Victory Motorcycles
Motor Cycle general ledger of events and maintenance
Date of sale 3/31/05 1/C pipes, lowered. (what the hell are C pipes)
Pipes changed 5/05/05 1/D Dealer left 1/C Program in. (what the hell are D pipes)
Changed 1/C program to 1/D 01/27/06.
Note: This is the only dealer that attaches the terms C and D to the stage one pipes.
This is a note to preface this page and I'm going to direct this page to the dealer as well.
If he/they can't see how closely knit the Victory riders are and how they all talk amongst themselves and he/they sell most of their bikes by word
of mouth, he/they are badly mistaken to see or visualize their business growth in the future. Other prospective buyers and owners are being
directed to another dealer for service and new bike sales or away from Victory all together. I personally have stopped recommending Victory bikes. I
sold about ten bikes for the Ferrara's dealership and will not support him or Victory anymore as a result of the shaming that I went through.
Date Complaint/Reason/Service/Comment
Ran bike to achieve the 500 mile status and oil change Told Tony about severe hesitation and the gas mileage sucked.
Started log on 4/15/05 for the record.
4/15/05 Hesitation and gas mi.
Was told break in first.
4/30/05 Just dropped in to chat and brought up hesitation and gas again.
Was told break in again.
5/05/05 louder pipes, mentioned hesitation and gas (range - 1800-2400rpm).
Was told pipes will probably help. Installed pipes, K&N filter, kept same program and 500 miles service $423.98.
I said do I get the old pipes back, he replied no, they send them back to the factory. Some thing is not right with that statement.
Also, if I had my guess the pipes he put on my bike were used and taken off another bike and re-sold to me.
5/10/05 Picked up freeway bar and grips, Tony asked about the problem. Reported it was the same.
He said it will get better, still breaking in.
5/16/05 Just dropped in to chat and brought up hesitation and gas again.
Was told break in again.
6/01/05 Dropped in to chat and see if a guy I recommended came in as he said he would.
Mentioned hesitation, gas and breaking up.
Was told it’s still re-learning and a break in problem.
6/16/05 Talked about another customer I sent over, mentioned problem.
Re-learning and break in.
7/01/05 Told Tony bike would backfire occasionally on accel and decel. Re-learning and to expect it.
Reply, It’s normal for those pipes and it’s still breaking in.
7/18/05 Stopped in to see what new goodies were available. Talked about the same problems.
Still re-learning and break in.
8/01/05 Sent another customer over, just checking. Talked about problems again.
Still re-learning and break in.
8/19/05 Oil change, Tony asked about mileage. 3042 miles.
I told him it was about 28 to 30 MPG. Said still was breaking in.
9/15/05 Reported same problems, discussed it with a couple of others there as well.
Tony’s reply, breaking in. Others just shook their heads.
10/05/05 Showed Tony front fender problem, talked about hesitation, backfire and gas mileage.
Bike is still not broke in etc.
10/28/05 Just stopped in to hang out for a little while, talked about same problems.
Still not broke in.
11/15/05 About hesitation, backfire and gas mileage and bought some more carbon cleaner.
Still re-learning and break in. (Range 1800-2400 rpm)
12/2/05 General BS session and discussed fender replacement. Brought up problems again.
Still not broke in.
12/22/05 Fender replacement, ECU re-learning Oil change 5691 miles.
Replaced the plugs and Tony said the Re-learning would help.
1/12/06 Picked up Carbon cleaner and EZ clutch, talked about problem and reported the hesitation
(Running getting progressively worse). Re-learning and still not broke in.)
1/27/06 Picked up Arlene Ness side covers etc. Put in new calibration card to match pipes $169.79.
Told me run it like I stole it.
1/31/06 Reported power was increased which I didn't need, but hesitation/breaking up was still there if not worse.
Wanted me to run it some more to let it settle in.
2/02/06 Purchased pullback bars, installed same. Discussed problems and told Tony how upset I was
about this whole thing.
He said he would talk to engineering and said, ride it and see how it reacts.
2/07/06 Reported mileage was still the same but breaking up was also worse.
He put it on the computer and made adjustments and told me to give him feedback.
2/15/06 Stopped in to see what engineering had to say.
Break in not completed.
3/01/06 Setup for oil change and talked about problems again.
Was going to call engineering back again.
3/17/06 Picked up oil kit for oil change, Tony couldn’t do it. Reported I still have bad gas mileage and breaking up is worse.
Told me to expect it because of the performance kit and I can't hold it at those ranges.
3/18/06 Changed oil at home 7704 mileage.
3/31/06 Reported same problems and bought up the warranty and he said not to worry he will find and fix the problem.
Told me it was carbon build up and use the product he had. Which I had already been using since I bought the bike.
4/12/06 Discussed how bad the problem was and asked him to do something positive and reminded him
that the warranty was up and it should be fixed before this goes to much farther.
Said he would call Engineering again.
4/19/06 Stopped by to inform Tony that I’ve been using their carbon cleaner since I bought the bike and I
did in fact check for carbon build up and I didn’t think it was that bad.
Suggested that I give the carbon cleaner a chance to do its thing. Said he was going to call engineering again.
4/25/06 Reported back with the same problem other Vic riders where there and talked with them about their bikes
and they did not have any runability problems.
Tony still insisted on carbon problems and wanted to clean carbon out.
5/9/06 Stopped in for BS season, talked about the same problems again, Tony still is hot on carbon build up
and still is repeating bike not broke in as far as the mileage problem is concerned. .
No action taken talked about carbon cleaning.
5/18/06 Picked up oil kit for oil change, a friend Jimmy was there, he drove my bike and experienced
the same things I’ve been complaining about since day one. He just shook his head.
Set up time for carbon cleaning I couldn’t get in till later in the month.
5/26/06 Changed oil at home 9815.
5/31/06 Carbon cleaning, new plugs ECU check, oil and filter change. 10,990 miles.
Called me and told me the problem was gone. I left with the bike and took it back immediately as it was not even
close to where it was when I took it in. It was running so bad I was ashamed to be riding it. Horrible breaking up, hesitation
between 1800 and 2400 rpm, hard starting, backfiring so loud it was ear penetrating.
Tony said it will have to re-learn again since there is no carbon present.
Note: Apparently some of the carbon cleaner splashed back up on the windshield and ate some of the protective
covering off of the inside. I was to upset to mention it to Tony as I have already had enough of his crap for the last year.
So outside of a damaged windshield I also had to shell out $165+ for the cleaning.
6/01/06 Back again telling him the bike is almost un-rideable and gas mileage dropped to 27 to 28 mpg.
Told me to keep riding it will get better.
6/09/06 Problem is so bad I can’t even ride through town because of the hesitation/breaking up and back firing.
Said he was going to call engineering again.
6/14/06 Stopped back to see what engineering had to say.
Tony adjusted the ECU, told me to continue riding it will get better.
6/23/06 Same problem, really bad and still have great difficulty going lower speeds.
Made arrangements to drop bike off again.
6/27/06 Dropped bike off.
Tony called me and said he replaced Map/Baro sensor loaded new program in. Rode Tested bike and said it was great.
6/28/06 Picked up bike, test drove it and reported back same day, no change same problems. Went over the range and
problems more in depth again, checked spark voltage, replaced one wire with another one. I test drove, no change.
Said he will call engineering and to keep running it.
7/05/06 Went back and Tony drove with me and I showed him exactly how it acts. More or less told me I may never be able
to hold the throttle at low speeds. Tony put on one of the older carb covers with the slots covered and told me to try it
and it got worse indicating a fuel/air delivery problem in my mind. No results to date. Tony replaced the oil temperature
sensor to see if that would help.
I called him later and told him, no changes.
7/11/06 Dropped off bike again.
Tony said he found out the program was not being saved before and used an exhaust sensor etc to reset everything.
Then saved the program. The problem I have with that statement is, it tells me if he was not saving the program on my bike
that has to mean he wasn't saving the programs on all the other bike he programmed.
Ran bike for two weeks and went back and told Tony, the performance was about 80% better, but the backfiring and hesitation was still there.
MPG was still about 28 to 30. He reset the computer again. Ran bike for about three weeks, mileage went to 38 MPG, but the backfiring was
now intermittent, the hesitation was minimal and at least I could get through town at lower speeds.
Not sure of the date but I believe it was about a three weeks after the last visit when the mileage went up, Tony got a new meter in and
reset the bike with that. He said the new meter was a much better way to set the system. Well, he was incorrect as the mileage went
back down to 29 to 30.I refused to broach the subject anymore and it was decision time to sell the bike and go back to Harley’s. I stopped riding bike.
08/10/06 Decided to run the bike and not let it sit to long and the damn clutch cable snapped at about 11,000 miles. I couldn’t believe it and I
really did expect Tony to make good for it as he installed the easy clutch. No such luck. I caught him on that Sunday when the cable
snapped cleaning up the shop and he had one there that I installed, but it was to short. He told me to use it temporarily and he will order a new
one out and install same.
He did do this but he still charged me for which had to be a defective cable. This is an inherent problem with Victory bikes.
9/30/06 Installed new rear tire. 13,000 miles and changed oil and filter. I have not been riding the bike because of shear
frustration and what riding I’ve been doing has been short runs, so I change the oil more frequently. Changed oil & filter at this time.
12/14/06 Ordered new rear brakes online from ECS and installed them when they came in. 13,500 miles.
Due to the lack of results I will not be keeping this log except for oil change and parts log until I can sell the bike. There is one more thing
I will mention. Right at the crucial time after the mileage went back down to 29 to 30. I asked Tony to help me sell the bike when it came time. which he agreed to.
Well, when I informed him I was selling the bike his remark was, the market is slow and not another word was mentioned. So here is another
thing that did not materialize and I feel cheated and taken advantage of. I have sent at least 20 to 25 people over to look at the Victory line and
at least 8 to 10 bought bikes as a result of my discussions with them. Even when I was about to make up my mind to sell the bike I still did
not bad mouth Victory. I believe it is a good bike, but they just don’t have the proper trouble shooting techniques fine tuned and maybe
overly complicated the fuel delivery system. Plus the dealers have untrained so called mechanics.
I also noticed Ferrara's Garage (Victory Dealer) seldom gives out paper work for the work done on the bikes. I can understand why, he doesn't
want to leave a paper trail to hang himself with. This is another reason why I started this log.
04/13/07 Changed oil and filter. 14,000 miles. Have not been riding the bike much. Trying to sell bike.
05/20/07 Pulled the right passenger foot peg and upper belt guard off to fix the alignment of the guard. The spacer they use to build the
foot peg away from the chassis was 1/8” to small and I had to grind ¼” off the inside of the foot peg where it is offset from the mounting face.
I showed this to Tony about 3 months after I had the bike and to which he did nothing. It rubbed the chrome of the guard at that spot. All TC's
have this problem. At the same time, I re-tracked the belt as it was getting hot from rubbing on the lower belt guard. The guard had to
be loosened up and moved out about 1/8”. Re-tracked belt in the drive rotation, not the opposite as Tony does.
06/05/07 Revered foot pegs to allow more room for me and my rider.
06/08/07 Listed bike on eBay and a local newspaper. Have gotten some interested parties sniffing around so hopefully this will be my out of this piece of crap.
Outside of investing in a gallon of gas and match to rid myself of this atrocity, selling is the only way out.
If this is the best Victory can do, then they don’t need my business. People in the past and I’m sure in the future respect me and my
decisions very much and they know I’m a fair person. The have been waiting to see how I made out with the bike and have prolonged
their purchase to see what was going to happen. Now I can report to them and they can choose their fate. I’m sure it’s not going to
be Victory.
After taking the bike to another establishment and getting the proper tuning etc., I relisted the bike on eBay and sold same. I took a beating
on it and I'm so over Victory. Never again. Thank God it's over.