boat's and auto's

 

[monkeydog]

That's because they require soo much service.

Not for nothing but I wish people would stop spewing that line of crap! Harley's have been extremely reliable for the better part of the last 20 years! They don't all leak, they don't constantly need service and the dealers don't screw you any more or less than Victory, Honda or aany other dealer. .... I understand that most of you are happy Victory customers and you like to bash the largest, most successful motorcycle manufacturer in the world (for the last 100+ years I might add) but can you please come up with some new and more importantly ACCURATE criticism of HD?! ...

For the record, I am a Harley owner but am considering adding a Victory to my garage so I consider myself to be a fan of both.

 

[roadcouch]

Not for nothing but I wish people would stop spewing that line of crap! Harley's have been extremely reliable for the better part of the last 20 years! They don't all leak, they don't constantly need service and the dealers don't screw you any more or less than Victory, Honda or aany other dealer. .... I understand that most of you are happy Victory customers and you like to bash the largest, most successful motorcycle manufacturer in the world (for the last 100+ years I might add) but can you please come up with some new and more importantly ACCURATE criticism of HD?! ...

For the record, I am a Harley owner but am considering adding a Victory to my garage so I consider myself to be a fan of both.

Well im a fellow ex harley owner and harley lead me to victory.

 

[mjw930]

I understand that most of you are happy Victory customers and you like to bash the largest, most successful motorcycle manufacturer in the world (for the last 100+ years I might add)

Check your facts, Honda is by far the largest and most successful motorcycle manufacturer in the world, not Harley. Sure, they have been around for over 100 years but prior to the late 90's they were a footnote in the global motorcycle industry.

I will agree with you that the bashing gets old and over the last decade they are really no more or less reliable than any other manufacturer.

 

[iabob]

Not for nothing but I wish people would stop spewing that line of crap! Harley's have been extremely reliable for the better part of the last 20 years! They don't all leak, they don't constantly need service and the dealers don't screw you any more or less than Victory, Honda or aany other dealer. .... I understand that most of you are happy Victory customers and you like to bash the largest, most successful motorcycle manufacturer in the world (for the last 100+ years I might add) but can you please come up with some new and more importantly ACCURATE criticism of HD?! ...

For the record, I am a Harley owner but am considering adding a Victory to my garage so I consider myself to be a fan of both.

I also consider myself a fan of both, as well as pretty much every other bike out there. But Harley is FAR from the largest or the most successful motorcycle out there. Victory is much closer in sales to Harley than Harley is to the largest most successful motorcycle manufacturer. I like Harleys, I've rode Harleys. So here's some new and accurate criticism: The last Harley I rode (besides a demo ride) sucked. It was a 2006 Softail Deluxe. The frame flexed, the suspension bottomed out, the brakes were sponges and it had NO power. Reliable? Sure, no leaks, no breaks. My 2007 Kingpin on the other hand...leaky porous front cylinder head, broke fuel pump, broke clutch cable, broke voltage regulator, broke wiring harness. Would I go back to Harley? No freakin chance! I break stuff, such is my luck, such is life. But this bike has power, it has handling, it has brakes, it's comfortable to ride. The Harley was gorgeous, shiny, and sounded awesome. And I think the OP should buy one and quit crying. There's nothing wrong with owning and riding something that fits your needs. Harley does not fit mine. And unlike the OP I don't criticize that which I don't understand. He doesn't understand why a company can't give you an exact ship date so he assumes the worst and whines. I can't understand why a company can't give you an exact ship date so I realize there's another thing I don't understand. But I love to ride my Victory. Stuff happens such is life. When someone makes a better bike than mine I'll buy it. Until then I will do my best to plan my next ride instead of trying to find something to cry about.
Yes, Polaris/Indian sucks. Please go buy a Harley and proceed to spend 10 grand making it close to what comes out of Spirit Lake stock. It will look gorgeous, it will sound awesome, and I bet the dealer can give you an exact date. If it makes you happy I'm happy for you. But you still won't be able to keep up with me. MWUHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

[spider]

Just had to vent, sorry. Cannot understand a company with today's technology that will/cannot give you a ship and deliver date. Polaris has screwed this up about as bad as could not be imagined.

Should have kept my bike and waited to see if they could really deliver. So far their sales and service seem to be crap. Maybe they never heard of 'under promise and over deliver.'

At least HD makes you feel good while they are screwing you. Polaris won't even kiss you.

Well I know exactly how you are feeling, it drove me frickin crazy, call after call to Polaris / Indian customer service, messages on facebook, waiting for the canned reply I was going insane.

Then guess what ?
Still no call back but the day my Indian showed up at my Dealer ( no notice at all ) on my way to pick up my Indian customer service called me, asked me how I was doing.
I said I was on my way to pick up my motorcycle.

I hope they get their shit together, I really do feel that an actual tracking is a simple thing, it would go far with the whole customer service deal.

It was worth the wait, even the BS has started to fade away, what Indian is lacking in their dealings with customers they are making it up with an amazing motorcycle.

Hang tight, it gets better

 

[Hey_Yu]

Worry, complain, fix those things you have control over. The rest is only frustration. The bike will come when it comes. There is absolutely nothing you can do to make it happen otherwise because you have no control over it. Likewise for the CS at Polaris. Some people seem to not understand who Polaris' customers are. They are the dealers. Polaris supplies vehicles to the dealers as the dealer orders them. Same thing with H-D. The parent company can't function effectively if it does not have retail sales and support. Questions should be directed to the dealer. If the dealer fails to respond then you have recourse via the parent company about the dealer. Enough negative comments about the dealer and he isn't a dealer anymore.
For the record. I put a deposit on an Indian on Apr 17, placed my order on Aug 5 and may get the bike by Thanksgiving. Dealer told me straight up I would probably get the bike by the end of the year. I asked, 'Which year?' He said 2013. So I am on, if not ahead, of schedule!

 

[Volkmeister]

Everyone has a horror story about a dealer, be it car or motorcycle. Yes, there are flubs and human errors all over the place. FUBAR is alive and kicking. I just don't see how it helps to completely denegrate an entire company. Harley, Honda, Victory, Indian, BMW, etc. have issues. Hey-Yu makes a good point. Make constructive criticisms to Polaris and the dealer and help them get their sh$$ together for the benefit of those who follow us.

 

[jayleav]

Not for nothing but I wish people would stop spewing that line of crap! Harley's have been extremely reliable for the better part of the last 20 years! They don't all leak, they don't constantly need service and the dealers don't screw you any more or less than Victory, Honda or aany other dealer. .... I understand that most of you are happy Victory customers and you like to bash the largest, most successful motorcycle manufacturer in the world (for the last 100+ years I might add) but can you please come up with some new and more importantly ACCURATE criticism of HD?! ...

For the record, I am a Harley owner but am considering adding a Victory to my garage so I consider myself to be a fan of both.

I hate to hijack a thread. But this irritates me.... Harley wouldn't exist today if it weren't for the help of the federal government intervening three times to save their hide. The 1st was the WW2 military contract. Because up till then Indian was cleaning their clocks. The money for the military contract helped keep them afloat and eventually propled them forward. The next was them boo hooing to congress for the tariff that was placed on import cycles because they couldn't compete in the market otherwise. And most recently it was the 9 billion (yes that's billion. With a b) dollar bail out they took out of the T.A.R.P. Fund. And oh yeah.... Nobody was supposed to hear about that. After all we can't tarnish our image, now can we ?? So after all of that.... How successful would they have really been ? And also (again) I've owned two Harleys. I drank the kool aid. I know how it goes and I still see myself owning one some day. But it's gonna be as a project that I buy cheap and rebuild.

 

[monkeydog]

I hate to hijack a thread. But this irritates me.... Harley wouldn't exist today if it weren't for the help of the federal government intervening three times to save their hide. The 1st was the WW2 military contract. Because up till then Indian was cleaning their clocks. The money for the military contract helped keep them afloat and eventually propled them forward. The next was them boo hooing to congress for the tariff that was placed on import cycles because they couldn't compete in the market otherwise. And most recently it was the 9 billion (yes that's billion. With a b) dollar bail out they took out of the T.A.R.P. Fund. And oh yeah.... Nobody was supposed to hear about that. After all we can't tarnish out image, now can we ?? So after all of that.... How successful would they have really been ? And also (again) I've owned two Harleys. I drank the kool aid. I know how it goes and I still see myself owning one some day. But it's gonna be as a project that I buy cheap and rebuild.

All very true and no different from Chevrolet or Chrysler (two more American icons), but I was speaking about people bashing Harley in favor of Victory, acting like Harley's are still made with the AMF logo on the side when reality is they are a far cry from those days. ..... Like any major manufacturer, Harley has had it's ups and downs (just as Victory has in their short time in business) but the quality of a Harley Davidson is better today than it ever was. The fit and finish of a Harley is second to none and to be honest, I wish Victory would take notice of the metal turn signals, speedo housing, headlight housing, ..etc. that Harley uses. .... As I said, I really like the new Victory cruisers and I am seriously thinking about buying one in the spring but can we (by 'we' I mean Victory as a manufacturer and the people who own them) please stop the bashing and stop acting like Victory deserves the same respect after 16 years that Harley has earned by being in business for 103 years? .... Sorry, I didn't mean to hijack the thread either. I'm done. ...

 

[iabob]

All very true and no different from Chevrolet or Chrysler (two more American icons), but I was speaking about people bashing Harley in favor of Victory, acting like Harley's are still made with the AMF logo on the side when reality is they are a far cry from those days. .....  Like any major manufacturer, Harley has had it's ups and downs (just as Victory has in their short time in business) but the quality of a Harley Davidson is better today than it ever was. The fit and finish of a Harley is second to none and to be honest, I wish Victory would take notice of the metal turn signals, speedo housing, headlight housing, ..etc. that Harley uses. .... As I said, I really like the new Victory cruisers and I am seriously thinking about buying one in the spring but can we (by 'we' I mean Victory as a manufacturer and the people who own them) please stop the bashing and stop acting like Victory deserves the same respect after 16 years that Harley has earned by being in business for 103 years? .... Sorry, I didn't mean to hijack the thread either. I'm done. ... 

Harley has come a long way over the last 20 years. Heck, just look at all they've done over the last 15...Hmmm, I wonder what kind of competitive influence over the last 15 years has compelled them to improve their product so much? Guys who love how great their Harleys are today can thank Victory for that. Can we quit with the Harley bashing? Probably not. Is most of it inaccurate? Yes of course. Just like when I'm told my bike is ugly, plastic, a wannabe Harley or, 'what's the matter, you couldn't afford a real Harley?'...yes all those statements are inaccurate too. I doubt they're going away anytime soon either.

 

[lou8700]

Not for nothing but I wish people would stop spewing that line of crap! Harley's have been extremely reliable for the better part of the last 20 years! They don't all leak, they don't constantly need service and the dealers don't screw you any more or less than Victory, Honda or aany other dealer. .... I understand that most of you are happy Victory customers and you like to bash the largest, most successful motorcycle manufacturer in the world (for the last 100+ years I might add) but can you please come up with some new and more importantly ACCURATE criticism of HD?! ...

For the record, I am a Harley owner but am considering adding a Victory to my garage so I consider myself to be a fan of both.

I in no way meant to bash HD. They are great bikes and I know many people that own and love them. What I am talking about is SERVICE. HD is a master of that. Many people I know end up buying a service contract for a couple of grand. I'm not sure what it is about the many people I know that used to own Honda's etc. that used to change their own oil and filter and did other routine maintenance then all the sudden they buy a HD and they feel they have to let HD do their service work. Maybe it is the different fluids at different intervals that have them ruluctant to do it themselves? Anyway it seems that when they do take it in for service that there is always somethingelse that they upsell that ends up costing $. That 20k mile cam chain tensioner replacement is a good example. Probably true of many manufacturer's not just HD. I'm Thankful that my Victory seems a little more maintanence friendly since I do it myself.

 

[jayleav]

All very true and no different from Chevrolet or Chrysler (two more American icons), but I was speaking about people bashing Harley in favor of Victory, acting like Harley's are still made with the AMF logo on the side when reality is they are a far cry from those days. ..... Like any major manufacturer, Harley has had it's ups and downs (just as Victory has in their short time in business) but the quality of a Harley Davidson is better today than it ever was. The fit and finish of a Harley is second to none and to be honest, I wish Victory would take notice of the metal turn signals, speedo housing, headlight housing, ..etc. that Harley uses. .... As I said, I really like the new Victory cruisers and I am seriously thinking about buying one in the spring but can we (by 'we' I mean Victory as a manufacturer and the people who own them) please stop the bashing and stop acting like Victory deserves the same respect after 16 years that Harley has earned by being in business for 103 years? .... Sorry, I didn't mean to hijack the thread either. I'm done. ...

You kind of reiterated the problem I had with your first statement, with what I have in bold there.... Harley hasn't truly earned what they have now. Between the tax payer funded bail out in 09, and the Warren Buffet loan, that's due real soon, they kind of cheated in a real big way. And completely agree with you regarding GM, and Chrysler. Neither of them will ever again get a dime from me. And yes, Harley makes a better bike in most ways, today than ever before, but, the KNOWN quality problems with the drive train, like the 3pc press fit crank shaft, and the .013 run out tollerence at the end of the crank, is unacceptable. I love the look and sound of them as much as ANY Harley owner out there, I really do ! They are sweet. But they are made very weakly, and you pay for something you aren't getting, sorry to say.

 

[XKnight]

That's because they require soo much service.

Maybe that was your experience, but that last 3 Harley's that I've owned only required routine maintenance. There were two minor recalls that I remember, but those were handled quickly and with no issues. I wish I could same the same for the Victory that I owned, but unfortunately it spent about a month at the dealership in the short 5 months that I owned it.

 

[XKnight]

That 20k mile cam chain tensioner replacement is a good example.

HD went to hydralic cam tensioners around 2006 so that issue was resolved a long time ago. The newer Harley's should go around 100K or more without replacement.

 

[Chas]

Remember this, We have all waited for a company like Polaris to take Indian by the horns, which they have done, and do some pretty amazing things.
Polaris is a huge company, and they aren't going anywhere. The way I see it, I've been waiting since 1953 for them to come back, so whats a few more weeks?
This is a huge undertaking for them. Between making totally new bikes with 5 new models in two years is amazing. There will be a day when this will all come together. So please! We all have to be patient. It will be worth it in the end....

 

[Shuje Sunge]

Chas, you do know this thread is a year old, right?