Bragging about how much horsepower and torque your touring motorcycle has is the equivalent of the kid down the street with his Honda Civic bragging about having more power than his friend with a Kia. Who GAF? The Harley and the Victory are both slow, bottom line.

 

what i really find ridiculous is people in here saying harley doesnt listen to customers and they have no innovations. have any of you stopped and thought maybe the reason harley is so successful is because in fact they do exactly what their customers want. the fact is most harley riders ride a harley because they have classic old school styling and have a big vibrating vtwin that they love. i am not trying to hate on victory i have never owned one but i can tell you the reason i have bought 3 harleys is because i like classic looking bikes i dont like the modern lines and futuristic looks of the victorys. and for innovations just because they dont change major cosmetic things doesnt mean they dont make changes. have you bothered to look at the new 2010 harleys they changed the rear fenders up alot, changed the standard exhaust, and many suspension components. harley is continuing to change things and make better bikes every year. just look at the bike line up over the past 10 years they have added tons on new bikes to bring in new customers. vrod, fat bob, street bob, rocker, etc these are just a few bikes harley made to add variety to their line up. i could go on and on about innovations and changes by harley but why bother. bottom line is no company will ever be able to please everybody so our job as consumers is to shop and see what company fits us best and not argue with each other because at the end of the day as long as you are happy with what you have in your garage why does it matter what the other guy has in his

 

Anyone have a Cross Country on the board that can give some real insight?

 

Since I was a former Victory owner until a month ago, I still frequent the Victory forums once a week or so. I checked in last week to see if anyone had received there XC's and see what they were saying. Most were pleased for the most part, but there were a good deal of complaints I read (most minor) that made me feel relieved I didn't wait for that bike and not buy a Street Glide.

Again it all comes down to aftermarket support and there is little at all for Victory and to me that was an issue. So the issues they have with the bike, how little they may be, will have to be corrected with aftermarket from Victory or may never be corrected for awhile.

 

Here is a rider review that points out some issues etc..........the fuel filling/spilling sounds like a real PIA!

I said I would post this so here it is:

Victory Cross Country, the first 550 miles

Before I get started, here are the bikes I have ridden enough miles on in the last year to use as a comparison. Victory Classic Cruiser, Victory Hammer, Victory Vision and HD Street Glide. I want to give you what I see as the good, the bad and maybe a little ugly of this new bike.

Let's start with the seating position and the windshield. Certainly the stock windshield will not protect you like the Vision windshield in the raised position. The fairing does protect your hands and body core better than the Street Glide fairing and better than the windshield on the Classic Cruiser deluxe. If you are taller (I am 6'0”), you will notice the helmet buffeting. Frankly I can live with this because I like to feel the air. If this will be your only tour bike and you want maximum protection, I suggest you get the tall windshield and the lowers. While this will not protect you like a Vision it will be adequate and in rain, you will get wet.

The seat is not as comfortable as the Vision seat. It is as comfortable as the Street Glide seat and probably more in line with a Mustang aftermarket seat. This being said, it could use a little more 'bucket' to plant your butt in. It is also somewhat short on the crotch line (from the backrest to the tank). While not a hindrance, you will notice it when you go to stuff a glove in your crotch and you are feeling the the gas tank. I understand there is a lowered seat version and if this gave a little more setback, some of you might want it. I will stick with stock or maybe have some custom work done.

The floor boards are on par with the Vision with plenty of room for multiple foot placement positions. I probably will not do Highway pegs as I don't like the look of the floor board mounted ones (ala the Vision) and I think I would be too stretched out for the bar mounted ones. The floor boards blow the Street Glide foot placement away and are adjustable with the controls.

So now for the riding....

This bike performs extremely well. The Lower COG is noticeable against a Street Glide and the Classic Cruiser. Low Speed turns are easy and give you no feeling of 'about to lose control' I did about 20 u-turns in a 2 lane road with a 200 pound passenger today and never felt uncomfortable. When you go in to a high speed corner this bike squats and begs for more throttle. We rode in some sweeping 50 MPH (posted safe) corners at 80 to 85 and at the apex I cracked the throttle and the bike pressed on through the corner. In twisties today, the bike leaned over and stuck like it was on a rail.

How does the cornering compare:

To the Classic Cruiser, no comparison, you sit lower the COG is lower and the bike wants more speed in the corners. I typically will drag boards on the cruiser, I never ended up this far over on the Cross Country as I was well through the corner without that much lean.

To the Vision, I think the Cross Country snaps into a corner rather than 'flows' in to a corner. If you have ridden a Vision hard on corners, it seems to just flow in and out, you feel the corner but the suspension grabs and takes you there and through easily. The Cross Country lets you know you are initiating a turn as you feel it in the front suspension.

To the Hammer, the Cross Country is almost like a cross between a Vision and a Hammer. With the exception of the 'fat tire syndrome' the Cross Country lets you feel the turn and the rear follows like there is a tight connection between the front and rear tire.
To the Street Glide, the Cross Country feels the road a little more. The Street glide seems to have a little softer suspension but, the firmness of the Cross Country gives you a better, confident feedback about the adhesion of the bike to the road. The Front end of the Cross Country takes a little press and responds NOW. Swerving gives a real comfortable “in control” feeling.

The over all ride is softer than the Classic Cruiser, not as firm as the Hammer, a little more firm than the Street Glide and way harder than the Vision. But the wheelbase length is about as perfect as you could want for road bump comfort. No quick 1,2 hits and the travel in the suspension even handles bad Railroad crossings.

The fit and finish is very good. Not quite excellent as the fairing edges should have been smoother. The paint seems durable enough and, so far, the saddle bags have not shown any leg wear from passengers. The passenger floor boards will hit you in the back of the legs if left down and you are trying to back the bike up. Not painful just a minor irritation.

Now some of the UGLY. These are little gripes but, if you ride and want this bike to perform and be comfortable, there are issues

Radio controls , there is no on/off button, this is accomplished by pressing the volume down button until it finally shuts off. Functionally it works ( as any engineer would say, “it does shut off”) as a rider, if you want the radio off, it is an inordinate amount of time to get it shut off. Likewise with the lack of a mute button. If you roll up to a toll booth and want to quickly mute the radio, you are stuck holding the volume down button until it says volume off.

Saddle bag latches, the saddle bags are HUGE and I think I could go Costco shopping and bring it all home in them! The lids are easy to open and there are some great rubber seals to keep the contents dry. But, as new, these seals mean you really need to check and be sure they are latched. I have had them come open twice. The nice thing is, they can easily be closed while riding at 70 MPH..

The air ride adjustment. This feature is similar to the Vision and I really like the ability to adjust the ride based on carrying weight. But, the Vision includes a sticker next to the valve with weight and air pressure. This info is in the manual with the Cross Country, which I don't carry with me. If you ONLY ride one up and always carry the same cargo, you will not adjust this much. I tend to adjust mine each time I ride because something has changed.

The fuel tank filler. Victory has changed the method for putting the fuel nozzle in the gas tank. This new method manages to slow the filling process and I have spilled more gas than I ever had before. I am not sure of why the nozzle does not fit all the way down below the holes in the side of the filler nozzle but this causes some splash. This may be a new requirement for newer fuel nozzles but, I used three different stations in two different states and they were all a pain in the ***.

As an overall opinion, I am VERY happy I bought this bike. I will now put the trunk on the Vision and probably leave it there. The Vision is now my long trip bike and the Cross Country my short to medium trip bike. The Hammer stays as my kick *** and run around town bike. The Cruiser will either be sold or ridden now and then. I like the Cross Country and for me it was a better choice than the Cross Roads. In my opinion, if you are riding a TC or Kingpin Tour the Cross Roads will probably be a great, more comfortable upgrade bike. The fairing does change what you can see 'right in front' of the tire but, having ridden a Vision for the last year and a half, I don't mind.

Comparing the Cross Country to the Street Glide, I think there will be a lot of Harley riders who will buy these Cross bikes for the comfort and performance. If they ride because of the brand name, they will probably stay with Harley but, if they ride a lot, they could easily accept the Victory products.

These are after all just my opinions and I could be wrong but, I doubt it!



Cross Country with friends (Kingpin, Vision and Ness Jackpot )

 

I spilled gas on my softail a few times till I got used to how you fill it.
Very interesting review.

 

Not only Never.
But Never!

 

I'm torn, because while I like all the things Victory is trying (and doing) with their new bikes, they are just too plastic and space-age for me. On the other hand, there are a lot of things I think Harley could be doing better.
I think the MOCO listens to us and does make certain changes in response to some of our ideas/complaints, but they're handcuffed in a sense by something Victory isn't... tradition and heritage. Victory is free to move out and take chances with styling (which I'm not terribly fond of - yet) and with innovation and technology (which I'm always interested in).
One other thought... It seems to me that HD went the wrong way with the 2010's and the heat issue. I'm wondering if they're not doing that because they're conditioning us into being more accepting of a water-cooled touring model in a year or two. They can always blame it on California and the EPA, plus like I said earlier, they listen to us (occasionally), and if I'm reading the polls on this forum correctly, it looks like the majority of us would entertain buying a water-cooled HD tourer.
I for one am hoping Victory keeps HD more "honest" in the future... I think the competition will only be good for us, the consumer.

 

Well I own 2 harleys well I did until a few weeks ago. I traded my 2005 ultra classic in for a 2010 Victory Cross Country. The more I ride the bike the more a I like it. It definitly out performs my ultra and out handles. I had my Ultra since new and never had a single problem. My 2006 Street Bob needed a stater last year but is a fun bike to ride.

I would have liked to buy yhe Street Glide but in my eyes the Victory is a better bike. I got more fot the $$.

I hate that HD changed to a 2 in 1 exhaust this year. Why did they do that just to say they made a change, It's ugly. We'll see how the Victory works out. I agree with the other gentlemen HD better watch it's competiion.

 

Hate the looks! I believe there's a Victory forum though.......