VICTORY vs. HARLEY 

There is nothing you can tell me about a Harley. The fact that Victory designed their bikes so well that they’re still running strong long after Polaris shut them down speaks volumes.

Victory was way ahead of its time. With its design, and reliability no other american made bike came close. My opinion.

That Victory is still so good looking. I like Harley and i am not a brand loyal guy but i prefer the Vic!

I'm a Victory XC guy myself , but would have to say you gave a FAIR assessment overall. I really like victory xc because has a unique look and it turns heads. I just like being different.

Started with a cross country, then went to a roadglide ultra, back with victory for good with a vision ttwfo

The Victory does three things out of the box that HD doesn't; stop, go, and turn. I've never understood HD's appeal.

I normally don't like the Batwing look but I really like how Victory did it and their tins always looked more aggressive

The victory is the better looking bike. Shame they stopped building them. I wish someone would buy victory from Polaris and start building them again

My 2011 CrossCountry has 122,000 miles. I like the Madstad windshield. Stock otherwise. Haven't checked the sparkplugs or air filter yet. Change oil about 8,000 miles. The left turnsignal only works sometimes. I like it better than my Road King.

Polaris screwed up with their advertising of the Victory. Instead of going after HD, they should have just concentrated on their amazing design and reliability. Here in the UK, hardly anyone knew they existed. No matter where I go, people always come up to me to talk about my bikes. Well done, Polaris, for dropping one of the best-looking bikes to hit the road.

The thing I love about Victory above and beyond what has been mentioned is Victory has very few seals compared to the HD which makes it less prone to lose / leak oil. Plus the Vic has a closed system for the oil so it cycles the same oil through the entire bike and HD has multiple reservoirs to have to keep track of Also, if leg room is important, Vic wins hands down. If you're 5'5 or 6'5, the Vic has far better leg room. I felt cramped sitting on an HD for any length of time. Love my Cross Country Tour (had a Kingpin also) and it was just top to bottom designed better than a HD IMO. I have nothing against HD personally, but I'll give my nod to Victory all day long. Great review

I hate that Polaris scrapped Victory in favor of their other brand. I think they were on to something with Victory

I own a 08 victory Vegas Low and a 2013 victory vision. Love them both ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Bang for buck would go to Victory

I have 15 cross country and a 13 ultra limited. Victory by far reliability and power. Harley fit and finish.

i got a victory cross country dark blue with satin black inserts. has 80,000 miles still runing strong NEVER did nothing but a belt, brake pads and oil change. tires.....and it still has a nicer design today than any 2023 harley

Excellent video!! Love you guys!!!

I've been so impressed with U'r videos on the Victory Brand that I finally pulled the plug & I'm picking up a 2010 Cross Country this Friday. I've road Harleys for years & still have a 1983 Harley FLHT that has a Mototek Trike Conversion on it. But want a change & have been really impressed with the research I've done over the last few months. So I'm giving the nod to Victory. Wish me luck & Thanks for the great video's!

Parts are easy to get but Victorys don't need parts. I've been riding Vics for ten years and haven't needed anything but a kickstand spring. You also didn't mention that the Victory engine is hard mounted and I think the Harley is rubber mounted, so you'll get a little more engine feel on the Vic.

I’ve got 4 bagger motorcycles. In Florida I ride my 18 Goldwing DCT Tour as it by far coolest to ride in hot weather. My Victory CCT stays in Vermont as my daily rider/shopping bike as it’s enormous carrying capacity allows me to load up on groceries at Walmart which is a relaxing 15 miles away. Last summer I picked up a like new 18 Yamaha Star Venture TransContinental that I’ve ridden and enjoyed for 2000 miles. My BMW F700 GS is reserved for VT gravel backroads. I’ve owned 2 ElectraGlide Ultras up until 2 years ago but never felt the passion for them. So many bikes with so little time! Enjoy your videos. 😎👍

Just a great video 🎉. I own an Indian. Polaris knows what they are doing. Victory will be missed. A great bike.

Thanks for an honest review...

Love my 2016 CCT!

I love everything about my 2014 Crossroads except the seat. I am having a Russekk day long put on in about 3 weeks. Having ridden through 13 states so far this year, my old boney butt is ready for a chage.

I bought a used 2016 Magnum X1 Stealth with 9K miles in 2018 for $15K and love it. It replaced my 2010 Street Glide which I loved but experienced almost every older Twin Cam failure that exists. I've done a lot of upgrades to Magnum including cams, Bassani pipe, under drive pulley, Penske shock, windscreens etc. Since I bought the bike used it was cheaper when "done" than any of the six HDs I had. I still haven't solved the buffeting and have to wear a half helmet to compensate. My solution for wearing a full helmet on long road trips was to buy a 2016 Vision Tour with 7K miles for $9K. Left it mostly stock with some minor upgrades. Best of both worlds. I don't hate on Harley anymore since I've recovered from my Street Glide heartbreak but I probably won't ever buy an HD bagger again, mostly due to price. Indian Challenger would be on my list if I found one used for a good deal. I rented one a few years ago and it really feels like an upgraded Victory. Nothing competes with the sound or feel of a Harley Big Twin however.

That Cross bike is beautiful. Im on my second Victory cruiser and wouldn't trade it for anything. This is a very good video that points out the good and not so good things about both brands. I agree with everything that you said too.

Great video,,I have a '13 XCT with 40K on it and would not trade for anything! My brother was in the market for an upgrade, looking at V's and found it was the last year of them. Opted to the Road King as was always a Harley fan. Happy he did but still looks at mine and drools a bit! Mine has a Kicker stereo upgrade just to keep up with the pipes!!

Having both ,I can say without a doubt victory is a better build bike and more comfortable

Great video! I’d look into getting a Maximus tune from Noe. It improves the low end under 3k (501 cams in mine) as well as the on/off throttle smoothness, still won’t be as strong as the HD though at low RPM. My main reason for holding onto my XC is that it does everything the new baggers do, just without the in dash screen which can be seen as a positive. To me it’s hard to justify $30k+ on a new bike that isn’t head and shoulder better. Plus it stands out in a crowd no matter where you’re at! Not a single bike out there with larger saddlebag capacity either!

I have a 2014 CRC Victory for 4000 mile road trips...dependability. Also have a Harley 1200 Custom for short trips. Love them both. If i could only choose one...Victory without hesitation.

I have one of the first 2010's cross country. Still got it and have done lots of travel. Launched her through the air once fully packed with gear, blew belt in front tire, bent exhaust, bent the hell out of center link, otherwise bike held up well and still going. Love the bike with no issues. Very dependable.

The XC is the greatest big bagger ever manufactured 🏆

Great video can tell you really love the victory. Too bad they went out of business you make you want to buy one even though I have a new road glide as well.

I owned a Vic Hammer S for 9 years and it was very reliable with great power. Now I have a 21 HD Heritage and love it for its power, looks, fit and finish.

I’m still trying to my wind buffeting on my cross country. Put a better windshield on now I think I need fork deflectors because it’s definitely coming from below. Nice content amigos!

Ive ridden Harley’s since I was 14ish. From shoveheads to street glides (and everything in between). I just bought a 2010 Victory Vision 8ball. I’ve never ridden anything as balanced, smooth, malleable, or efficient. I still love my ironhead and 1200, but this bike is something else.

Harley Davidson addressed the oil problem with a external breather and recycling the oil back. I believe that's covered under warranty. My local dealership stated after 2017 to 2020 should be covered. Because it was overlooked. Buy I would definitely ask. Love that Red Victory.

I bought a Harley becuse i wanted a Harley. Plain and simple. The heritage, the support when you're on the road, aftermarket support AND even cheaper parts on marketplace (everyone's always changing something out), model availability, the sound, the feel, the compliments from folks, everyone knows Harley Davidson. All my brother in laws ride victories and we all have a blast.

I’ve got a 16magnum. Loyd’s upgrades with cams n such. Maximus tune. I just love it. All my boys have new Harley’s and as much as I do love them, my Vic is the best bike I’ve ever rode.

Great review. I have a 21 road glide limited. Best bike I've owned. I find the stock suspension to be adequate. Now I have it dialed up in the back to about 15 to 20. It's a stiff ride but it handles great. Victory makes good bikes I was sad to see them go. I do think the new Indian bikes have a lot of the victory style and engineering. The challenger engine is rumored to be a victory design , but not sure about that one.

Indian dealers should work on Victorys

Victory forever!!

Very good non biased review. Have put miles on both of these and your review is spot on. Think if I was to buy one I’d still get the Vic. Can find one for less than 10k pretty easily and know it’ll be solid performer. Did notice on the Vic the lowers made a huge difference in buffeting. Took them off once and after about a 5 minute ride they went right back in. Haha Ride safe man!

For me the lean angle and how easily you can throw the XCT around absolutely runs rings around the Harleys.

Got two harleys and six victories, victory is by far the "better" bike, but I do agree with your assessment

Victory looks like it was rolled into Indian. The Challenger and Pursuit are Victory's with the Indian name on the side. The power plus 108 is the liquid cooled version of the 106. My Judge has pretty good fit and finish compared to my Harley but the paint is deeper on the Harley and the bolt on signal lights are better. That being said I think Polaris made those things as sacrificial in an accident so they would be easily replaced. That is their off-road blood coming through. No comparison for the power plants. I think Polaris makes a better metal flake flat paint. I like the RG for its fixed fairing and was thinking of getting one until the Challenger came out. I was holding out form Harley to put an overhead cam power plant in their touring bike but it never happened. Not a fan of the M8. I am a fan of the air cooled pushrod sportster motor. It makes better power by the cubic inch.

Victory’s a way better bike , they don’t break and they have a lot of power compared to the Harley in the 107 & I’ve beat many 110s and a few 114’s

Do a leak down test with the victory at 75000 mi and the Harley at 25,000 miles see which one passes the leak down test.

I love my Victory XC because it’s the only bike that comes ready to ride for tall guys too. Everything else is set towards 5’8”. Also the bags hold more and the styling is just there own not trying to be something else along with reliability handling and no gotta have a Harley me too snobbery 😊 that was really good can you do a vision vs xc comparo? Thanks again

My 2016 VXCT Miss Valhalla has NEVER let me down, since buying her brand new in 16....I'm bummed that Polaris did what they did to what is arguably a top end dependable bike! Looking at the 2023 Indian Pursuit, you can see where Polaris used Victory's styling and possible parts? If it comes a time when I can no longer get parts for Valhalla, I will turn to Indian for my next ride! I honestly tried going to HD before finding Valhalla, but the extras that I would have had to buy and have put on the Street Glide I was looking at, would have ran me up another $3k+, on top of an already high priced bike! The only thing I had to do to Valhalla, was adjust the factory bars up! That speaks volumes.....

Nice review of both bikes. As soon as I heard Polaris was dumpling Victory for Indian I drove my 06 Hammer down to my dealer and bought a 2016 Magnum for a stable mate. Having now owned 3 and currently 2 Vics, the power and reliability definitely won me over. Love the look of your Harley and would consider a new Fatboy on looks alone . Took one out for a test drive and liked it but not enough to replace either of my Vics. I have not experienced the heat issue on my bikes that you mention. I have the standard tubular crash bars as opposed to what your running. Do you think maybe they allow better air flow around the motor? Your right about the oil. I've never had to top up my oil on either bike. they simply don't consume it like the Harleys. I'm told the new M8 motor is a vast improvement and those water cooled heads resolved the overheating issue of the twin cam motor.Two friends recently drove their ten year old Harleys from Ontario to Texas where they both overheated. Fit and finish on the Harleys definitely are second to none but if I go for another new bike, I'm leaning heavily in favor of the Indian Challenger.

Victory is Beautiful. I Love my Victory XCT! My Wife Loves it too 😃 So much Power and Comfort. 48,000 miles front fork seal starting to show a bit of oil gonna try seal mate, see how that goes. Had a drive pulley strip out at around 37,000 miles other than that going strong. Though my front brakes have some shimmy to them, been that way since I bought it with only 4,500 miles on it. Would like to have that issue fixed if I only knew what the problem is. Basically got used to it. By far the Best Bike I ever owned. I will never part with it, I'll keep her forever. Great Bikes, Sad they are no longer made. Love Your Victory content 😎

You guys ever make it to WNC on a trip give me a shout and we can hit all the good rides around here. Murphy, NC

Agreed... FAIR assessment. One thing tho. The XC was direct competition to the street glide. Wind management would have been a true apples to apples review. Another thing to note. Victory was making 96hp when the 106 came out. It took harley 10 years to catch up. Harleys are a sloth in performance. As far as reliability goes, harleys in the same era were lucky to get 1/3 of the miles that the vics did due to cam chain tensioner alone in harley which caused catastrophic damage to the enigines. Fit and finish goes to HD hands down. But vics are beauties in their own way.

Awesome to hear how reliable the Victory has been. Would be curious to know if you looked at the Indian Challenger when considering your Road Glide. The Indian has good suspension travel and a lot of other nice features that come from its Victory heritage that you seem to appreciate.

A fair comparison would be against the street glide

I've got a 2009 kingpin, I love the power and sound, especially with the lloyd's fuel controller and victory performance pipes, I got it a couple months ago, it came with the switchblade windshield, honestly I think that windshield all it does is create more turbulance at 75+ mph, it has under 25k miles, I will change the oil a week from now, other than that I'm not an expert, I fiddled with 250 cc chinese bikes but I'm affraid to do that with this one, going to probably take it to indian or a small shop for the 30k maintenance, I will eventually migrate to an Indian Scout in a couple years, I know they have less torque but more HP, and weigh less, the fact that I can get one that even my wife will like to sit on is a plus, because she's under 5 feet!

I have a 2013 XCT and im in love with it. I have a few questions though. Where did you get your hard lowers?

Three years riding a Kingpin. Zero issues. Smooth and plenty of power. So reliable. Don't miss my FLH.

There are only around 600 Harley dealers left in the United States down from 800 because they closed all the mom-and-pop shops. Of course if you are including independent shops that it is another story but I am speaking or dealerships

Looking at your backdrop, I noticed the foothills. Where are you guys located?

I have a '12 XCT. Where did you get the black winglets for the fairing, mine came with clear.

Out of the two here id take the harley purely because of the fixed front cowling because that large cowling attacched to your front forks acts as a wind sail however for style, id take the Victory hands down.

Its been a curse of my life that things i own and places i go close down or stop being produced and its just kinda funny. But having a XC and victory closing down bothered me. I love the Red i have the Grey and i dream about White.

There are some very nice Victory's here for sale around me with lower miles. I am worried about them breaking down and not being able to get parts for them though.

It's actually an easy Victory win. Seat time on a Victory is way more enjoyable than on a Harley. No matter what the model tbh

2016 victory cross country only 16k miles I love my bike

Back in 2015 I test rode 3 HD including my dream bike Far Boy but I ended up with a Victory CrossCountry. At that time those HD imo were all over priced, overrated & build quality was barely acceptable. Walked into Victory showroom, 1 test ride & I took out my cash immediately 😂. Over the pass 8yrs I brought my XC for multiple trips, literally CrossCountry into Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia & soon to Laos & Myanmar. 45,000 km, besides the usually wear & tear it never once failed me

What oil are you using for your victory, I use Victory OEM oil. 30,000 miles.

I own a zx14r my new wife and stepdaughter have learned to love riding but to me them being backpacks sucks for them. Which would you say (I know it's only opinion) would be the better bagger to go with since I want to get them something more comfortable to ride on? It won't be my primary ride. I'm a big guy 6' 4 and they're both tiny @ 4'10

I’m at 108k on my 03 victory. 3clutch cables, 2 belts, second set of bearings, 1 voltage regulator, and countless tires. It’s is starting to feel like neck bearings soon though.

May only problem with this video is comparing a fix fearing with a moving one. I know u don't have one but the Harley should be compared to the Vision

Great content I love all bikes but mostly Harley even though the MOCO sucks!!

Sad Vic stopped making bikes.

Interesting comparison. An observation, you say "...that being said..." too much. But 'that being said,' a good video. 👍

i will take the victory any day

What windshield is that in the XC?

Ive had 3 victorys wish i had them back ..im on my 2nd roadglide.wish i had my victorys back.

2019 Harley Davidson ultra Limited 114 engine. At 40,000 miles it started using almost 2 quarts of oil every 5000 miles. Fortunately, I have the extended warranty. Because of 50,000 miles the internals of the engine were so damaged due to the lack of oil That the entire engine is now being replaced. This bike was maintained meticulously over those miles. I just don’t think Harley Davidson expects you to really use their motorcycles. I think they’re better motorcycles if you ride about 50 miles in the weekend and spend a lot of times in bars bullshitting. Yes I do know people have 100,000 on Harley Davidson‘s, how many of those have the new M8 motor? However, even with all of its faults, using oil, transmission fluid, moving into the primary, arbitrarily smoking like a cropduster in the freeway, and never quit running, even though it made all sorts of crazy noises when it started up, it actually never quit running, so I’ll give it that.

Interesting that the Vic is 7 years old and still comparable to the new HD. I think that is where you see the real winner. Just my .02

Looking into a 2012 cross country. Can you point me in a direction of some loud ear bleeding pipes lol?

Good video, but my Victory Magnum is a good bike

What's the cam you used.. I have the same bike and year for the victory!! Sexiest bike ever

Didn't you have RWD front suspension?

The Harley has a taller windshield also

Chicken cookin' due to hard lowers. Big difference when removed in summer.

I like how nimble the victory feels it's like im on a sports bike

I have 95 thousand miles on my 2011 vegas 8ball and all I have done was regular service

Comparison should have been between the same year, mileage, and the harley street glide with its pathetic 103. The Vic is also much cheaper bike to get more performance out of. $2500 bucks and you can easily gain 20-30 hp. You cannot come close to that price with a Harley. Hands down the Vic wins. Harley had to go with the 131 to keep up with the liquid cooled 106 aka Indian’s Challenger 108. I could go on all day about Vic over Harley but what is the use. I have windshields on my 13 & 15 XCT that do not buffet around the semis. Victory all day long.

Polaris will NOT make all parts until 2027. They will tell you that it is 10 MODEL YEARS. --I could not get a speed sensor in 2019 for my '06 Victory Vegas. (It took out the turn signals, odo, speedo, trip, flashers, etc.) I traded in my '06 Vegas, '12 XC, '08 1098, '09 busa in 2019 for a Grand America. I don't think a XC and a Grand America is a fair head-to-head comparison.

I think my Sportster 1200 had half an inch of travel, it was awful. I'm a big fat guy tho so maybe that didn't help 😂

After having agonized over what to get besides my '04 Warrior. I just purchased a 2013 one owner 7,500mi Victory xc tour. I'm a little surprised that I plopped down 8 grand on an 11yrs old bike, and I fervently hope I didn't F*ck-up...

The vision is a closer competitor to the harley you're on in this video.

For a road trip bike you should have been comparing to a victory vision and the wind management wouldn't even Be a factor the vision hands down will do a better job and run stronmore comfortable And not to talk about the cost of the 2 bikes there's no comparison victories got it

I have both. Victory more reliable. Harley has nicer quality paint.

I got a victory boardwalk 2015 in China, not too many people know victory in China but vic is definitely better than Harley

You gotta love BAGGER riders they are easily put off with the miner shit..... Who cares about what if get on it and enjoy feck harley

There's no comparison the Indians a lot better motorcycle all the way around no matter how you look at it

Polaris must have smoked crack the same day they decided to drop Victory. I own the victory octane. I went to a Harley dealer and nothing was appealing to me. They do not make anything close to the victory octane. I would never own an Indian .

If you think Victory parts aren’t going to be a problem, you’re in for a bad day, someday. I’m already mildly irritated by it.