anyone ride a victory and decide on a Kawasaki?

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by blowndodge

"We" is just you joel....

No, there's others that call it "turd brown".

[blowndodge]

Originally Posted by cactusjack

No, there's others that call it "turd brown".

Like??

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by blowndodge

Like??

Me, for one.

[aron77]

I can't add anything new to the discussion but I've had my vaquero for a month and I love it. I don't think there is a bike on the market that looks as sexy as the Vaquero. Looking at it from the back it has a classic American muscle car feel with the V tail light and the nice looking gage cluster. The side opening saddle bags sacrifice a tad of storage but they look great. The only negatives are the awful stock seat and I suppose this is true of all bikes, and cars for that matter, but the add ons are stupid expensive like $57 for just an aux jack adapter to plug in an MP3 or $107 to get the full ipod adapter to use the handle bar controls and the $700 retail cost of the stock passenger back rest and mount is highway robbery.

[Work4crown]

I rode the 2015 Indian Roadmaster twice. I was amazed by the power, sound, handling, radio. Not so amazed by the look of the front fairing. But what surprised me was the incredible leg burning heat coming off the right side of the engine. Buyer beware of that heat. I thought I burned my leg a few times.

I also rode a 2015 HD Road King recently. Compared to my 2001 Nomad it felt cramped; especially in passenger space. It was very hard to get the bike in neutral and the clutch was heavy. It was hard to ride smooth compared to the Indian. It was kind of herky jerky.

Getting back on the Nomad after the HD I felt much more comfortable, easier to shift and find neutral. However, far less power than the HD or Indian.

[blowndodge]

Originally Posted by cactusjack

Me, for one.

You don't count

[blowndodge]

Originally Posted by Ken Vega

The K Act system has my bike stopping on a dime. Its my first ABS bike so it took a little getting used to.

Scott told me his Harley can stop on a dime as well. I'll be damned if he wasn't telling the truth! Every time we past a dime on the highway he'd slam on his brakes and pick it up!

[hoodooman]

A few have commented on Indians - I think the Cheiftan is gorgeous, but I really want a fairing. The tourmaster, to my eyes, is pretty gaudy looking. Something odd looking to me about the fairing.

I do really like the looks of the Vaquero, and the more i see the Vaquero, the more it rivals the looks of the Victory to me. I think they're both pretty sexy! Just can't wait to test ride!

[Idaho]

Just found this thread and did not read it all to see how it may have been hijacked. So, I'll answer the original question. I rode a Victory, the Nomad and a Suzi M-109. Loved the Suzi engine and tranny but hated the riding position. Liked the Victory ride and room but the tranny was too noisy. Neither the Suzy or the Victory had bags, windshield, lowers, dresser bars, etc. So, I went with the Nomad. It now has 78,000 miles on it.
Now that Kawi has stopped making the Nomad when it dies I will look again at Victory and test an Indian. The new Kawis are too short and too damn hot for my liking. Kawasaki needs to wake up because they are losing serious market share. Too bad.

[Crumm]

Hi, sorry for the late reply. I had the chance to test ride both a Victory Cross Country and the Kawi Vaquero. I'm really not sure why I here so many "great" things about Victory. Here's my honest opinion. The stock break pedal on the Vic CC is about as big as my thumb, compared to the huge break pedal on the Kawi. The shape of the Vic CC is beautiful, but when you sit on it, the gauges and instrument panel are extremely boring. Also, the buttons on the handle bars that control the stereo and cruise control feel like they are from an old casio watch (cheap). The clunking of the Vic CC shifting is also annoying. What I will say is once on the open road, not shifting or using the controls, the 106 engine pulls hard and fast. But, for me, I am beyond happy I went with the Kawi Vaquero. The breaks are awesome, the instrument panel is beautiful, the controls feel nice and expensive, and the 1700CC engine has plenty of top end power that I did not notice any difference between the 106 Vic or 104 Vaquero engine AT ALL. The Vic CC is beautiful on the outside, and boring to look at once sitting. The Vaquero is beautiful on the outside, and beautiful to look at one sitting down as well. Save yourself some $$ and go Kawi. (plus I get 10 times the attention on my bike than Victory owners do at the local biker bars, lol)

[Crumm]

Oh yeah, one more thing. ABS is standard on the Kawi Vaquero. I made the huge mistake of test riding the Victory CC W/OUT ABS. I was going through a yellow and decided "better not" and casually hit the breaks (did NOT slam the breaks) and the Victory locked up and I went into the intersection looking like an idiot. When I got back from the test ride I asked if the Victory had ABS and the dealer said "No, some of them do, some of them don't, the ones w/out cost less". SOOOOO, If you want ABS, you'll being paying for it on the Victory, while it's standard on the Vaquero. The Vaquero is the better bike hands down. peace out:

[99xcsp]

Talking about whining noise, Anyone considering a Victory needs to ride and hear the engine, Holy Crap does that motor squeak and Whine, it would drive me crazy? I know people who have sold there Victory's due to the engine noise. My 13 Voyager purrs like a kitten in comparison.

[Ken Vega]

Originally Posted by blowndodge

Scott told me his Harley can stop on a dime as well. I'll be damned if he wasn't telling the truth! Every time we past a dime on the highway he'd slam on his brakes and pick it up!

Lmao

[blowndodge]

Originally Posted by Crumm

Hi, sorry for the late reply. I had the chance to test ride both a Victory Cross Country and the Kawi Vaquero. I'm really not sure why I here so many "great" things about Victory. Here's my honest opinion. The stock break pedal on the Vic CC is about as big as my thumb, compared to the huge break pedal on the Kawi. The shape of the Vic CC is beautiful, but when you sit on it, the gauges and instrument panel are extremely boring. Also, the buttons on the handle bars that control the stereo and cruise control feel like they are from an old casio watch (cheap). The clunking of the Vic CC shifting is also annoying. What I will say is once on the open road, not shifting or using the controls, the 106 engine pulls hard and fast. But, for me, I am beyond happy I went with the Kawi Vaquero. The breaks are awesome, the instrument panel is beautiful, the controls feel nice and expensive, and the 1700CC engine has plenty of top end power that I did not notice any difference between the 106 Vic or 104 Vaquero engine AT ALL. The Vic CC is beautiful on the outside, and boring to look at once sitting. The Vaquero is beautiful on the outside, and beautiful to look at one sitting down as well. Save yourself some $$ and go Kawi. (plus I get 10 times the attention on my bike than Victory owners do at the local biker bars, lol)

I'm surprised you get any lookers. Since you live in OC you should go to Cook's or Hell's and park it next to my XCT. The second most popular bikes at all the California bikers hang outs are Vics. Most Harley guys tell me they'd own a Vic. there must be a reason kawasaki is slowly backing out of the cruiser, touring market. They can't give their overstock away. Nothing wrong with a Kawasaki but there is a reason Harley and Victory's cost more than a Kawasaki.

I still read the posts here about the newer Kawasaki's having their own issues. Engine heat. Low power. Dash rattles. All bikes to some degree have issues. Kawasaki has no aftermarket support as well.

[dshelly]

Wonder if any of the Kawi decision makers are reading this? If not, they should be.