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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 12
| I sold my 1500 wing thinking the vistion after a short ride was the bike for me. My question is... Why do I see so many visions for sale with anywhere from 1500 miles to 8000 miles on them. Should that red flag me or do I go with what seems like a great touring machine. Talk to me gentlemen... |
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Visionary
Posts: 3773
Pittsburgh, PA | Could be a lot of people living beyond their means? I seen one Guy buy a vision as a first bike! Then sold it cause it was too much bike... cool. 900lbs as a first bike.. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1484
LaPorte,Tx. | If you go on e-bay and look at 2008 and 2009 large touring bikes like Ultra Classics, Goldwings, and Visions, you will find most of them are below 10,000 miles. So it is not an issue with just the Vision. I'm going to say the reason might be that large touring bikes with low mileage are on the market...the economy! |
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Tourer
Posts: 447
Northeastern Penna. | Bikerbill,it's summed up well by VisionTex. If you test ride a Vision as many of us have and like it, buy it.
You can't read into seeing Vision's being sold, as an overall problem with them. I will say, from experience, that as an 08 Vision owner and loving it, the 10 Vision is much improved and only getting better.Try both years on a demo ride and seeing, feeling and riding is believing! |
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Visionary
Posts: 1436
| Well lets see where the list begins.... As mentioned many returning or new riders going too large off the start. The economic down turn hit a lot of folks hard, some lost jobs, others were just forced to get rid of anything that isn't a necessity. In other cases maybe their dealer got hit by the economy and closed the doors leaving the owner to travel a long ways for servicing.
Bottom line is the Vision is the most comfortable stock bike made (and I've owned quite a few bikes). The motor is pretty well bullet proof and while I have experienced my share of hiccups, nothing that the bike was taking in for repairs couldn't have gone unrepaired indefinitely, just nit-noy type stuff.
The difference you'll find between the Wing and the Vision are ergo and comfort related. You'll tuck down neatly into the Vision saddle and assume a position which is more in line with getting into rather than on top of the bike. The Vision will make more noise and you'll hear the odd rattle as compared to the Wing but it is a pleasure to ride.
So don't read more into bikes for sale than what it is. Smaller bike dealers and independents around my area are up to their eyeballs in used Harley Classics, Street Glides and Ultra's. Some are as new as 09's and work their way back to 06's. That tells me the dollars are tight and the toys have got to go for many folks. At the same time my Vic dealer has sold like 12 new Victory's in the past few weeks and I know the HD dealer is selling bikes as well. No definitive reason for so many used high end bikes on the market, so just get what you like. |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | First of all you are on the wrong forum to ask that, as pretty much, nearly everyone will give you a positive assessment of the Vision. Some of us are even cheerleaders and don the tutu's and pom-pom's and shout rah-rah! I've rolled almost 69,000 miles in 2 1/2 years and obviously ride everyday. I'm an abuser of bikes and keep it outside and sometimes covered up. Given the abuse I've put my Vision through to date and the worse thing that has happened is that I replaced the steering stem bearing due to lack of lube at 60,000 miles or so. I also had the fuel pump recently replaced at 67,000 miles and that doesn't shock me a bit. I do routine maintenance myself, well sometimes as indicated by the bearing. But I will rate the Vision bullet proof in my book. In trying to understand your question, even on a heavy touring, you have to see through what the others are saying. I bought my first bike after 17 years of not riding just 5 years ago. It was a 1984 touring bike, a Goldwing, that had 25,000 miles on it. Yeah, the guy rode it all the time, okay, let's do some math, 25,000 miles divided by 21 years equals a whopping 1,200 a year, give or take a 100 or so, and he considered he rode all the time.
Okay, just had to let it out, don't try to read into anything, the Vision is a solid bike and the one that fits me to a T, so don't ask me, ask the ones who are selling and see what they tell you. I find no alarm whatsoever considering all the Harley's and other bikes dotting the lawns around the area with a big For Sale sign on them. |
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Tourer
Posts: 415
| I put 18,000 miles on mine last year. Still trying to figure out if I like it or not. :' |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 725
Reno County, KS | I have to agree. A bike that is a year or two old and has 8000mi on it is ridden more than the average bike has been. The Vision is not as long-lived as the Wings are yet so seeing a bike with more than 20Kmi is a rarity. I personally had put more miles on my Vision in the first year of ownership than I probably have cummulitively on all previous bikes combined. Of course that was my intention for buying a pseudo-tour bike (I have the Street package, so it's not quite a tourer). I honestly think that a lot buyers on the fringes of the target market bought a bike that they thought looked cool. The novelty wore off and they were left with a tour bike that they were not inclined to keep. I personally have no problem with a heavier bike but I knew going into the deal that having all the bells and whistles had it's trade offs. I wouldn't worry about finding a lot of them on the market with low miles. My only recommendation is staying away from SSG unless you like the fact that the color is discontinued. Victory likes to sell their parts already painted, so it makes for a long wait. I like having the discontinued color, on the other hand. 2010 bikes have a better radio installed on them.
Good luck,
-Will |
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Cruiser
Posts: 184
Allen Park, MI | After owning a Wing for 9 years I only managed to put 11,000 on the odometer. After 1 year of owning a Vision I have put on over 10,000??? Something must be wrong with me??? |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 741
Central New York | I don't think I have ever seen more than 3 or for Visions listed on ebay at any one time, compared to any other touring bike that has pages. As I am a "senior" type of guy I will speak from my view point.
The Vision is the easiest of the touring types to handle, respective of height, balance, and posture. If it were not for the Vision I would probably not be riding anymore. As it is with the Vision I feel I have quite a few more good years of riding ahead. That being said, I am quite sure this will be my last bike, and when the knees, hips, and back say "no more" it will be sold at whatever mileage it has on it, be it tomorrow or ten years from now. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 50
| Bought my 09 Ness Vision (151) in March and you'll have to pry my dead hands to get me off my bike, let alone sell it. I came off an Ultra Classic and if anything, "THAT" was the mistake I made going for a touring bike. The poor guys with HD's have no clue......but at least they sound cool!
BTW, Where'd you go? Post and bail? |
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Cruiser
Posts: 77
| glighto11 - 2010-05-30 6:32 AM
I don't think I have ever seen more than 3 or for Visions listed on ebay at any one time, compared to any other touring bike that has pages. As I am a "senior" type of guy I will speak from my view point.
The Vision is the easiest of the touring types to handle, respective of height, balance, and posture. If it were not for the Vision I would probably not be riding anymore. As it is with the Vision I feel I have quite a few more good years of riding ahead. That being said, I am quite sure this will be my last bike, and when the knees, hips, and back say "no more" it will be sold at whatever mileage it has on it, be it tomorrow or ten years from now.
When it come to the knees, hips and back say "no more", I'll be looking at the Crossbow then. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1436
| Hmmm after reading the posts and thinking for a few about them, I have that ringing thought that I posted when I first arrived here. The Vision wasn't aimed at the Harley crowd although the mention of HD seems to set off a resounding boo here. Nor was the Vision aimed at the Goldwing audience. The Vision was really targetted at the crowd who would be drawn to a custom but wanted something that could be ridden to more than the bar, a true weekend or weeks long tour.
To compare the Vision to a Harley or Goldwing is really not a comparison at all, as each of the bikes mentioned were aimed at a different audience, do different things very well, and other things terrible. Each of these aforementioned bikes do something far superior to the others, but that doesn't make any of them better than the other. I've ownd 2 Wings, many HD Dressers and the Vision. Liked every one of them and each had something it did/does better than the others. They also all had something that was just plain terrible, or that wasn't appealing to me "personally" as a rider.
Now I can be called a lot of things but what you won't accuse me of is bias or brand loyalty. When I have something to say about my bike I say it, good or bad. I don't dress up like a clown to go out riding, ride in a club or group regularly, but I do rack up 12-15k miles a season (about 3-4 months), every year. I've ridden on several continents, all terrains, in all types of weather over some 40+ years of riding and yet I consider myself just an average rider. So best advice I ever heard given was as follows; Decide on what type of riding you plan or may plan to do in the future, and then find the bike you feel the most comfortable with riding in that possible situation. For example if you planned to ride from coast to coast next summer you probably wouldn't be best served purchasing a vespa 50 for the trip. By the same token if your plans only include afternoon rides of 100 miles a couple times a month, buying a full dressed tour would likely be over-kill. Bottom line is buy the bike YOU LIKE, that fits your NEEDS and ignore everyone elses opinion.
Some folks were sold on the Vision from first sight, others it grew on, and lots of new owners are buying them up. Are they for everyone? Probably not, but I have yet to ride the motorcycle that appeals to everyone. Thats my thoughts on this topic, best of luck with your decision. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 50
| Yep, there's no such thing as a perfect bike, but to say that Victory wasn't or isn't taking dead aim at HD, Wingers, and other metric owners is flat out silly. I find it very difficult to think they'd try to start a new demographic of riders out of thin air. Just watch the videos on their website and they are clearly dropping Wings and Ultras on their tip over demos. The valves and push rods in the video are also striaght from the competition. Simply put, They want your money. What's wrong with that? They continue to look at what's out there and improve it! All at a reasonable price point. The general target customer is between 40 - 60 years of age, gainfully employed and has established a small amount of success in his/her life to plop down cash on a bike. A large part in this group are current bike owners and to say that Victory doesn't want to go head on with the competition is fooling themselves. That's why they (Victory)have test rides and a variety of models to fit all types of riders.
I haven't been riding bikes for that long, but why must someone need to ride for 50 years and log on millions of miles to understand that one company makes a better bike than another? 10 years says nothing about a company, but from what Victory has put out in the past 10 years is leaps and bounds ahead of the competition when they were at the 10 year mark. If you want to compare, take a look at a 2000 Ultra and compare it to a 2010. How much can you really say they've improved their product in 10 years? I'm not an HD hater, but I'm just commenting on the obvious. HD is just stuck in terms like, Loyalty, Tradition, Classic, Heritage. The next 10 years will be a huge turning point for HD (if not already) as the older generation gets older and the younger generation finds success and looks for things to spend their money on. Is Victory threatening to HD? Who knows? The Vision has only been out for 2 years, yet for all of it's quirks truly has separated it's self from the competition. I've owned two HD's in my infancy as a motorcycle rider, but honestly can not see myself buying any more HD products in the future. I can only ride one bike at a time, and it will always be my Vision.
Peace. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1350
| I wonder how many of those Visions on Ebay are dealer demo bikes? I know Bob's, he sells used HDs, has turned away bikes. His building is full of low mileage bikes. I agree about the economy and then that also leads into divorce sales. |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 8
| The only way that I will get rid of my vision is to get a newer and better model, I will at his point and time own anything else |
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Short term ownership?
