Ride for the Red
Cara and I recently rode the new Vision in the “Ride for the Red” outing held by the Red Cross.
What a great day for a ride!
Tons of motorcycles, great people everywhere and a beautiful trip through Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
We even found this picture on the WONE website (we’re famous!!)
My new Bike
That’s right… out with the old and in with the new!!
I traded my ‘03 Vulcan 1600 Classic on a brand new ‘09 Victory Vision. I put almost 2000 miles on it in less than a month and will be posting my ongoing thoughts on this bike.
I can hear you asking yourself… why am I not jumping up and down about this bike? Well… I am… at times.
I love how this bike looks and feels. Its a HUGE motorcycle and I fit into it. No other bike rides like this Vision. You have to ride one.
This Vision just ‘pulls’ you. It has so much power it is crazy. It would be scary if it didn’t handle so well. It is the smoothest riding bike out there. (with the exception of the Gold Wing…who knows) – No vibration, no harsh impact from bumps and it takes corners like nothing else in it’s class.
I love my Vision!
BUT… there is another part to this…
The guys over at Victory decided to satisfy EPA regulations by adding ‘closed loop injection’ with no way to modify the way it performs. Even authorized service professionals cannot change this.
This makes louder pipes almost an impossibility without a bunch of backfiring and missing. The dealer’s hands are tied, Victory refuses to address this serious issue and the only way around it… is to possibly void your warranty using third party add-ons.
The dealer I bought this from has gone all out to assist me with this and I think we may have gotten all the issues addressed. (time will tell)
I will continue to post our progress.
Update:
I think the kinks are finally out. I have gone about 250 miles on the bike with 2 real backfires. The adjustments to the fuel tuner have increased the performance quite a bit.
I removed the trunk to see how much the overall look changes… you can really hear the pipes now.
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Oil everywhere…
It’s like 40 degrees today and I am contemplating a quick ride. So… I head out to the garage to start my bike and crank…crank…crank… POW!
Oil is everywhere. WTF?
It looks like someone shot my bike and it’s bleeding out on the garage floor. Along with the huge puddle under the bike, there’s oil sprayed all over my tractor… the wall… it’s everywhere damn it!
What a mess… there’s a big puddle of oil under those rags
Upon closer investigation.. it now appears that the cause of the problem was the oil filter. You should have seen it.. it looked like it was tightened down by a machine… some sort of robot with the vice-like grip.
This filter is whipped.. you should have seen the gasket :-)
The person who helped me change the oil.. (let’s call him “Fred”) gave this oil filter a real twist… I mean it was crushed!!
The cold must have been the last deciding factor for this whipped filter and gasket… and you know the rest of the story.
POW!
Oh well… it was time to change the oil anyway :-)
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2008 Motorcycle Recap
Happy New Year everyone!!
Well.. it’s freezing here in Ohio and I can’t wait to get some nice weather!! My bike is begging to go for a ride!
It seems like everyone I know got a new bike last year. Jarrod, Chris Robert, Eric, Kirk and of course.. yours truly :-)
Here is a recap:
My Bike
2003 Vulcan 1600 Classic. I wanted this particular year because it was the only year this color was offered. (the silver turns purple in the sun) The Vulcan was one of the only big bikes I fit on. Bought it in February from Harding’s Park Cycle.
Here is the “before” picture (the bike as I bought it) – Below are my “after” pictures (I dressed this bike as a birthday present to myself ;-)
Changes included: Cobra pipes, Cobra fuel processor, Hypercharger, Mustang seats, Mustang tank bib, ISO grips with stiletto ends, custom leather bags, chrome shifter and brake covers, highway pegs and Lizard Lights. (this bike sounds great – very loud)
Added a little more leather and chrome.
Jarrod’s Bike
Jarrod bought this killer V-Rod with a great custom paint job. This bike is so fast… it’s scary. After years riding the Fonzie bike… this guy was due ;-)
Chris Robert
Chris picked up this awesome custom on eBay. I have yet to see this bike but I hear it’s really fast. It has an 127 cubic inch engine with an open primary (watch out for those pant legs ;-)
Wow… this is a great bike. Have you ever taken it on any sweet jumps? lol
Eric
Eric bought this 105th Anniversary Harley in late summer. The copper and black is a beautiful combination. Once he replaced the stock pipes, you could really hear this bike roar. It sounds as good as it looks!
Riding Buddy
New for 2009.. he’s slim… he’s sexy… he’s just 4 foot tall and always ready to ride your motorcycle… he’s the "Riding Buddy" - Look at him go!
As seen in ‘RockStar’ magazine…. lol
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