[GAStar]

My local Yamaha/Honda/Can Am/Polaris/Victory dealer recently stopped doing business with Polaris and Victory. The owner can choose to do business with whatever companies he wants, but I am wondering if this is a trend. Polaris promised to stand behind the Victory line for 10 years, but this is not as reassuring if the dealers are dropping Victory for service, parts, etc.

Anyone else having this experience with their dealer?

 

[HenryT]

Well think about it. Unless said dealer has a huge following of loyal old Victory owners who bring their bike to them for service and Victory products (the few still available) then why would they keep the Victory service? Yeah I agree to be loyal to the customers who bought bikes from them is a pretty good reason. But business is business and losing money is usually not part of a business plan. I'm pretty sure but my dealer who says they will keep servicing Victory (as long as they can, whatever that means) said that there is an annual fee to be an "authorized" dealer. Cant say for sure if they will stay a Victory service center time will tell.

 

[mister-g]

our local indian dealer became a victory authorised service center about a year ago. am i wrong in assuming that most will do the same ?

 

[NY mike]

@mister-g just had a slap to reality most Vic / Indiana dealers are not stocking Vic parts. 16 Magnum Voltage regulator went out 3days to locate one and get it. Not real good if your a person who tours and no ones stocking parts. But was told if you had s Indian we have one on the shelf. Very discouraged about this scenario anything going out on the road can cripple a vacation

 

[Pathfinder27]

our local indian dealer became a victory authorised service center about a year ago. am i wrong in assuming that most will do the same ?

There may be a few that are doing that but none reasonably close to me.

 

[slickvic]

I wondering if keeping a spare voltage regulator in the bag on a trip isn’t a bad idea. Batteries are everywhere. What else could you possibly need?

 

[unbidden]

I talked to my dealer a couple months ago as to why he was not selling the Indian line now that Vic is a pile of ashes. He said they want half his showroom and 350 grand up front. He is still honoring the Victory warranty and repairs however.

 

[Pathfinder27]

I talked to my dealer a couple months ago as to why he was not selling the Indian line now that Vic is a pile of ashes. He said they want half his showroom and 350 grand up front. He is still honoring the Victory warranty and repairs however.

Sounds like Polaris is treating its dealers the same way they do their customers.

 

[ledzep]

Which Victory dealer dropped Polaris?

 

[Ampdreamer]

Sounds like Polaris is treating its dealers the same way they do their customers.

The problem is they should of never put victory dealers in multiline dealerships to start with. The 2nd time around with Indiana I feel they are doing it right. The dealer by me is great Rolling Fast. Gave up on customs and Aprilla to sell Victory. They sell all the Polaris products now except the snowmobiles. Not enough snow here to make it worth it. They will always service vics. The problem with putting victory in multidealers was most salesmen are horrible sales people and sell by price not listen to customers and would not push something more expensive. It would be the same if harley put their bikes in multidealerships. If hd did that they wouldn't have the large amount of sales that they have had over many years. When I 1st bought my victory I went to a multidealership,said i wanted a victory and the salesman kept trying to talk me into a cheaper jap bike. I walked out and never looked back. What an ass. Same as if you walk into a chevy dealer he is not going to try to sell you a caddy unless you asked for a caddy.

 

[Ampdreamer]

From what I'm seeing if the Indian dealerships were previously a victory dealership they will service victorys, but some of the newer Indian dealerships that didn't start with victory probably will not. We have both types here in Nj. Actually at Rolling Fast they will work on any brand. I have seen other brand bikes in their service department.

 

[PreachSF]

the guys over at Rollin Fast do a great job!

 

[Pathfinder27]

The problem is they should of never put victory dealers in multiline dealerships to start with. The 2nd time around with Indiana I feel they are doing it right. The dealer by me is great Rolling Fast. Gave up on customs and Aprilla to sell Victory. They sell all the Polaris products now except the snowmobiles. Not enough snow here to make it worth it. They will always service vics. The problem with putting victory in multidealers was most salesmen are horrible sales people and sell by price not listen to customers and would not push something more expensive. It would be the same if harley put their bikes in multidealerships. If hd did that they wouldn't have the large amount of sales that they have had over many years. When I 1st bought my victory I went to a multidealership,said i wanted a victory and the salesman kept trying to talk me into a cheaper jap bike. I walked out and never looked back. What an ass. Same as if you walk into a chevy dealer he is not going to try to sell you a caddy unless you asked for a caddy.

Yeah I was only messing around man. Another problem was the fact that all of the dealerships were independently owned. There was zero continuity between one dealership to another. The disparity of customer service quality from one dealership to the next I unlike any other bike brand I've ever experienced. But I'm only one dude with one set of experiences. Everyone else has their own. Glad to hear at least that some guys out there are being treated well still.

 

[Gossamer]

cmon you guys didn't really expect dealerships to stock many, if any, parts for a dead brand?

That's shelf space and monetary investment with no new bike sales and/or growing clientele.

People can and should expect to wait for even the most basic parts such as belts.

That being said, thankfully for the most part these bikes are relatively bulletproof but everytime you need something you're going to need more time for the repair.

Even Polaris blew out all of their stock on parts after the announcement just to get rid of the stuff and they're a multi billion dollar corporation.

A much smaller dealer is going to keep nothing unless it's already on their shelf.

 

[Ampdreamer]

Yeah I was only messing around man. Another problem was the fact that all of the dealerships were independently owned. There was zero continuity between one dealership to another. The disparity of customer service quality from one dealership to the next I unlike any other bike brand I've ever experienced. But I'm only one dude with one set of experiences. Everyone else has their own. Glad to hear at least that some guys out there are being treated well still.

I find outside of the auto industry you find mixed customer service in any brand. The auto industry ties bonuses to customer service surveys, wish boat and motorcycle industry would do the same.

 

[Ampdreamer]

Also i don't think it's legal to sell a motorcycle direct not through a franchise in the U.S.. That's what Tesla was doing with cars and the government stopped them from doing it. Government told them they had to franchise and the price of the cars went up. Not sure if motorcycles are different.

 

[NY mike]

If you run some what close to home it’s probably a little easier to tolerate the waiting on parts thing. Not that any of us like our bikes to be down period. But as I said if you tour and anything goes out on your bike your dead in the water for how long and god knows what forsaken area. I’ve got some serious thinking to do on this. 75% of my miles are long distance running. Sitting in the middle of Nebraska for 3 days to who knows how long for something simple not gonna work for me. Same answer from several dealers no but we can try to locate the part for you. Not gonna cut it

 

[Gossamer]

If you run some what close to home it's probably a little easier to tolerate the waiting on parts thing. Not that any of us like our bikes to be down period. But as I said if you tour and anything goes out on your bike your dead in the water for how long and god knows what forsaken area. I've got some serious thinking to do on this. 75% of my miles are long distance running. Sitting in the middle of Nebraska for 3 days to who knows how long for something simple not gonna work for me. Same answer from several dealers no but we can try to locate the part for you. Not gonna cut it

and that's why I gave up the brand(after Polaris gave up on me). Great bikes, had an Ok, but not stellar dealer network, but I like to travel. I put over 70,000 on my 2012 in the 4 seasons I owned in and i"m in the snow belt.

It would be different if you could find more universal parts to at least limp you home but that's not the case with bikes

 

[Ghostrider25]

I was lucky in that my dealer opened with both Victory and Indian in the house, even though Polanus demanded that the showroom be dominated by Indian. I was luckier still when Polanus pulled the plug on Vic, Spirit decided to remain true to their Vic customers and still do a great job servicing them. Other dealerships, such as Hollister, kicked Vic right out of the building. I was told it was because the costs to be an authorized Vic service center were too high. So they went all in on Indian and the OTV stuff. But they also offer Can-Am, Honda and Kawasaki.

Basically, they had enough on their plates and could not be bothered to try and keep up with a dying Vic crowd. This is what we are going to face more and more I think.

 

[slickvic]

the guys over at Rollin Fast do a great job!

So do you guys !