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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 11
| Hi All,
I'm still deciding what to buy; a Kingpin, xr, xc,Vega or Jackpot. I want to be able to do two-up, and I want bags or the ability to add them. Lockable bags are a plus. I also want something for cruising around town but also for 5-6 hours on the highway. I do not want a full fairing; a bat-wing or windshield is Ok but i'm not decided if either is necessary or preferred. I only have one small Victory dealer about 3.5hours away so test rides are slim. Any opinions?
I only recently added the vegas to my list of possibles since I read it was very similar to the Kingpin. Should I remove it? I really like its look but how does it compare to the others handling wise?
Power wise will I notice much difference between the Vegas/KP and the XR?
tks! | |
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Visionary
Posts: 1308
Sand Rock, AL United States | if you don't want a fairing , the XR seems the best choice. Bags on/off quick. It's designed to do around town or tour and it's comfortable for 2 up.  | |
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Visionary
Posts: 1632
Jasper, MO | I would suggest either the Cross Roads or the Cross Country. Of those two, my personal pick would be the Cross Country.
I've ridden the Cross Roads with no windshield and it is a nice ride for short rides. I've ridden it with the factory windshield installed and hated it-- buffeting was terrible. Even my old Sport Cruiser with the factory windshield does a lot better job than the one on the Cross Roads.
I've also ridden the Cross Country, with the batwing fairing. I thought it was a much more comfortable ride than the Cross Roads with windshield, due to the wind management. I've also ridden the Cross Country Tour with the hard lowers. It would be my pick of the litter, as far as the Cross series goes.
Why do I talk about the wind management so much? Because after you get one of these things and find out how comfortable and capable they are as a long distance tourer, those 5 or 6 hour rides you mentioned start seeming like just the beginning of a good day's ride. Wind management becomes an important consideration. Proper wind management also lets you extend your riding season considerably (and comfortably).
The Vegas and Jackpot are cool bikes, but if you're considering much two-up riding they are not ideal for that. The Kingpin is a decent two-up bike, but by the time you add all the stuff that comes standard on the Cross Country, you would have been better off getting the Cross Country to start with. All the bikes handle good, except the Jackpot handles like the fat tire bike that it is. The Cross bikes will amaze you in that they handle much better than their physical size might suggest. They handle like an overgrown sport bike. Really.
The power of all the bikes is quite good in stock form. The lighter weight bikes will out accelerate the heavier ones, everything else being equal. The Cross bikes (and Vision) will put about 80 to 83 HP to the ground in stock form. It's easy and fairly cheap to increase that to about 110 to 115 HP with just a few bolt on parts, which do not hurt reliability or cruising fuel economy.
My personal choice is a Vision, but it's not on your list of candidates.
Ronnie | |
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Visionary
Posts: 1308
Sand Rock, AL United States | I agree with you on the XC. The only reason I suggested Cross Roads is because he said he didn't want a full fairing. | |
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Cruiser
Posts: 154
Cabot Arkansas | Ronnie pretty much nailed it ,but you really need to get a dealer that has them all in stock and ride them all.Your choice should be easier once you have ridden them all.Though you said you didn't want a full fairing (Vision) you reallly should test ride one.I bought a Jackpot when they first came out and I loved it rode it 44000 miles in 3 years including a few 800 -1000 mile days on it.It was the best looking fun to ride bike I ever owned and I always said I would never get rid of it.When the Vision came out I hated it thought it looked like something out of a sci-fi movie,my dealer kept after for over a year to take one and ride it for the whole day and I kept telling him no way I would ever like that Vision, my Jackpot was just too cool good looking and fun to ride.Well one morning I dropped my Jackpot off for some performance work and was going to be bikeless for a few days,my dealer loaned me a new Vision to ride and after a few hundred miles on it I found out how much comfort and handling I'd been missing .I bought the Vision and rode it all over the country the next few years and kept my Jackpot because I was never gonna get rid of that awesome bike  After the first 13 months of Vision ownership I happend to check the odometer of my Jackpot and realized I had only ridden the JP 700 miles since I bought the Vision I sold the JP and can honestly say I wish the Vision had came out first and I wouldn't have spent so much money and time on all my other bikes.I bought my wife a King pin in 2008 that she really loved to ride but after she rode my Vision the first time she went home and got her Kingpin took it straight to the dealer and traded for a bike she said she would never ride a new VisionWe are both now on our second set of Vision's ,this is the first time in my 40+ years of owning motorcycles that I have bought the exact same bike when I traded.The Vision really is that good .While I like all of Victory's bikes and don't think you can go wrong with any of them if you are going to do some serious miles there is really only one choice for the most comfortable easiest riding motorcycle in the world and that is the Vision.Good luck with whichever one you choose. | |
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deciding on a bike