OTS Motorcycles

Victory Motorcycle, they were before their time. They gave everyt Sleek, sharp lines, feature-packed and fun air-cooled V2M motorcycles, an exciting electric sport bike project that was in motion and the badge of honor being an American Motorcycle company. And in the States we take built in America seriously. And even now we are seeing that same victory styling showing new Indian motorcycle models. Coincidence? Not at all. It makes me wonder where victory will be today if they weren't unfortunately shut down by Polaris in 2017. And I don't fault Polaris for doing so because it takes money to make money and businesses need to make money to keep going because that's what they are at their core. And Victory Motorcycle wasn't making money to support And depending on where you read your r But a lot of t But luckily Polaris being a parent company, they're able to s Indian Motorcycle, w And here it is today making new ways throughout the motorcycle community. And today many riders in the community are s The company was started in 1998 from the ground up as one of the newest American motorcycle manufacturers alongside the And Polaris saw the success Harley-Davidson was having and they wanted a piece of t So of course they made Victory Motorcycles. And ironically around t Victory released a n Each of these motorcycles were powered by and known for the Freedom Engine either in a 100 cubic inch variant or the 106. But the Freedom Engine was not produced by Victory until 2002, w So yes, they did produce previous motorcycles with a different motor, most notably the V9-2C with t And Victory engines were built allowing the owners to tweak and tune and customize the motors to their liking. And various performance add-ons were available for the Freedom Engine, including cams and if you're ballsy, supercharger kit. Plus the name Freedom resonates directly with America, right? Freedom, bald eagles. But Polaris was on to somet These motorcycles from Victory, they created a micro community of supporters in comparison to Harley-Davidson and these followers were cult- And being on the Victory meant not being on a Harley-Davidson and that was enough for so many people and not having to settle for their standard or their status quo. You could follow a different path by a completely different rule set, even with another American motorcycle company. But the fun only lasted so long. Victory was profitable for a n But why? With such sleek and forward t Of course, it comes down to selling motorcycles and having a brand and building a lifestyle around that brand and of course making money. But it involves also that emotional and heritage-based feel and part that comes with owning a motorcycle. But the Victory brand stood no chance with the lineage of Harley-Davidson. Who are you to come here with your new sleek motorcycles and tell me that t But the saying goes that nothing feels or looks But even w But it wasn't uncommon to be told, hey, that's a nice motorcycle. I didn't know that Harley-Davidson made bikes And of course, sending that Victory motorcycle owner into a rage to explain many reasons why it's not, in fact, a Harley-Davidson, but instead it's a Victory motorcycle to then have that person go, what's Victory motorcycle? And then the cycle repeats. Branding is everyt And it's t It's not that Victory didn't make amazing mac The Power Plus 108 engine, for example, is phenomenal. And it wasn't a coincidence. It was originally meant for a Victory motorcycle. The Victory Octane shared almost 40% of parts with the Indian Scout. None of t And now there are patent suggestions that a new Batwing motorcycle is coming from Indian motorcycle with the Power Plus 108 that looks a lot like the Victory Magn T But long story short, again, Victory motorcycle was before its time. Indian motorcycle was always that heritage based brand to compete with Harley-Davidson on the nostalgia and the emotional level. But now that's established, Indian and Polaris are gaining market share and they're putting gas on it further by bringing that Victory styling back. And that is very important. But what better way to bring more riders into the Indian motorcycle brand than offer motorcycles that were very similar to Victory in the styling department? We've already seen it. The 2019 Indian c It'so subtle. The styling is so, so subtle. The styling of Victory is slowly being implemented into the Indian brand to not shock the culture too much, right? All at once. You have to remember that the majority of the stakeholders of American motorcycle companies are probably older riders Even though Victory motorcycle only lasted almost 20 years in a physical form, its styling and the culture that supported it. Are eternal and bringing it back to Indian motorcycle is effortless for Polaris and for that again, Victory motorcycles, man. They are forever before their time. If you like more videos like this on motorcycle culture and brands, hit that th But if you're subscribed, I'll see you in the next one. You