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[vagabond6542]

I first saw this bike when my bike was broken down in Nelson in 07.  The bike intrigued me then. I've read about it and a lot of reviews.  There is a shop just a mile from the house and I have not tried to sit on the beast.  But it sure does look good as far as the stats go.  Someone here told me that my legs would be too short for the bike, but I have not sat on it.  I was also told the same about the Gold Wings, and I sat on one yesterday, Jamey is truly looking hard at it, but I could not even pull the bike to an upright position.  This has me somewhat confused as I have seen some very short men, much shorter than I, riding these bikes.  Even though I've heard a lot of folks say they hate or strongly do not like the look of the Vision, truly, I find it intriguing.  Not that I am personally looking for a new bike, but I think there is change in the winds.  

Mrs. We,

I am a 5'4" inseam challenged person, in 2001 I started riding again after being off bikes for 10 yrs.
I picked a 2001 GW1800 to start riding again, I still have it and it runs great.
To answer the question on a inseam challenged person being able to hande a GW, it's just a matter of balance.
You get rid of the pegs and put flip-up floor boards and toe/heel shifter on it, and you will do just fine.
I know, I have a crush and run gravel drive way to negotiate with any bike. This also means the 07 CUSE2.
JMHO

Vagabond

[bgregston]

I can't answer your questions about ride height Candy, but a friend told me something very interesting about a Victory. According to my buddy, if you tip a Victory over on it's side it will rest on the front and rear guards. You cannot make the sheet metal contact the ground. These bikes have purportedly been designed to withstand being laid down at highway speeds with minimal damage if they don't contact another vehicle. Given that these bikes are made in America, if anyone close to you is considering saying Hasta La Vista to Harley-Davidson, I would strongly suggest they take a look at Victory. The thought has crossed my mind on more than one occasion to take the TP etc off LD and make it an around the county day tripper and look into another brand for cross country riding.

B B

Yeah, they were showing that at a bike show we went to.

[cuthbertss]

Yeah, they were showing that at a bike show we went to.

where was that?

[bgregston]

Ford Expo Center here in Colorado Springs. The picture is dated 5/13.

[sadunbar]

where was that?

I saw that demonstration at the February Motorcycle show in the Rosemont Convention Center near Chicago...

[cuthbertss]

Ford Expo Center here in Colorado Springs. The picture is dated 5/13.

huh

cool

[ccr]

Mrs. We,

I am a 5'4" inseam challenged person, in 2001 I started riding again after being off bikes for 10 yrs.
I picked a 2001 GW1800 to start riding again, I still have it and it runs great.
To answer the question on a iinseam challenged person being able to hande a GW, it's just a matter of balance.
You get rid of the pegs and put flip-up floor boards and toe/heel shifter on it, and you will do just fine.
I know, I have a crush and run gravel drive way to negotiate with any bike. This also means the 07 CUSE2.
JMHO

Vagabond

I'm really not trying to turn this 2009 HD thread into an alternative bike discussion, but I sure appreciate your insight. I have no trouble riding any bike that I can reach the obvious on - clutch, brake, throttle.  But riding is never my trouble.  My trouble is those few occasions when you have to come to a stop.  I have long ago learned how to manage doing that with only one leg, but sometimes that can be quite a stretch.  Glad to hear the vote of confidence that there is a way and Wayne I asked about the up and down button, but the silly salesperson batting her eyes at my husband did not grasp the concept that perhaps this couple may be looking for a couple of bikes and so did not understand my question. I figured if I was interested enough, I'd pop over on a website and surf my own answers. 

[SBB]

Yeah, they were showing that at a bike show we went to.

I like the fact that you can do that!

 

[RedDevil]

I like the fact that you can do that!

 

I really like the functionality of those, but when I saw the Vision up close and personal, I thought they were butt-ugly and Victory could have made them look a little better.  They stick out like stabilizers, but then again, IMO, they don't detract from an already uuugly motorcycle. 

   

[SBB]

I really like the functionality of those, but when I saw the Vision up close and personal, I thought they were butt-ugly and Victory could have made them look a little better.  They stick out like stabilizers, but then again, IMO, they don't detract from an already uuugly motorcycle. 
   

I agree!

[SPIDERMAN]

There's three guys who have a metric shop here in town and they eat breakfast at the local diner I go to together on weekends when they're closed and go riding somewhere. I was looking at their bikes before I went into the diner yesterday. By our standards they were all ugly. Everyone of them. However, they were very well thought out and set up from a functionality standpoint. As I was eating breakfast, I thought about the things we talk about here on the site and what our general comments are on metric motorcycles and I realized as a rule we put form ahead of function whereas your average metric rider puts function ahead of form. It's only in the past couple years we've seen really tricked out crotch rockets with outrageous paint and chrome, wheels etc. And they still make sure the bike has about a bazillion or so HP before they get into the trick cosmetic stuff. So thinking about the whole sport of motorcycling from that standpoint, What is the Victory bagger ? Function before form. The engineers and designers came together to create a motorcycle that did A, B, C and D and then worked the rough edges a bit. Tell me it's not the reverse at H-D ?

B B

[vagabond6542]

I'm really not trying to turn this 2009 HD thread into an alternative bike discussion, but I sure appreciate your insight. I have no trouble riding any bike that I can reach the obvious on - clutch, brake, throttle.  But riding is never my trouble.  My trouble is those few occasions when you have to come to a stop.  I have long ago learned how to manage doing that with only one leg, but sometimes that can be quite a stretch.  Glad to hear the vote of confidence that there is a way and Wayne I asked about the up and down button, but the silly salesperson batting her eyes at my husband did not grasp the concept that perhaps this couple may be looking for a couple of bikes and so did not understand my question. I figured if I was interested enough, I'd pop over on a website and surf my own answers. 

On the GW the buttons will only function when in neutral and stopped.  They will regulate how much pressure you want in the rear shock.  On the 01 there are two "memo" to save what settings you want. I set one for parking the bike and the other one for riding. I haven't looked at the 08's. So I don't know if that feature still exist.

[RedDevil]

There's three guys who have a metric shop here in town and they eat breakfast at the local diner I go to together on weekends when they're closed and go riding somewhere. I was looking at their bikes before I went into the diner yesterday. By our standards they were all ugly. Everyone of them. However, they were very well thought out and set up from a functionality standpoint. As I was eating breakfast, I thought about the things we talk about here on the site and what our general comments are on metric motorcycles and I realized as a rule we put form ahead of function whereas your average metric rider puts function ahead of form. It's only in the past couple years we've seen really tricked out crotch rockets with outrageous paint and chrome, wheels etc. And they still make sure the bike has about a bazillion or so HP before they get into the trick cosmetic stuff. So thinking about the whole sport of motorcycling from that standpoint, What is the Victory bagger ? Function before form. The engineers and designers came together to create a motorcycle that did A, B, C and D and then worked the rough edges a bit. Tell me it's not the reverse at H-D ?

B B

No doubt BB...HD is about image and looks (why else would we chrome the bejesus out of our rides otherwise?).  I think that Victory had a golden opportunity, in my eyes at least, to come out with a bagger that worked both ways, they got the function down really good (except no ABS), but really blew it on the form side of the house.

  

[SPIDERMAN]

No doubt BB...HD is about image and looks (why else would we chrome the bejesus out of our rides otherwise?).  I think that Victory had a golden opportunity, in my eyes at least, to come out with a bagger that worked both ways, they got the function down really good (except no ABS), but really blew it on the form side of the house.

  

Do you have a dog ? What breed ?  Do you have a preference ?  Here's the deal. My dog Mickey is 1/2 Dalmation and 1/2 Boxer. The Dalmation in him cancelled out the Boxer in the looks department and everyone who sees him thinks he's the coolest dog they ever saw. On the other hand Beagle has a full blooded brindle boxer named Milo. Milo is so damn ugly he's cool. Too cool for school that dog. Cooler than Jimmy Dean, Bob Dylan or the Rolling Stones. But he's fugly no doubt. Do you get my drift ?

B B

[cuthbertss]

Do you have a dog ? What breed ?  Do you have a preference ?  Here's the deal. My dog Mickey is 1/2 Dalmation and 1/2 Boxer. The Dalamation in him cancelled out the Boxer in the looks department and everyone who sees him thinks he's the coolest dog they ever saw. On the other hand Beagle has a full blooded brindle boxer named Milo. Milo is so damn ugly he's cool. Too cool for school that dog. Cooler than Jimmy Dean, Bob Dylan or the Rolling Stones. But he's fugly no doubt. Do you get my drift ?

B B

so.....  your saying that Victory monstrosity is so fugly that it'd be cool to ride?  huh