1999-victory-v92c_1

Aiming directly for the Harley-Davidson big twin, Polaris stepped into the market previewing their first motorcycle in 1997; the Victory V92C.  Long in the power sports business, Polaris’s V92C had the largest engine then available in a production motorcycle.

Before the Depression in America, back in the 1930’s, over time there had been about 250 motorcycle assemblers and manufacturers. With Excelsior closing its doors in 1931, Indian and Harley were about all that was left until Buell came along in 1983. Indian went out of business in 1953 leaving Harley-Davidson, who had built bikes since 1903 or so with no domestic competition…until Polaris decided to make a motorcycle.

Based in Minnesota, and manufacturing in Spirit Lake, Iowa, Polaris was founded in the mid-1950’s as a snow machine company. After becoming very successful Polaris ventured into ATV, “all terrain vehicle”, production in 1985, 15 years after Honda launched and popularized the sport ATV. Today Polaris has a total revenue of nearly $5,000,000,000. A strong dealer network along with substantial engineering and manufacturing capacity made them able to develop, produce and succeed quickly in a market strongly held by Harley-Davidson.

In less than 15 years Victory developed a wide range of touring and cruiser motorcycles; Vegas, Gunner, Kingpin, Hammer, and Vision were interesting machines, and the great Arlen Ness had a hand in developing some later Victory motorcycles.

In 2011 Polaris acquired rights to the Indian trademark helping them into a more traditional luxury market sometimes sold alongside Victorys world-wide. But with new focus on their Indian trademark, Polaris abandoned the Victory line in January 2017 citing difficulty in establishing market share and limited profitability. After numerous entities attempted and failed to make Indian “work,” Polaris seems to have succeeded. Even their production racing dirt track machine, the FTR750 is a world beater and seems to have brought a resurgence to American flat track racing.

As testimony to the early Victory’s durability, Tim Werner rode this bike 200,000 before donating it to the National Motorcycle Museum. It’s one of dozens of American V-Twins produced over the past 110-plus years you can take in when you visit the Museum.

Specifications:

    • Engine: SOHC Air/Oil-Cooled
    • Type: 50 Degree V-Twin, 4 Valves / Cylinder
    • Displacement: 92 Cubic Inches / 1507 cc
    • Bore & Stroke: 97mm x 102mm
    • Compression ratio: 9.2 : 1
    • Induction: 44mm Fuel Injectors
    • Transmission: 5-Speed
    • Clutch: Wet, Multi-plate
    • Final Drive: Belt
    • Electrics: 12 Volt / Electronic Ignition
    • Frame: Tubular Steel
    • Suspension: Telescopic Fork / Single Shock Swingarm
    • Brakes: Disk, Front & Rear
    • Wheelbase: 63.5″
    • Wheels/Tires: 130/90-16 / 160/80-16″
    • Weight: 692 Pounds
33 replies
  1. John Lytle
    John Lytle says:

    I bought a Victory Vegas at BJ’s Good Times Motorcycles in Hays, Kansas, home of the Fort Hays State Tigers, my alma matre. My Vegas is the Rusty Wallace edition. Hope to ride today. Get in the wind.

    Reply
  2. Eric hollister
    Eric hollister says:

    Had an 03 v92 c nice bike if you don’t go too fast if you hit irregularities in road it wanted to turn into tank slaper ( deathwabbel) tried everything while under warranty to fix it.they discontinued this model which speaks volumes on this problem.you made no mention of cross toun or cross-country which fixed all handling problems and in my opinion is the best bike in this class STILL! If you don’t believe me just try and buy one of these.In my opinion that most owners are hanging on to these bikes

    Reply
    • Moises Rubio hidalgo
      Moises Rubio hidalgo says:

      Don’t fix it swap the motor for a 03 –05 king pin is almost a direct bolt just change the fly wheel so that the ECM can read the timing

      Reply
    • Alan Desjardins
      Alan Desjardins says:

      I rebuild these transmissions if you want to ship me your engine..it’s a common problem with these old bikes and I would recommend not running it anymore because it will eventually make the trans a lot worse

      Reply
  3. Fred Johansen
    Fred Johansen says:

    I just can’t handle the hype of the new stuff claiming to be ‘merican. If you really desire the true American V-Twinn power, then do your self a favor, and get a vintage Indian Chief. They are cheaper than the plastic wanna be bikes, and have better support.
    I’m just tired of modern crap posing as real vintage steel.

    Reply
    • Steve
      Steve says:

      1 have #909 victory V92C. Was lucky it Gave me 17 good years. Met a lot of victory own ers that didn’t. 4th gear is going. Has mystery miss at times that the dealer couldn’t fix. So now I have a very well taken care of pos. No parts no fix. Now that Polaris discontinued making victory. My bike is worthless. A 1999 harley davidson is worth 5-6 grand. If Indians don’t sell. I can see Polaris discontinuing that too. Will never buy a Polaris product again. Should have purchased a road king.

      Reply
  4. Brian Woodcock
    Brian Woodcock says:

    Loving my 2016 Victory Vegas! Rides and sounds beautiful, 1731cc. I will need to plan a trip to Iowa. Looking for some authentic Victory apparel if anyone can direct me to a online store.

    Reply
  5. Steve s
    Steve s says:

    1 have #909 victory V92C. Was lucky it Gave me 17 good years. Met a lot of victory own ers that didn’t. 4th gear is going. Has mystery miss at times that the dealer couldn’t fix. So now I have a very well taken care of pos. No parts no fix. Now that Polaris discontinued making victory. My bike is worthless. A 1999 harley davidson is worth 5-6 grand. If Indians don’t sell. I can see Polaris discontinuing that too. Will never buy a Polaris product again. Should have purchased a road king.

    Reply
  6. Rick G
    Rick G says:

    I first owned a 2000 v92c sport cruiser that was my first Victory them I bought a new 2007 Kingpin which I still have today .Other than oil changed and brakes and tires the only other thing I’ve done to it Is I’ve replaced the battery twice in almost 16 years owning it.If it happens to blowup tomorrow I couldn’t complain because it has been a great ride mechanically and body

    Reply
  7. Rooster
    Rooster says:

    I have a 2012 cross country with 101000 miles still running like new I sold my 2001 victory and the boy that bought it as a hundred and thirty-eight thousand miles on it now

    Reply
  8. John Miller
    John Miller says:

    Just putting two Victories up for sale. My bro in law passed with COVID and left two beauties. 2015 touring and 1999 V92. Interested parties in Southeast PA contact email above

    Reply
  9. Eric Wilson
    Eric Wilson says:

    I just bought a 2008 Victory Vegas I am a first time rider at 60 years old.its just right for me I will keep the wind and the feeling of freedom as long as I can love my Victory

    Reply
  10. Jeffrey
    Jeffrey says:

    I own a 2003 victory v92 with almost 40000 miles si far have only replaced the front fork seals love the bike cruises straight down the road no hands on the bars never wobbled runs awesome

    Reply
  11. Dale Wyatt
    Dale Wyatt says:

    I just recently acquired my 1st Victory a 2004 kingpin had to replace a fuel pump and a speed sensor at a cost of about 160 bucks, I love this bike enough power to cruise with anyone else and as nimble as a cat

    Reply
  12. Oscar
    Oscar says:

    Ove had my 2000 v92 for 5 years beat the poss out of it dayley ots tougher than nails no end I’m sight standout 25 thousand miles don’t care of it blows up tomorrow its been fun

    Reply
  13. Moises Rubio hidalgo
    Moises Rubio hidalgo says:

    Don’t fix it swap the motor for a 03 –05 king pin is almost a direct bolt just change the fly wheel so that the ECM can read the timing

    Reply
  14. .John
    .John says:

    I have mixed feelings toward Polaris. One one hand, they stood up to HD and gave us some of the greatest bikes ever made. On the other hand, they pulled the rug out from under everyone without so much as a warning. I truly love my Kingpin and my absolute favorite is the Magnum X-1 … but I’ll probably never buy one due to dealer support issues and very little aftermarket. It just makes me sad.

    Reply
  15. Larry
    Larry says:

    For my retirement gift to myself, I bought a brand new red Victory Cross County Motorcycle after finding the local Harley Davidson dealers just impossible to deal with, they did me the best favor because my Victory Motorcycle has been a real pleasure riding, while many of my Harley riders with fairly new motorcycles seemly almost always had something wrong broken and couldn’t ride without breaking the bank for repairs, yes Polaris has ceased but Victory Motorcycles are reliable without the Harley problems.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *