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Cruiser
Posts: 56
| I visited the local Indian dealer in Charlotte NC the other day and was shocked at what the sales rep told me....GET READY to LAUGH!!
Several Shocking things were revealed when I metioned the Polaris aquistion of Indian.
1) Polaris purchased Indian to "save" Victory, Victory needed a "Soul" to put into the brand
2) Victory is the "5th" metric bike company in the US.
3) The Vision in the best road bike on the market but has no "Soul" when you get off of it.
Many things were said...these were the top 3.
I wasn't at all interested in buying an Indian, although they are beautiful bikes...I was interested in seeing how the Victory/ Indian deal was working out. Seems that you have to spend $35k on a bike to get one with "Soul". I'm not one to down another bike company, as I believe you should ride the bike you enjoy!
Its pretty evident, that some of the Indian dealers are not happy about the Victory association.
I believe a bike earns it soul by the miles on it and the places its been...NOT a $35k to $40k pricetag!
I only pray that Victory does not fall into this types of selling and marketing, as the Indian dealers have quite an odd sales technique for sure. He was very quick to disparage Victory, Harley and every other bike on the road.
More so, when you walk in, its more like a museum of bikes... Do not touch anything!!!
Closing thoughts...if you buy an Indian, buy it and put it behind glass and watch it like a snowglobe!. If you want to ride, buy a Victory and put in on the road and watch its Soul grow!
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Cruiser
Posts: 277
Apopka, FL | Well stated!
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Tourer
Posts: 323
Troy, NY | Well said!!!! |
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Visionary
Posts: 2300
Georgia, west of Atlanta | I've been in that dealership a couple of times, they are the ultimate Kool-Aid drinkers. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 152
Litchfield Park, AZ | I have a feeling you have an incredibly dumb sales person there in NC, and I would hope that is not normal.
I had a similar experience in Chicago several years ago with a dealership that went out of business after about 2 months. I stopped in there on several occasions as I was in the market for my Vision at the time, and i was getting a feel for the bikes and the dealership. I noticed that every single time someone walked in the door they treated the customers like they had no clue what a Victory motorcycle was....did they think all these people got lost and wondered in? Once they told him what they were riding (or looking at) he would proceed to bash the ever-lovin' daylights out of their current ride. He was especially harsh on H-D. It was painful to watch as you could see customer after customer get insulted by this guy. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 741
Central New York | Thanks for the write up. I didn't have any plans to go to an Indian dealer, but now I may just stop one day to yank on the flush chain. I personally see no more in a Indian than I would for a new replica of a '54 Chevy, for $30gs. |
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Tourer
Posts: 500
| Not in an Indian dealership yesterday, but a Honda, Yamaha, Can Am, Suzuki, and used Harleys, as owners also have a Harley dealership cross town...Talking with some young sales guy he asks what I ride? I tell him a Victory Vision Tour...He says nice bike this dealership used to sell them 35 years ago but had to quit because they had to many brands of Jap bikes!!! I assured him he was full of S@#$..and should get his facts straight as they did not make or sell a Victory Vison 35 years ago and they were definitely not Japanese.....It continues to astound me as to the ignorance of a lot of young sales people who don.t know their ass from a hot rock and yet try to sell bikes without doing any research... |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 11
| The soul comes from within the biker that shares the road and travels with it's motorcycle! Now with that being said does a motorcycle have a soul yes it's transferred from the biker!
Ok don't get all Avatar on me guys! Lol |
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Visionary
Posts: 1359
New Bohemia, Va | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_XZ_550
Yes, there was a Yamaha Vision about 30 years ago, so he didn't associate it with Victory, he was half right none the less.
I've personally talked with the Charlotte dealer owner on more than one occassion and I think you're taking his words and making them suit your likin'. Everyone is entitled to their taste in motorcycles and it so sad that we all run the other down that is not what we ride or have a taste for. I find that most, not everyone, of the Victory riders are just like all the rest. Shame on us... hmmmmm
Edited by Cap'n Nemo 2011-08-18 3:07 PM
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Cruiser
Posts: 56
| This dealership has a chip on its shoulder since it was the first one under the new owners. They're actully build these about 20 mins from my house in Kings Mtn, NC. Well said BigBrett....I could't agree more!
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Cruiser
Posts: 56
| Actually Cap'n, I'm not twisting them at . A buddy was with me, who rides and 81 Honda bobber, and he couldn't believe what was coming out of this guys mouth. 1st rule of sales, do not disparage what your customer is riding already!
I also agree that everyone should buy or ride what they like...but don't talk down to me because your company couldnt make it and need a little help from the brand I'm riding. It was evident, that they are disappointed by the aquisition.
I was hoping that they would embrace the merger and the dealer would sell both brands. We need a more specific Victory dealer here in Charlotte. Heres to hoping! |
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Visionary
Posts: 1359
New Bohemia, Va | Yes-I agree, don't disparage another...all of us are guilty of it. I spoke with the man that owns the dealer for over two hours one time, and not once was there negative talk, he loves the passion of those who ride, no matter what they ride. Even after I tried to get him to say something negative, he never went there. I've talked with him just recently after the acquisition and he was pleased at the opportunity for his "brand" to be contineued after the resurrection and once again make a presence, he thanks Polaris for that. You must have been talking with someone else, or what you heard was taken subjectively. I wasn't there, but I don't think we talked with the same man.
Also, even Polaris states that out of the box, this acquisition will nowhere come close to merging the two motorcycle division and will be totally seperate from the other, which obviously you are not in the Indian market pool. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 56
| Definitely not in that market. Thanks for the heads up on the brand seperation. Sounds like we definitely spoke to different sales folks. I really hope Polaris can make it work. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 162
Northern NJ | We stopped at that Indian flagship dealer in Charlotte (Lowell) a couple of years ago to drool over the Indians.
http://www.indianmotorcyclecharlotte.com/default.asp
They are gorgeous! The salesman at the time was very nice about showing us around and letting us play on the bikes. I had gotten onto their monthly email list so I've been getting updates for a couple of years from them. The owneer, Mark Moses, seems like a decent guy.
That being said, since Polaris has bought Indian there seems to have been a bit of culture change in Charlotte. The first thing I noticed is that all the leftover Indians that were previously being sold at a nice discount were no longer great bargains and sometimes being INCREASED in price as some kind of highly sought after machine! LMAO! In addition, there seems to be a kind of wait and see tone to how the Polaris Indians will turn out.
Also, every Indian t-shirt I found there was made in china. How sad.
I hope Polaris hits a home run with Indian. They potential is tremendous! |
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Cruiser
Posts: 62
| Mark is a great guy and does not disparage other bikes. Whoever the salesperson was that met the original poster, it wasn't Mark. Perhaps it was some guy they have hired (and quickly fired) after they saw his sales pitch. This thread reminds me that I had promised to visit Mark after I picked up my Ness & I do need a few more tee shirts. Would love to have an Indian shirt or two. May ride out there tomorrow. It's only about 20 miles away from my home |
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Cruiser
Posts: 50
hudson, IL United States | My Honda dealer told me he would never sell victory bikes because they where only 1 percent of the market and they didn't care about that 1. Well one year later they where bought out by the other Honda dealer who sells victory's where I bought mine. I asked the sales guy about it one day and all I got was I never said that you don't know what your talking about. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 721
| phoenix9 - 2011-08-18 2:36 PM I have a feeling you have an incredibly dumb sales person there in NC, and I would hope that is not normal. I had a similar experience in Chicago several years ago with a dealership that went out of business after about 2 months. I stopped in there on several occasions as I was in the market for my Vision at the time, and i was getting a feel for the bikes and the dealership. I noticed that every single time someone walked in the door they treated the customers like they had no clue what a Victory motorcycle was....did they think all these people got lost and wondered in? Once they told him what they were riding (or looking at) he would proceed to bash the ever-lovin' daylights out of their current ride. He was especially harsh on H-D. It was painful to watch as you could see customer after customer get insulted by this guy. Was that the short lived Victory dealer that was in a strip mall in Naperville, IL?
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Tourer
Posts: 366
Albuquerque, NM | Yeah...Indian may have soul, Harley may have tradition, but Victory has what "real" men want. A solid motor with "balls" and the reliability thru design to keep it running with minimal maintenance! It would make a great add campaign. |
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Visionary
Posts: 2300
Georgia, west of Atlanta | I can only hope the "new" Indian will have an upgraded engine and full electrics like stereo and cruise control. A easy horsepower maker like ( but not) the 106 freedom would be way better than the HD evo in bike now....... |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 1117
Northeast Ohio | Great write up. I hope this feeling is isolated to this one dealer. |
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Visit to Indian Dealer...mmmm?
