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New victory owner! What to expect?

11K views 82 replies 20 participants last post by  LEVON106  
#1 ·
Havent bought a bike in 12 yrs. Went with a 16' magnum. Suppose to go pick up next week. I got a deposit on it holding until i can make the 5 hr drive. I found a blue and white one. I was searching for all blue, but seems only the cross countrys come all blue. All magnums seem to have graphics on them. Im new to victory motorcycles so not much knowledge. What should i look for on the bike before signing the loan papers? Also does anyone know if there were any factory blue magnums produced? Because i literally cannot find a picture or video of any other factory blue magnum ANYWHERE! So im wondering if this victory im buying has been repainted. Because one red flag for me is the victory badge missing from the gas tank. Anyway it looks to be a decent paint job. And im specifically looking for blue so it works for me. Im just thinking they didnt make any factory blue magnums
 

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#4 ·
That’s not a factory paint job, but does look very well done. The seat also looks aftermarket, and the speakers in the bag lids are not stock either, which leads me to believe if someone went to the trouble to do that, the rest of the stereo bits are probably upgraded too. Somebody put some work into this bike.
 
#6 ·
Make sure it has a clean title. Repaints are for two reasons. Wrecked, or owner has a ton of cash laying around.

Miles of smiles. That’s what you can expect from a Victory.
 
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#7 ·
Red flags all over that bike...

Missing forged bars....

Repaint, why...

Hack job on the lid speakers....

Why would someone do a custom paint and put back the safety reflectors but not the tank badge.

I would be very careful with that bike and make sure I had it checked out in person by myself or someone with some expertise.

Whats the asking price?
 
#9 ·
Red flags all over that bike...

Missing forged bars....

Repaint, why...

Hack job on the lid speakers....

Why would someone do a custom paint and put back the safety reflectors but not the tank badge.

I would be very careful with that bike and make sure I had it checked out in person by myself or someone with some expertise.

Whats the asking price?
Crash bars were optional on Magnums, stock they came with no bars.
 
#8 ·
I thought the Magnum came with 21" wheel also (that looks like 18" to me). Anyway, I agree to be careful with this one. Get the VIN and check the manuals to confirm model/year, make sure it matches the clean title. If all is good though, I dig the paint job. A few other things we could probably point out if you get some additional photos from other angles.
 
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#12 ·
Cool, well listen here... when you get it home, get some good 360-degree photos for us and I really hope it's a good ride for you and no underlying issues. These bikes are fun to ride and last. I would spend the extra money to have a good vic mechanic go through it if you can, or a local ex-victory dealer maybe. Let us know where you are located, there might be some locals or en-route riders you can hook up with or whatever on the journey.

I picked up the gunner from a small used-bike dealer who basically only sells bikes they buy at auction, little to no work done by them and sold as-is. I had it trailered directly to my vic dealer and let them have it for a couple weeks (it was mid-January) to go through it and think I paid them somewhere around $150-175 for peace of mind, which included an oil change. The guys I bought it from said they changed the oil and replaced the rear tire which now has about 12k miles on it.
 
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#14 ·
The seat is a Magnum seat, and yes it is repainted.
 
#16 ·
Video files are too large, you would have to upload to a 3rd party site and link it here (i.e. youtube)
 
#17 ·
The biggest thing imo is that a Vic owner thoroughly warms up the bike before riding otherwise cylinder damage could occur.
A guy that has his bike custom painted is usually a guy that takes care of his ****. Knock on wood.
The bike doesn't appear to be just repainted for resale.
I would think that a leak down test would add some peace of mind. The thing about Vics is they just don't use or loose oil. On a road trip I can go over 6k miles and not have to check the oil not even once. I do check it just before a change to keep my peace of mind, and normally that's sooner than 5k with full synthetic.

If you are happy with what you find go for it, and if not there are still quite a few good buys out there.

Oh yea the tank badge is quite often removed by guys as it gives the bike a cleaner appearance. I sawed mine off with waxed dental floss years ago.
 
#20 ·
She's a looker for sure. I think you'll be happy.
 
#21 ·
Looks to be someone's personal Magnum build that started life as a blue XC.

Still has the chrome XC signals with the rear being on an 8ball molding.

Someone spent a lot of money making that blue Magnum just for YOU.

Look it over good, check the air in the tires, let it warm up for a few minutes then take it for a good 30+ minute test ride.

You'll be blown away and ready to sign in the first 2 miles... DON'T turn around , do the 30+! Run it up to speed put it to your TEST.
 
#22 ·
Looks to be someone's personal Magnum build that started life as a blue XC.

Still has the chrome XC signals with the rear being on an 8ball molding.

Someone spent a lot of money making that blue Magnum just for YOU.

Look it over good, check the air in the tires, let it warm up for a few minutes then take it for a good 30+ minute test ride.

You'll be blown away and ready to sign in the first 2 miles... DON'T turn around , do the 30+! Run it up to speed put it to your TEST.
You think shes a replica? Maybe not a true magnum? Wouldnt the VIN# show that?
 
#24 ·
#27 · (Edited)
Wouldn't make much sense to turn a standard xc into that. Front fender, wheel, tone ring, painted chin fairing, painted inner fairing, painted dash, Magnum radio controls, magnum seat, speaker lids, fairing speaker grills, bag fillers, cheese wedges, graphics, the list goes on and on. If that were the case, it would have probably cost 30k+ all in. My guess is the previous owner replaced the bag lids, upgraded speakers and replaced or repainted the side covers (maybe they fell off) as they look slightly different in shade.

I would suggest a small addition, looks like the fork deflectors have been removed. Probably would be a good idea to replace them to help prevent premature fork seal leaks. Maybe look into crash bars, Linby (sp?) seems to be a popular choice.
 
#30 ·
Didn't the XC and XCT get the Magnum's stereo in 16&17?

If that were the case, it would have probably cost 30k+ all in.
Remember when everything was on closeout? The fairing and speaker covers were among the things being blown out.

Still a costly build none the less.

If the OP can tell the difference between painted on stripes and cleared over decals that Vic's came with he'll know right away.

The question then becomes what is the bike worth? Is it worth less because Victory didn't make it? What is the custom build then worth?

@bluemagnum23 if a blue Magnum is what you want? This is likely the most economical way to get 1. As @PDXLaserGazer pointed out it would cost a lot of $ today to build 1. Even if you were to buy a "real" Magnum and paint it , that could cost $2-4k
 
#29 ·
That reminds me, I have short thumbs, been thinking of fabricating a new bracket for my audio and cruise controls to make it more accessible to me. I've never used these type so not sure if it's easier or not than the standard 3-button doohickey.
 
#35 ·
In 2017, the round controls were on the XC and the 3-button were on the XCT, in 2016 they still put the 3-button on all x-bikes.
According to the victory website, the 3-button was also standard on the magnum, the round was not used until 2017.

But that's just what the microfiche show, they could be wrong if people got lazy. When I look at articles about the review/preview of the 2016 Magnum, all of the photos show the round button audio controls.

This could mean that the audio system is 2017 but the bike is 2016. Or it could be a 1-off mid-year build from the factory. Or it could be a frankenstein. Or it could just be standard and the victory website just plain sucks.

I still thing it doesn't really matter if everything works right and it rides well. I am having fun doing the research though and building my knowledge.

Also it appears the black tail light V surround is supposed to be black with chrome turn signals so what I get from all of this is that's a custom painted 2016 Victory Magnum with aftermarket saddlebag lids, period.