vaquero

[twowheeladdict]

Originally Posted by GIBBY

Knowing that Victory has discontinued the Vision Street and the Vision 8-Ball, I knowingly did not mention a bike that is no longer available. I spent a little seat time on a Vaquero during the National Rally in N.C. and if I was given one I would sell it and buy something else.

I've done several Victory Demo rides in the past year. They are nice bikes, but the Cross Country tour was no where near the Vision in ride quality, slow speed handling, and wind management. The Cross Country Tour had a lot of buffeting and back pressure from the tour pack. The Vision was a dream to ride and I could see myself touring on one if it had more luggage capacity and a better look.

Since you didn't want to mention a bike that was no longer available you decided to compare a handlebar mounted fairing bike to a frame mounted fairing bike. There is no comparison. When in a heavy cross wind with gusts the fairing mounted riders are working hard to keep their bikes from being blown all over the road. We stopped for a rest and they asked me why I was maintaining my line through all the wind and I told them because the wind doesn't affect my steering.

[GIBBY]

I did two demo rides on the Vaquero and have NEVER been on a bike with as much wind buffeting. I am not sure when you rode a XCT but my XCT has ZERO wind buffeting. You could carry a lit candle while riding. It sure seems like some of the contributors to this thread are awful biased without first hand knowledge of what they speak. I put over 50,000 miles on a Nomad and over 10,000 on a Kawasaki Drifter and now 7500 on my XCT. Even though I loved my Nomad and Drifter, in my opinion they are not even on the same playing field as my Victory. I have crossed S.D with a steady 50 mph sidewind and have NOT been blown all over the road.

[ponch]

Originally Posted by twowheeladdict

Your comparing frame mounted fairing to handlebar mounted fairing. No comparison in the handling and riding in the wind. the Vaquero wins hands down. The Vision Street is the bike that compares to the Vaquero.

Today you can buy '11 Vaqueros for $11,000. Doesn't look like Victory is making the Vision Street any more.

It depends on where you live. Not everyone will travel 2000 miles to buy a bike. The Kaw dealers where I live really don't deal much below MSRP. You'd be lucky to get the OTD to be the same as MSRP. Just saying.

[ponch]

Originally Posted by GIBBY

I did two demo rides on the Vaquero and have NEVER been on a bike with as much wind buffeting. I am not sure when you rode a XCT but my XCT has ZERO wind buffeting. You could carry a lit candle while riding. It sure seems like some of the contributors to this thread are awful biased without first hand knowledge of what they speak. I put over 50,000 miles on a Nomad and over 10,000 on a Kawasaki Drifter and now 7500 on my XCT. Even though I loved my Nomad and Drifter, in my opinion they are not even on the same playing field as my Victory. I have crossed S.D with a steady 50 mph sidewind and have NOT been blown all over the road.

There are more factors to buffeting than just the bike itself. I think the rider's dimensions factor into it. I know riders with my bike that say it's great in cross winds, but for me, I don't find that to be true, but I also upset the windflow a lot more than they do (cross winds are the one thing my Nomad was better at). I do find if I speed up it gets better, which is odd. I have ridden the vision and found that it danced in cross winds as it was a windy day when I took it out. It also had mushy brakes.

[markclark57]

I actually priced out a Victory Cross Country with the things I would want on it @ $19,760.00 to compare with a new Vaquero. H-D doesn't have anything under $30K that gets my attention. If I were to replace "Grace" today, (I'm not) I would probably go with the VCC. Sorry Ma Kaw.

Oops, I went back and looked again. It's the Victory Cross Roads that I priced out, not the Cross Country. (I don't really like the faring.)

[ponch]

Originally Posted by markclark57

I actually priced out a Victory Cross Country with the things I would want on it @ $19,760.00 to compare with a new Vaquero. H-D doesn't have anything under $30K that gets my attention. If I were to replace "Grace" today, (I'm not) I would probably go with the VCC. Sorry Ma Kaw.

Test ride, test ride, test ride...

[markclark57]

Originally Posted by ponch

Test ride, test ride, test ride...

Not interested in replacing "Grace" so a test ride is moot. Just saying "IF".

[ponch]

Originally Posted by markclark57

Not interested in replacing "Grace" so a test ride is moot. Just saying "IF".

Just saying it's always good to test if you are buying and sometimes if you are not. You never know.

[markclark57]

Similar to when I bought "Grace", when the time comes, I will explore all options available.

[GIBBY]

I paid $20,699 for my Cross Country Tour out the door. Of course there was state tax to pay on top of that. What Ponch said, "test ride, test ride, test ride". I agree about the many factors regarding wind buffeting. Before I sold my Nomad I had it down to a minimum. Of course I had to add a fairing and lowers to achieve that. One thing that I really like about the Vic is it has many things as std. equipment, such as heated seat, heated grips, ABS, cruise, AM//FM/WX four speaker stereo, quick release tour pak, ipod connector and I'm sure some things that I have forgot.

[ponch]

Originally Posted by GIBBY

I paid $20,699 for my Cross Country Tour out the door. Of course there was state tax to pay on top of that. What Ponch said, "test ride, test ride, test ride". I agree about the many factors regarding wind buffeting. Before I sold my Nomad I had it down to a minimum. Of course I had to add a fairing and lowers to achieve that. One thing that I really like about the Vic is it has many things as std. equipment, such as heated seat, heated grips, ABS, cruise, AM//FM/WX four speaker stereo, quick release tour pak, ipod connector and I'm sure some things that I have forgot.

OTD is with tax. Just saying. That is how I look at it anyway.

You got the XCT for the same reasons I got the beemer: You wanted better and more standard features. The XCT wasn't around when I got the RT, so it wasn't a contender. In another year or two, we'll see.

[twowheeladdict]

Originally Posted by GIBBY

I am not sure when you rode a XCT .

What does "I've done several Victory Demo rides in the past year" mean to you? Do you want specific dates?

[ponch]

Originally Posted by twowheeladdict

What does "I've done several Victory Demo rides in the past year" mean to you? Do you want specific dates?

I thought the XCT and Vision had the same basic chassis?

[GIBBY]

I question whether you rode a Cross Country Tour at all. I have read every written bit of material I could find. EVERY single person that has tested a Cross Country Tour has raved about the air management. How could virtually everyone have a different experience than you? Many people have tested a Cross Country with a tour pak and have been left wanting more in the way of air management. Maybe you are right and everyone else is wrong, including those that have put many thousands of miles on a Cross Country Tour.

[toy4bob]

Originally Posted by GIBBY

Vision Tour? The closest Victory model to a Vaquero is the Cross Country. Hard bags, fairing with gauges and tunes. Kawasaki Vaquero list is $17,199. Victory Cross Country list is $18,999. I would not consider that "much more expensive".

But I bought a 2011 Vaq for 11k plus tax, and I couldn't get a local Victory dealer of off 16k plus tax for a leftover 2010 Cross Country.... that's 5k or about 45% more.

Price was not my only part in my decision. I demo rode the Cross Country and Streetglide several times each, before buying my Vaquero. I did feel the CC felt more powerful, but other than that as far as feel I would have been happy with any of the three bikes. I am still not sure I like the Victory look, and I had no interest in paying the HD premium for what I feel is the name and status symbol, so was very happy that the bike I liked best just happen to be the least expensive as well...

The first time I saw a picture of the Vaquero, I fell in love and said to myself that is the best looking bike of the style I wanted. Rode it after having ridden the others, and wasn't disappointed... so I bought it!