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Visionary
Posts: 2027
Brighton, TN | I talked with this guy for about 20 minutes, sorta informative, but discretionary at best on the rest. I thought it was the coolest to get a call from Victory about my issues with the bike. We ran through what problems I originally had, like the radio control had lost a screw, dealer replaced. Then bad reception of radio, he asked me to either have the dealer or I check the connector under the front cover to see if the dealer had connected it. Then if that wasn't the issue then see if the antenna was plugged into the radio. I informed him the radio has reception, just not as good as my car/truck. He informed me that the metal on the car helps with the reception. I started to argue the point of why is it then that they put the antenna outside the car on most vehicles, why not attach it to the sheetmetal then.
I asked him about the dimple in the saddle bag lid. Said, he had not seen that before, I told him that I am not the only one with this problem and that quite a few folks had this problem. I described as best as I could where it was located. I asked him if this would be a warranty item. Said he would write it down and get back to me if he could find out anything. We shall see!
Next question, the left side saddle bag lid, hanging on the lower panel. He told me the dealer should be able to handle this and it should be a basic adjustment. He informed me that they are adjusted on the assembly line and could have shifted. I told him that the dealers solution was to put in washers to shim it to the correct placement. I told him it wasn't a in or out problem, but more up and down movement. The panel has horizontally shifted down in the front closing the gap underneath. He said no washers are to be used, should just unbolt and reset the lid. I said I would look at it.
Then I proceeded on to ask about the alignment of the lid in the back to cover the bump ups on the body, at the rear of the bag. Known issue and possible adjustment since it is the same bag.
Vibratiion of the left side mirror is so bad that looking at the driver behind you there are three of them, instead of one. He told me that was normal, seems to be more vibration on that side, then I broke out his own companies anacronym and said, I believe you guys have a term like NVH that should have addressed this one. Chuckle and said unfortunately that was normal. However, I and the dealer took the mirror off and since we reseated it, it doesn't vibrate like it did.
I asked him about the IPOD issue. His take was since there was just so much vibration in that compartment the hard drives just do not do well in there. I asked if there was a way to route the cable outside that box and hookup externally to a rubber isolated mount or on the dash etc. I got the HMMMMMMM? That's probably not a bad idea, except the device is not waterproof, but I could put it in my jacket if need be. I wonder how much money they will make off that idea.
I asked about Bluetooth capability, he said not yet, probably soon.
I asked about the water coming through between the dash and windshield. His answer, the gap needs to remain there to relieve the negative pressue which would suck all the water in toward the rider. It also helps keep the water going up and over the rider and clear the windshield. I asked him about the air coming up around the handlebars wouldn't that alleviate enough of the negative pressure, he said all of their testing showed that the even though you get a lot of air blowing up through the handlebar area, it is not enough to perform the way they wanted it to. I told him that it didn't seem to keep the windshield very clear, so I went and put Rainx on it. He said it can't hurt.
I had to ask if he had ridden the bike or if he rides any bike at all or was he just a poseur. His answer, He rides a Vegas daily until it gets down in the forties. Said he has put a lot of miles on the vision and likes riding it extremely well. When he gets on the vegas he is scraping floor boards and not as nimble as the vision. I had to ask him if he has actually been able to scrape the floorboards on the vision, he said yes, but only a couple of times. According to him, you really had to work at it and lean it way over to get it there, but it can be done, more agreessive than he normally rides. I have yet to test the feature of getting it to lean that far over. Said he can't wait to get one for himself.
Buckeye, this one was you and Songfan. I asked about the shipping dates and problems with delivery. He said he didn't know and that was another area altogether. I informed him I had bought mine off a showroom floor without preordering it. He chuckled again and said I was one of the lucky ones. I asked if there were any holdups or anything he could tell me and said he didn't know of any. Had I had a few phone numbers I might have put him on a conference call.
Sorry guys, I tried to push him for info, he was putting up to good a fight.
I told him that I had a few questions and what would be the best way to address them, could there be a way to get a hold of him or e-mail or any place for just good info. He just forwarded me back to my local dealer and told me they were pretty good at communication between the two. I disagreed and pointed out that I am doing my own investigations into my bike due to the shop doesn't really have a clue.
He did tell me to write them down and see if he could address them, when he would get back in touch with me about the dimple in the bag. I start and see if I can make a list.
I asked him about the chrome forks not shipping with the premium packages and said he saw them going out the door without the chrome forks but did not know why.
I wrote a bunch but I don't know that I really learned or fixed anything. Gotta get better at this.
Question for next time. I forgot to ask about the heat.
What are the two wires going to the back of the mirror assembly. |
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Visionary
Posts: 2027
Brighton, TN | On a whim, went to the Caller ID section of my cell phone and thought I would see if the call actually went back to the guy or to a rotary system where you get lost in the menus. Guess who I got. Same guy direct line. I was kinda confused at first didn't know what to say, but then said I had a few more questions. He said no problem.
The heat issue, they didn't really feel like it was a problem it is a big air cooled vtwin. Around 50 or so no real heat issue. I asked him if he knew anything about adding more fuel to it to cool it down and he said the motor is currently running on a closed loop system close to stachometric(?) efficiency (I have to go look this term up, but I know what he is talking about, I probably misspelled it to.)
Be back in a minute.
The two wires going to the back of the mirror is where they sample the air temperature. My dealer told me I had heated mirrors.
I asked about the lower deflectors and their ability to push air to you or away from you. He said they work both ways. I think I'm gonna go get some. |
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Tourer
Posts: 496
Scottsdale AZ | Thanks for the report, it was very informative. Regardless of his lack of knowledge on most of the questions you presented, its good to hear a least there was a phone call to you from the Victory corporate phone number. Sure would be nice to hear from another department or two on some of the other issues, like the dent (dimple).
Good job!! |
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Tourer
Posts: 562
SC, Bluffton | So, it isn't just my left mirror? I like it. I feel better about the right saddlebag
dimple & my shakey left mirror. 
I hope I get a call from Victory. I have a few complaints, but I'll follow those
up with a few compliments so we'll hang up feeling positive.
Dropped our Vision off last Saturday at the dealership (40 minutes & 1 state away),
and picked up the Kawasaki V2K (forgot how much power that thing has ).
I will pick it up the Vision this Saturday via a car so all my bikes can be home
at once. Making room in the garage now, but this Southern heat won't leave
me alone. I am looking forward to not worrying about the ½ throttle break in
anymore, yeah! 
Herb |
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Visionary
Posts: 2027
Brighton, TN | He said he was going to look into the dimple. He did ask if personally I had any requests for the bluetooth what would I personally want. Some way to connect to my PDA / PHONE. I got music and would like to be able to use it without having to take a helmet off.
I will say this, if I had any questions concerning the electrical system which was his area of expertise he was responsible for, he would be glad to answer the questions. I told him thanks and said I wouldn't give out his number, he appreciated that.
He explained that the Navigation system was tied into the audio system and that a wire would have to sneak across to plug in. BUT, he told me which I have not heard before, is that the navigation bundle includes everything to take into your car, adapters etc. Transportable I like. That was a downfall against the Harley or goldwing, builtin and couldn't take it with me. |
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Visionary
Posts: 2027
Brighton, TN | He also had a chance to talk about the Stage 1 kit. More noticeable rumble while sitting or accelerating but at speed no more than stock. Felt like it has more power but didn't have any numbers to go with. Win win got to figure out how to talk the wife into it now. |
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Tourer
Posts: 496
Scottsdale AZ | I thought this was going to be a blue tooth compatible system when the audio harness was installed. I already have the new Nolan helmet setup. I am I missing something? |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 904
29 Palms California | wow, you thought of us. confusing that he doesn't have any info on the THE hottest issue of all SHIPPING. Great info, i will make sure I have my left mirror checked, and the "seating" of my saddle bags....i have a MP3 player so that sounds like it will work ok. i also need to make sure my antena is conected. thanks for the great gouge. |
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Visionary
Posts: 2027
Brighton, TN | The radio is not bluetooth compatible, meaning it will not talk to your other bluetooth capable devices. The new Nolan helmet setup, I don't know about, but if it is compatible then it will talk to your phone just fine, it won't use the CB headset from the bike.
How do you like the Nolan and which model. i am looking at a full face myself. Haven't figured out which one. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 904
29 Palms California | i'm not up to date on blue tooth....i only know i have an MP3 player from when they first came out. is it a blue tooth?
I've never had a full face. I've had a windshield for 5 years, no need for a full face.
I'm a bit weary of even a radio, but figured it wouldn't be that much of a distraction. I don't know if im different, but i need to have all my senses working when i ride. im not concerned so much about me doing something stupid, it's the soccer mom putting on make up, talking on the phone, drinking a latte and yelling at her kids that scares the living heck out of me. too many idiots in cars that could care less about anyone else except for themselves. i drive 64 miles a day, from work and back. i have a near miss everyday. keeps the blood circulating. |
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Visionary
Posts: 2027
Brighton, TN | Buckeye, I see you might be slightly technically challenged, that's why they hire me as the computer techno wizard. If you will look below where your fingers are, that is wht we in the biz call a K E Y B O A R D. I spelled it slow just for you. MUUUAAAHHHH!!! Click, BAM, no misfire got the dang cat, er four legged pest musta been a mouse (they are okay with that.)
Probably not Blue Tooth on that MP3 player, especially early production. If it has a hard drive and not an IPOD you can just plug it into cable in the cubby which is a line in to the radio. However, my hard drive MP3 hangs while playing, I can get it to restart the song or advance past it but it does not play well in there. I wouldn't mind getting a flash drive and seeing what will happen. I am always opening the door up to change songs or back up or just shut the dang thing off. I drive right at 50 miles one way or 100 miles a day from work and back (just thought I would do the math for you). Luckily, I don't have a lot of near misses. I have, however, driven in the San Diego to Oceanside traffic and am happy I don't do it know. Nothing like Nascar among a bunch of amateurs. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 904
29 Palms California | i u n d er s t a n d n o w. thanks for adding things up. typing slow doesn't help. the keyboard thing still has me baffelled and i can't find the dang "any" key.
i use to do the san clemente to oceanside 500 everyday. im up in the high desert now. yucca to 29 palms daily on the highway of death...state route 62. i've lived here for 2 years, and there has been over 10 deaths on this road, and mostly head ons at 65mph or higher. pretty good pucker factor. my MP3 is good. it will be blaring old van halen, ac/dc, and the likes! |
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Visionary
Posts: 3204
Memphis | Great write-up Po. I just spent over 2 hours a the dealer shooting the breeze with those guys and talking with customers as they wandered in and out. (My weekly fix.) The first thing they hit me with every week is "OK Tom, tell us something we don't know about the bike." I throw out everything I've learned; good, bad and ugly. This week was the dimple on the saddle bag. (It was barely noticeable on the silver street in the showroom. About 3/4" long. Very nitpickey IMHO. Might look worse on other colors. If it hadn't been mentioned here I probably never would have noticed it.) Some radios sound great, some sound crummy. I'll make sure mine sounds great. I got on it and looked in the mirrors again. No issues, visibility is great. Engine heat - TBA.
Thanks for going to bat over the delivery dates. I'm not real sure people (including my dealer) understand that we're not asking for a perfect delivery system. Just keep us in the loop if (when) things change. Having said that, I will put my little hole-in-the-wall shop up against any in the country. I can't say enough about Brantley (manager), Scott & Bill (sales) and Denny (service). These guys have varied backgrounds and can compare Victory to a lot of other companies. They really like being Victory reps. They have told me about every little issue that has come up (including your switchmount, mirror, and saddlebag alignment.) They are really knowledgeable about the engineering that goes into making Victory a better ride. They are truly proud of the reliability of their product and the customer satisfaction after the sale. The phone-call you got from the engineer is a great example of the company standing out from the crowd. That's the kind of stuff I can't wait to brag about. Oh, by the way, my bike shipped today. I won't be sleeping for awhile.
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Iron Butt
Posts: 810
| DesertJim,
The Garmin Zumo 550 and StreetPilot 2820 have bluetooth capabilities. This is probably how the Vision supports BlueTooth capabilities.
Tim
Garmin Zumo 550:
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=135&pID=414
Garmin StreetPilot 2820:
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=135&pID=382 |
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Visionary
Posts: 2027
Brighton, TN | I should have asked him about the capability of the Navigation unit. It does seem to think as much as their system is it would support most items. Anybody know the brand, who made it for them or its specs. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1484
LaPorte,Tx. | pololittle, really nice post, a lot of information we all can use. I've been looking at the Garmin 550 which is motorcycle compatable and really has a lot of features, including Bluetooth, MP3, voice GPS, etc.....it was also nice to hear a little about the stage 1 level one. Anyone hear anything about the level 2 stage 1? Thanks for the report. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 104
Plainfield Illinois | "Stoichiometric" refers to a theoretically ideal fuel-air ratio that will completely combust without being so lean as to cause knock.
It uses lb. of air / lbs. of fuel and the optimum is . ..... ummmm 14.78 I believe.
Leaner ratios equal less emissions and hotter engines.
Under wide open throttle conditions the O2 sensor(s) are usually ignored and a richer ratio is delivered to avoid destruction caused by a lean condition while under heavy load.
Watch the feds mess with the wide open trottle rich condition next.
HURL
Regards,
WillieByte
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Iron Butt
Posts: 810
| pollolittle - 2007-10-24 6:52 PM
Anybody know the brand, who made it for them or its specs.
PolloLittle,
The Vision NAV unit is a Garmin StreetPilot, but there is some question as to if it is this years or last years model. It has been re-badged with the Victory branding on it.
Maybe someone who has bought it already can chime in on it. The one my dealer showed me a few months ago was last years 27XX model that is missing features from this years 28XX model.
HTH,
Tim |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 47
Lake Park, GA | The Vic TourTech is the Garmin 2820 I believe. I purchased the 2720 which has nearly all functions except for Bluetooth.
You will be much better off financially to find a deal on a Garmin rather than the vic unit. You can load all of the dealers up in the Garmin version and even change the splash screen with a Vic logo. All of the software to make the changes is supplied by Garmin.
The dealer file to load in the Garmin can be found on The VMC.
Amazon has the 2720 for $429. Well worth the money. I bought mine from Buy.com for $329. You should be able to find them for less as they are a last year product.
http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-StreetPilot-Traffic-Ready-Portable-Nav... |
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Visionary
Posts: 1324
So Cal | You got me confused. I adapted the $30 XM radio to my E-glide because the only aftermarket kit available was $400, not including the XM radio. I have it zipptied to the handle bars and it works great. no audio connection. Broadcasts over an FM station set on the stock radio. This NAV & iPOD stuff is too Jetsons for me, a Flintstone. |
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Tourer
Posts: 495
Carrollton, TX | I talked to a Victory Engineer back on September 11th and posted this back then but thought I would post it again as it answers a lot of the questions asked in this thread. He provided several answers to many questions I had related to the GPS, Audio and Electronic systems (Infotainment System) on the Vision and thought I would share them.
• The GPS Victory is offering for the Vision is the Garmin Street Pilot 2820. It will come with all the accessories that come with this unit when purchased from Garmin including MapSource, an automobile mounting bracket, and remote control.
• To mount the GPS on the Vision you need to purchase the mounting bracket that Victory sells for it. Once you remove the council on the Vision there is a plastic mounting bracket attached underneath with two holes to use as a template to drill through the council to use two bolts to attach the mounting bracket. The Garmin unit attaches to this mount and the cable with the power and speaker wires from the Garmin snap into a connector on a set of wires pre-installed on every Vision.
• The Garmin unit is fully integrated into the entertainment system on the Vision so announcements giving instructions are heard through the system over any sound source you are listening too.
• The Street Pilot 2820 supports traffic and weather update services that can be purchased via a subscription and requires the purchase of the Garmin XM antenna to receive them.
• If you want XM Radio you should purchase the XM radio option Victory has had custom developed for the Vision and fully integrates with the audio system. This system will have its own XM antenna.
• The GPS from Victory has all the Victory dealers pre-loaded so you can easily find a dealer as you tour North America.
• Currently they do not support the Zumo 550. The Zumo 550 uses a different technology for the audio signaling so if you wire the audio leads from the Zumo 550 into the Vision system the audio signal is canceling out the rest of the audio from everything else all the time instead of just canceling out the rest of the audio when the GPS has an navigation announcement like it does on the Street Pilot 2820. The Victory team is working on a solution to support the Zumo 550 and when they have it worked out your Vision will be able to be upgraded to support this or any new infotainment feature via a software upload from their Digital Wrench that all dealers will have. They will then also offer a Zumo 550 mounting bracket.
• For people you have a Zumo 550 today you can make your own mounting bracket which would be just like the one Victory has for the Street Pilot 2820 but needs to be a little taller to support the motorcycle mount for the Zumo 550. The hole pattern is the same. You can connect the power leads to the connector Victory has on each bike but the audio integration is not supported now but many including myself turn off the audio navigation announcements anyway.
• The iPod integration assigns the first 11 play lists set up on your iPod to the pre-sets on the council which is really cool. With the iPod integration you can select a play list by selecting a pre-set and control the volume the song selection within a play list and see the song title presented on the digital display on the council.
• The intercom system on the bike is voice actuated so all you have to do is speak to use the driver to passenger intercom. To use the CB radio if installed you select the CB with the source select switch and push the push-to-talk button.
• The sound system is optimized for the iPod signal and the speakers are better quality than competing touring bikes and power amp is providing each speaker a clean 20 watts of power for a total of 80 watts. These better speakers that are more efficient provide better sound quality
using less power. One of the areas where there are enhancements to the production bikes from the pre-production bikes we have test rode is in the infotainment system.
• The Bluetooth option they will be offering is designed to integrate a cell phone with the system and not to do away with the wiring for the headsets.
I hope this helps answer some of your questions many of you have posted earlier.
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Craig
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 47
Lake Park, GA | Here is a good 2720 on ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Garmin-StreetPilot-2720-GPS-Receiver-Exec-Cond-...
Also, Lobsterhunter confirmed on The VMC today that the GPS mount kit DOES include the cable to interface with Vision. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1324
So Cal | Great report pollolittle. Kinda renews my good feelings about Victory. Dont forget though, most companys keep thiere engineers locked up in the basement and try not to let them socialize with normal people. All kidding aside, it does say something about the company. After all this is the first year for a new model and the input will help them to develope a better product. theyre still learning too. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 293
Arkansas | The Tour tech from Vic is the Garmin 2720 ( No Bluetooth and no traffic receiver built in, but XM traffic receiver available to add on.) Mine is in the car at present waiting for bike to get here. (Cherry Tour Premium) If you buy a Garmin unit, you will have to buy the motorcycle cradle and power cord separately. Garmin has this as a 2 peice kit but the pwr cord is designed to connect to battery or other terminal with a "U" terminal connector. I'm not sure but I imagine that the Vic Tour Tech will connect to the Audio Accessory harness via a proprietary plug. Hopefully this will be obtainable from Victory as a part #. You will have to buy the GPS mount also from Vic(the aluminum block with the 4 hole pattern to accept the click-in click-out GPS cradle) Hope I didn't get you confused with the different part terms.
p.s. While writng this some very good info was posted by Spock and sjavera. May superceed some of my "expert info" i.e. the mount kit containing the pwr interface hook up. Sure can't tell by the catalog or asking dealer.
Edited by jama 2007-10-24 10:42 PM
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Iron Butt
Posts: 810
| jama - 2007-10-24 10:37 PM
p.s. While writng this some very good info was posted by Spock and sjavera. May superceed some of my "expert info" ....
What about the version number is the discontinued Garmin 2720 or the current 2820 ???
Thanks,
Tim
Edited by TimS 2007-10-24 11:25 PM
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Cruiser
Posts: 293
Arkansas | Well, I talked to the guys at the Arlington demo and they hinted that Victory "might decide to upgrade from the 2720. However, I talked to Garmin on two different occaisions ( to the guys in the "motorcycle applicaion dept." and they were unaware of anything but the 2720 being supplied to Victory. They assured me that if Garmin was supplying something other than the 2720, they would know it. I was also told by someone at Victory (can't remember who) that also told me it was the 2720. Soooo..., I vote for 2720, but these other guys are digging for info as hard as I am and the "intel" is certainly varied. I just don't think we can be absolutely sure of very much until we have some actual product in the field. |
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Tourer
Posts: 495
Carrollton, TX | I don't have the engineer's name handy right now that I talked to at Victory but he is the person responsible for all the electronics on the Vision including the navigation systems. He told me that the demo bikes had the Garmin Street Pilot 2720 but that the production bikes would have the 2820's. Maybe they had a few 2720's left and shipped them out first. Also see my notes a few posts earlier on this thread regarding my conversation with him on the Garmin Zumo 550.
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Craig
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Visionary
Posts: 2027
Brighton, TN |
I couldn't agree more about the little hole-in-the-wall shop, FRS Powersports, Memphis, TN. and put it up against any in the country. The fellas have always been friendly, willing to talk about any other bike without putting them down. Matter of fact, there is a fella that shows up at that shop on a metric bike quite a bit and doesn't own a victory. Said he doesn't and isn't really shopping just likes to go hang out. Maybe I haven't found the coffee or soda, just yet to go and hang out. Scott and Brantley both got the hint when I showed up with the wife, that if they wanted me to buy the bike, they had better figure out how to sell it to her. I was already sold, wife just needed a little convincing. Scott even took her over to the kingpin tour and showed her around that bike, which is really the bike she liked. Then over to the Vegas Low, got her grinning like a young twenty soemthing. Hands down another good experience buying a product. Denny, more than helpful, in the maintenance area. Off the record, I was able to turn a wrench on my own bike, while Denny was looking at the concerns I had, without having to sit in the waiting room waiting for the Doctor to return. We, He managed to show me and explain some areas of the bike and I was sharing with him what I had found out up to that point. Brantley came out and fixed the screw problem without having to write it up and leave it for a day or any other nonsense. I will be going back there to order more items to accessorize. More than likely, might even be going back for the wife a bike, who knows.
Songfan, if it seems I was bashing them, maybe I was a little and for that I apologize, I kept getting bad info and was getting a little irritated. Thanks for the re-alignment and I'm all better now. I am riding the Vision unlike some here. Let me know when yours comes in, I'd like to go check it out.
"Oh, by the way, my bike shipped today. I won't be sleeping for awhile." Happy sleepless nights.
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Visionary
Posts: 3204
Memphis | Po, I knew that it all stemmed from frustration. I've had my share of re-alignments on this forum and I know it's all just labor/growing pains. I'm so pumped about the company and the bike that the little stuff gets blown out of proportion. Now, if we can just get those guys in California set-up before they go postal.
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Visionary
Posts: 2027
Brighton, TN | was curious with the new 2009 bikes out, are they still calling around. I haven't heard from anyone else. |
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Just received a call from a Victory Electrical Engineer