By Michael Dapper
VRA Page Webmaster It’s a great time to be a Victory rider. Consider:
– The absolute hottest attraction in Daytona during Bike Week was the Victory Vision. Riders of all brands made the trek to the two Victory displays specifically to see the all-new luxury tourer. The styling is subjective – remember that the Victory team knew the styling would be polarizing, appealing to some while turning others off – but nobody who sat on the bikes could deny: The low seat height makes the stretch to the ground easier than ever, and the bike’s balance and low center of gravity make it a cinch to lift off the sidestand and handle while stopped and at low speeds. The Victory Visions’ appeal to riders of other brands was stunning. You know how brand-loyal riders are, yet an absolutely overwhelming majority of riders of
all other brands couldn’t wait for a demo ride on the new bike.
– By riding a Victory, you’re part of the Polaris family (Victory is the motorcycle division of Polaris Industries Inc.), and a Polaris RANGER just won the first-ever UTV class in a SCORE International off-road race. Matt Parks, a Polaris regional sales manager who was the original general manager of the Victory division, co-drove a RANGER to first place in the UTV division of the SCORE Baja 250 in Mexico on March 10. He also plans to run the Baja 500 this summer. Congrats, Matt.
– Polaris snocross racers are poised to win season points titles in all four premier classes in WPSA snocross racing, the snowbelt’s top national circuit. The final race weekend is March 16-18, so by Monday morning, Polaris could have four more titles to add to its industry-leading dominance in snowmobile racing history.
– Roseau, Minnesota, is the hometown of Polaris and is home to a large Polaris engineering and production facility. Just 10 miles or so from the Canadian border, Roseau is also home to long, cold winters and to Minnesota’s proudest high school hockey program. The Roseau Rams have the smallest enrollment in the state’s big-school class – there are Twin Cities high schools with enrollments larger than the population of Roseau – yet they won the state high school Class AA hockey championship last weekend. That makes seven state titles for the tiny hockey hotbed, tying Roseau with International Falls for the all-time lead in titles. (For you detail freaks, Edina’s titles include some from their split schools.) Congrats to the Rams.
www.roseauramshockey.com – Plus, the biggest attraction outside of Daytona during Bike Week wasn’t named “Destination,” it was the Orlando Speed World Dragway. That’s where Victory riders tore up the strip with some hot runs on Wednesday night of Bike Week. Great show, great time and impressive performance from all the Victory riders who ran. The night’s racing seemed to have settled, well, nothing! No, there’s still lots of jawing back and forth about which region produces the world’s fastest Victorys (Ed. note: It’s the Upper Midwest.), so there is talk of another drag night during Biketoberfest. Let the trash talk begin – er, continue.
VICTORY RIDERS OF THE DAY: HARVEY & JUDY The Victory Riders featured in the photo above are Harvey and Judy Moubray of Charlottesville, Virginia. They ride a 2005 Kingpin and get their accessories and have their maintenance done at Victory of South Maryland.
Harvey and Judy enjoyed a few days in the Daytona area during Bike Week and stopped by the Victory display on Main Street to check out the comfortable seating of the Victory Vision Tour.
They look good on the bike. Might have to add it to their Victory fleet.