BBB report. Test rides report.

[BigLenny]

Me and the honey got back late last night from spending a couple days at Bikes Blues and BBQ. Man, it was a packed house this year! The weather was perfect and it looked and felt like it was a record turn out. Thousands of bikes everywhere we went. We stayed 50 miles away and the hotels were crawling with bikes. Saw some crazy cool sites, as well as a ton of folks that shouldn't have been wearing what they were wearing. LOL. Beautiful/interesting rides everywhere. Immediately when we got to the rally I ran into a guy with a really clean 2009 red/black Venture with 29000 miles that he said was for sale. He said he'd take $6500.00. why in the universe I didn't write him a check right then and there I do not know. They say there is 400K bikers at this event. Usually I would adjust that figure to 100K, but this year it felt like there were a ton of folks there. It was crazy! We did see a double handful of Ventures during our time there, and a few RSTD's. Probably some folks on this site as well.

 

Test Rides:

The corporate trucks were there giving folks the opportunity to test ride their bikes. So, my wife and I did partake. We rode the Victory Vision, Victory Cross Country Tour, Harley Ultra Glide Limited water cooled, and the Indian Chieftain Roadmaster, the new 2015 model that is a full dresser. I had test ridden the Victorys and Harley before, but haven't ridden them two up with my wife. That changed things quite a bit.

 

We rode the two Victory's first and while we were both more impressed with the overall ride and smoothness of the Vision, we like the CCT more because of all the storage room it offers. Teresas comfort on back was similar on both. I noticed a marked difference between the fixed fairing on the Vision compared to the CCT. It's kinda funny hearing some of her observations that just instinctively pop out of her mouth. She said the Victory's and Harley's motors sounded like chitty chitty bang bang compared to the V4 of our RSTD. LOL.

 

We rode the the Harley next and right off the bat, the thing that most impressed us was how high tech the new redesigned bike is. The touchscreen infotainment center is awesome! The stereo is better than the others, and she reported the back seat was cushier than the Victorys. Everything was looking up for the Harley until we fired it up and it started the crazy shaking that its famous for at idle. She immediately asked me what was wrong with it, and made the statement that there is no way on earth she would want to own it. I was less dramatic than her, but, this time the vibrating at idle, even when I pulled the clutch while we were coming to a stop sign or light seemed to get on my nerves. The Victory's were so much smoother than the Harley that that is what we seemed to talk about the whole time we test rode it. I liked the power. It seemed more than the Victory's but not much if at all. I love the way Harley goes to market with all they have to offer, but both she and I kept shaking our head with amazement as we walked away from riding it. We both kinda wondered why anybody would want a bike that shakes like that. LOL. But, obviously a boat load of folks believe that shaking and rattling means something. Just not for us. Also, I am 6'6" and the bike felt so small from my seat to the dash that I felt like I was riding something too little for me. Victory will need to step up their game on the technology side of things to keep up with Harley's new stuff they put on their touring bikes.

 

Finally, after a long wait, we got to ride the Indian Roadmaster. WOW!! We both loved this bike! I kinda wonder if it would feel like a Victory with Indian badging. I was wrong. This bike was the smoothest and most powerful of the 4 we rode. No crazy shaking, just the right size, and really unique looking. The motor has a ton of torque! Even in 6th gear the thing was strong when I twisted the throttle. Hands down if we were going to buy a bike yesterday, it would've been the Roadmaster. I know, I know, the old discussion of dealer network and such that always comes up, but I'm talking strictly about the performance of the bikes. The only thing that made us go hmmm about the Indian is, for the kind of money they want for it, it should have the big touchscreen dash on it that the Harley has.

 

In closing, I wanna say this; I again had a very hard time liking the overall feel of the V Twins compared to my V4. I came away from the test rides without out a shadow of doubt in my mind that the power plant in my RSTD is superior to the two Victory's and the Harley's motors. The indian was on another level with the power and smoothness of it's engine. The personality of the V4's by being more revy than the thumpity thump of the V Twins is just better to me. I don't know, it's just me I guess.

 

Anyway, thats my 2 cents.

[BigLenny]

Oh, I thought of two there things that came from test rides:

 

1, All 4 of the bikes we rode are way better balanced than our RSTD.

 

2. Even though I feel that the V4 that is in my RSTD is superior to the Victory's and Harley's, and isn't that far off the Indians motor, I now wish wish wish we had a 6th gear.

[cowpuc]

WOW Len, sounds like you folks had a ball down there!! One of these years we are gonna make it!!! Congrats on a fun, safe journey and THANKS for the great write up,,, hate to sound like a whiny ol geezer but, pictures,, did you happen to take any pictures,,, some of us love pictures

Any idea what retail is on that new Dresser Indian?? I too have ridden em a few times (havent ridden the new Dresser though) and was very impressed with what Polaris did with that motor design - really sweet.. I honestly thought that if they would have come out with their pricing a couple thou below comparable bikes in the HD line they would have sold A LOT of bikes.. Even for the first couple years, just to get em out into the real world for testing..

Told one of the reps that at a demo we went to and he kinda laughed and said, "we arent trying to take away riders from HD" ...

[XV1100SE]

Nice write up on the comparison and your thoughts.

[Condor]

WOW Len, sounds like you folks had a ball down there!! One of these years we are gonna make it!!! Congrats on a fun, safe journey and THANKS for the great write up,,, hate to sound like a whiny ol geezer but, pictures,, did you happen to take any pictures,,, some of us love pictures

Any idea what retail is on that new Dresser Indian??...

 

I'm on the Indian email list and every time I look at that bagger I dream and stare. They're running a few specials on the 2014 right now to make room for the 2015's.

Here's the link . $27000 smackeroos... Wonder if they'd take a bunch of Ventures in trade...

[BigLenny]

WOW Len, sounds like you folks had a ball down there!! One of these years we are gonna make it!!! Congrats on a fun, safe journey and THANKS for the great write up,,, hate to sound like a whiny ol geezer but, pictures,, did you happen to take any pictures,,, some of us love pictures

Any idea what retail is on that new Dresser Indian?? I too have ridden em a few times (havent ridden the new Dresser though) and was very impressed with what Polaris did with that motor design - really sweet.. I honestly thought that if they would have come out with their pricing a couple thou below comparable bikes in the HD line they would have sold A LOT of bikes.. Even for the first couple years, just to get em out into the real world for testing..

Told one of the reps that at a demo we went to and he kinda laughed and said, "we arent trying to take away riders from HD" ...

 

Puc,

 

Yes, we had a blast. Believe it or not, I don't have pictures. I only took one photo and when I looked at it later it was a blurry mess. It was of the new Slingshot, which in the end looked like a 3 wheeled car. I would probably buy a slightly used Porsche before I would buy that thing. My wife did take a few photos, but they were of silly clothing that she wouldn't wear. LOL For some reason she was getting a kick outta that.

 

The Indian was certainly a sweet ride. It listed for $30K-ish. That's a strong number for a bike that doesn't have the tech stuff on it that the Harley has for the same price. On second thought, maybe Indian does offer some of that stuff, but it wasn't on any of the 4 Roadmaster's that they had there. Agree with you on the price suggestion, and I think the Indian rep you talked to gave the wrong answer. They are definitely competing with Harley whether he thinks so or not. And there success or failure will depend on whether they can convert some of those HD owners over to their party. Polaris is a large enough company to throw rebates out to bring the price down. Maybe we'll see that.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Five years ago, I rode to the BBBQ rally and here is my report:

 

[ame]http://youtu.be/qV1FbzBh51g[/ame]

 

[ame]

[/ame]

 

 

 

Edited September 30, 2014 by tx2sturgis

[Brake Pad]

I'm on the Indian email list and every time I look at that bagger I dream and stare. They're running a few specials on the 2014 right now to make room for the 2015's.

Here's the link . $27000 smackeroos... Wonder if they'd take a bunch of Ventures in trade...

 

Well the first thing I saw was the payment of $460 a month but they :mo money::mo money:only offer a three year buyout at 1.99% but most people won't even get that offer. They use that percentage to draw you and but the banks they use normally offer anywhere from 3.99 to 7% and $460 a month is hard to swallow.

[IronMike]

I have had one V twin, put 70K miles on my Roadstar Midnight silverado. I turned it into an Ultrastar and when I bought the Venture I switched it bad. It looks Badazz it sounds Badazz. But I am just a 4 cyl guy too. I am actually looking to buy a Concours, Yamaha is just pissing me off here lately. Especially if they make the Venture a V twin.

[Condor]

Well the first thing I saw was the payment of $460 a month but they only offer a three year buyout at 1.99% but most people won't even get that offer. They use that percentage to draw you and but the banks they use normally offer anywhere from 3.99 to 7% and $460 a month is hard to swallow.

 

The way I look at it is, if you can't buy it for cash you can't afford it.... I paid less for my house...

[BigLenny]

The way I look at it is, if you can't buy it for cash you can't afford it.... I paid less for my house...

 

I'm with ya on that one. I usually pay cash for my vehicles, unless they're offering me a 0% deal or something real close and it offsets my rate i'm getting.

 

I'm sure I'm different than a lotta folks on this site because I only ride my bike for recreation. I don't ride it to work because I have a company funded vehicle. Every bit of the 40K miles I have on my bike has been a day trip, weekend trip, or long vacation trip for me and my wife mostly. Occasionally I'll do a trip without her on back.

 

Because my bike isn't used as a primary tranportation vehicle or anything like that, I view it as a toy for me and my wife to enjoy. So, since it is a toy in our eyes, I have a hard time plunking down a boat load of money for something that is not getting used on a weekly basis, and certainly not used in the winter time very much. Spending $25k-$30K on a bike, while I can afford to do it, it kinda goes against my basic urge to keep fiscal balance in my life. Maybe I need to stop thinking like that and go ahead and throw caution to the wind and write the check for one of those high dollar Indians. LOL.

 

I remember when I was looking to buy my bike, I was looking at a choice of the Yamaha RSTD or the Harley Road King. Both bikes were windshield bikes. Both were locking hard bag bikes. Both had cruise control. Both had removable passenger backrests. But, and this was a big but, the very lowest negotiated price I could buy them brand new was $10.840.00 for the RSTD, and a whopping $18,970.00 for the Road King. I'm sorry, but it just didn't make sense in my mind to pay $8000.00 more for the Harley, especially when the Yammy was coming with a water cooled V4 engine that had 5 years unlimited miles of warranty on it. So, I plunked the $10,800.00 down and never looked back because I just have this wierd thing inside me that can't really go crazy high priced for a toy.

 

I test ride all these nice high dollar rides like I did this weekend, but I just get kinda edgy when I think about the crazy prices they get for them.

 

But thats just me . I'm wierd like that.

[jakester]

Nice video report Brian. Enjoyed the bike video the best.

Bill

[cowpuc]

I'm with ya on that one. I usually pay cash for my vehicles, unless they're offering me a 0% deal or something real close and it offsets my rate i'm getting.

 

I'm sure I'm different than a lotta folks on this site because I only ride my bike for recreation. I don't ride it to work because I have a company funded vehicle. Every bit of the 40K miles I have on my bike has been a day trip, weekend trip, or long vacation trip for me and my wife mostly. Occasionally I'll do a trip without her on back.

 

Because my bike isn't used as a primary tranportation vehicle or anything like that, I view it as a toy for me and my wife to enjoy. So, since it is a toy in our eyes, I have a hard time plunking down a boat load of money for something that is not getting used on a weekly basis, and certainly not used in the winter time very much. Spending $25k-$30K on a bike, while I can afford to do it, it kinda goes against my basic urge to keep fiscal balance in my life. Maybe I need to stop thinking like that and go ahead and throw caution to the wind and write the check for one of those high dollar Indians. LOL.

 

I remember when I was looking to buy my bike, I was looking at a choice of the Yamaha RSTD or the Harley Road King. Both bikes were windshield bikes. Both were locking hard bag bikes. Both had cruise control. Both had removable passenger backrests. But, and this was a big but, the very lowest negotiated price I could buy them brand new was $10.840.00 for the RSTD, and a whopping $18,970.00 for the Road King. I'm sorry, but it just didn't make sense in my mind to pay $8000.00 more for the Harley, especially when the Yammy was coming with a water cooled V4 engine that had 5 years unlimited miles of warranty on it. So, I plunked the $10,800.00 down and never looked back because I just have this wierd thing inside me that can't really go crazy high priced for a toy.

 

I test ride all these nice high dollar rides like I did this weekend, but I just get kinda edgy when I think about the crazy prices they get for them.

 

But thats just me . I'm wierd like that.

 

 

So,, years ago my second born daughter (the one who sang this song with me =

) and I are camped on the rim of the Grand Canyon,, mostly 2 tracks to get there and a mile or so of single trackin.. The two of us sitting on the rim, tent all set up, feet hangin over the edge, beat up ol 84 Venture with a couple hundred thou on it,, rattley ol bike with no second gear that her and the other kids named "Beeg" - short for Big Girl..

Anyway,, sitting there watching the sunset and all of a sudden her eyes get big and she says "Dad, what if the bike breaks down out here?".. I said,, "listen carefully cause you are about to learn another valuable life lesson", her eyes rolled back in the usual little girl fashion that, in her way, signaled "not another one of your lectures".. I said "if I cant fix it we will just give it a decent burial, grab our clothes and stuff, catch a bus back home and buy another one :cool10:" ,, than I said, "that would be pretty hard to do if we owed 20 grand on it - think about that sweetheart":detective:!!

 

I am weird like that too Lenny!!

 

Sure do LOVE em all though and LOVE to sample em all!!!!

[cowpuc]

Five years ago, I rode to the BBBQ rally and here is my report:

 

http://youtu.be/qV1FbzBh51g

 

 

 

 

 

Yea Brian, THANKS for the great post!! Tell ya one thing my friend, done built me a fair amount of choppers in my day but NONE OF THEM produced the kinda ride you guys got out of the one you were riding!!!

NICE - really really NICE!

[y2krider]

Some friends and the wife and I were also at the rally this weekend. I second that it was a great event. The weather was perfect. I only did one test ride and it was on the Indian Roadmaster. I agree it is a nice piece of machinery. My previous bike was a 1500 intruder with plenty of torque but the Indian just has feels massive in this area. It did not seem to be as responsive as the RSV but that may just be perception from the lower rpm of the big v twin. It will definitely roll on with the 6 speed. On the test ride I got up to 90 mph and the engine sounded like it was out for an afternoon mosey. One feature I loved was the adjustable height windshield. Up and down buttons on the left handlebar allowed around 6-8" of travel so you can get the wind in your face when you want and hide from the rain when necessary. I haven't gotten to know many folks here yet but hope to get better aquainted. We plan to go back next year. Maybe some of us can meet up. The other two couples I frequently ride with also ride RSV's. They have visited VentureRider but haven't joined yet. I'm working on that part.