Revivalism

Revivalism

UP FRONT

MARK HOYER

OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS OF WORKING in the motorcycle industry, my eyes have gotten tired from rolling every time a storied brand was “revived” or some visionary in his basement decided to start building a motorcycle.

Some efforts have been impressive in how much they have accomplished with little funding. Erik Buell’s rise with Buell Motorcycles and Kenny Dreer’s efforts with Norton come to mind (Buell has even done it again with EBR).

Others, not so impressive. In the 1990s, Excelsior-Henderson built a lot of things (like a big factory) with the more than $100 million in funding it secured, but not many motorcycles. And the ones we had here at CW were not particularly good. Indian’s Gilroy revival also burned up a huge amount of money but, at least in the beginning, they were building bikes with off-the-shelf HarleyDavidson-style “clone” parts. That’s a very kitbike mentality, and the early bikes tended to ride like it. Stellican did a lot with the bones from the Gilroy effort and made real strides, but in terms of performance, refinement and overall utility those machines left us wanting. At least the Stellican-produced bike I rode in 2009 did. (I can’t comment on the Polaris-produced versions because our requests for testbikes have been denied since the Minnesota-based manufacturer purchased Indian.)

The two biggest success stories I’ve witnessed are the rebirth of Triumph, and the starting from scratch with Victory Motorcycles. Both brands are in full swing, with sales of bikes supporting their efforts to produce more of the same, and no lines of investors waiting for quick returns. They have succeeded by having long-term vision and dedication, by having a few bucks in the bank to cover the hiccups and by producing quality, saleable products that people want to buy.

Since we are talking cruisers, I will focus on Victory. Its engineering and design teams are superb, and I’ve seen its testing and development facilities. We are talking world-class infrastructure and people building world-class motorcycles. Yet the company still struggles after 15 years in business to sell as many units as an entire brand as Harley-Davidson does with many of its single models.

Yes, 15 years is great for a new motorcycle brand, but it is wicked difficult to compete with Harley-Davidson in its 110th year of continuous service. Your grandfather may have ridden a Victory, but it’s probably not long enough ago for you to think that’s cool.

No doubt Harley-Davidson has done an epic job of marketing its history, but forget for a moment about the sheer cultural momentum behind the brand and consider how refined and excellent the products are. Even if a traditional American-style motorcycle is not your thing, the CVO Road Glide featured on page 50 is an amazing object, visually and functionally. Road Test Editor Don Canet—in my opinion the world’s most accomplished motorcycle tester and hugely respected by the manufacturers for his track-riding abilities—took the day off today to ride the Road Glide around for pleasure.

Consider the two bikes below, both of which cost around $30K. The Harley is a CVO 110th Anniversary Road King in all its 110-inch glory. The Victory is a 15th Anniversary Cross Country Limited Edition, Antares Red over black with gold pinstriping, “inspired by the first Victory motorcycle ever built on the Fourth of July, 1998.” They are good-looking, highly functional, luxurytouring machines. Pull up on one, and everybody at the local bar or the grocery or church or even in a small village in the Swiss Alps knows what it is. Pull up on the other, and, well, most people outside of motorcycling, and even many of those in it, will have no idea what a Victory is. The company has made huge strides in identity and brand recognition, but it’s still a long road.

Which is precisely why Polaris bought Indian. There’s no rolling my eyes at this revival. And now there is an engine. I’ll eat my hat if that beautiful V-Twin ends up in anything but a Chief (and my hat is usually fiberglass, so not a small deal...). From all appearances, the job is getting done right.

Polaris has a lot of smart, talented people, and now, these folks have a brand with its own massive cultural weight and immediate acceptance. There is a lot of work yet to be done, but the American cruiser market is about to get a lot more interesting.