2012 Victory Cross Country

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 VICTORY CROSS COUNTRY. WHEN THE VEHICLE TURNED RIGHT, AN ABNORMAL NOISE WAS HEARD FROM THE LOWER PART OF THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE RETAINING CLIP WAS FRACTURED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 37,000.

WHEN PULLING IN THE CLUTCH TO SHIFT THE CABLE SNAPPED RIGHT AT THE CLUTCH ARM GOING INTO THE TRANSMISSION THIS HAPPEN AS I WAS COMING OUT OF A ROTARY STARTING TO SHIFT UP ON A SECONDARY RD. WHEN I STARTED LOOKING INTO THIS PROBLEM IT SEEMS TO BE A VERY COMMON PROBLEM. I FEEL THAT THIS COULD BE A SERIOUS ISSUE IF YOU HAD TO MAKE AN EMERGENCY STOP AND IT SNAPPED THEN OR IF IT SNAPPED AS YOU WERE STARTING TO TAKE OFF IN HEAVY TRAFFIC AND THE BIKE STALLED YOU COULD EASILY GET REARENDED. THIS PROBLEM IS SO COMMON SEVERAL COMPANIES ARE MAKING ROADSIDE REPAIR KITS FOR THESE BIKE.

THE RIGHT-SIDE SADDLEBAG LATCH IS MISALIGNED TO THE LATCH BRACKET. THIS MISALIGNMENT CAUSES THE BRACKET TO RUB THE LATCH TO WHERE THE LATCH EVENTUALLY BREAKS. SHOULD THE LATCH BREAK, THE SADDLEBAG LID WILL BE LOOSE AND CAN CAUSE INSTABILITY WHILE RIDING AND POTENTIALLY DANGER TO VEHICLES BEHIND SHOULD ANYTHING BE SUCKED OUT OF THE SADDLEBAG. THIS IS A WIDELY KNOWN ISSUE AFFECTING ALL "CROSS" BIKES FROM POLARIS/VICTORY. AT THIS POINT ALL INSPECTED CROSS BIKES ARE SHOWING SIGNS OF THIS WEAR AND MY LOCAL DEALERSHIP IS CREATING A DATABASE OF ALL LOCAL OWNERS. YOU CAN FIND MANY REFERENCES ON MANY VICTORY FORUMS, SUCH AS THIS ONE: HTTP://WWW.VICTORYFORUMS.COM/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=104498 AS OF THIS POINT POLARIS/VICTORY HAS NOT CREATED A RECALL FOR THIS. I DO HAVE AN OPEN CASE WITH THEM THOUGH, CASE # [XXX]. I'M HOPING THE DOT RECOGNIZES THIS POTENTIAL DANGER TO VICTORY CROSS RIDERS/PASSENGERS AND TO VEHICLES FOLLOWING BEHIND, AND SUPPORTS US IN ADVISING POLARIS/VICTORY TO SUBMIT A RECALL. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

VICTORY MOTORCYCLES HAVE A DEFECTIVE LATCH ON THEIR RIGHT ?SADDLEBAGS? THAT RENDERS THE RIGHT STORAGE COMPARTMENT USELESS. THE FAULTY LOCKING MECHANISM HAS APPEARED SINCE 2010 ON SEVERAL VICTORY MODELS. MY RIGHT BAG WILL POP OPEN FROM TIME TO TIME. IT ALSO HAPPENS WHEN THE LID POPS OPEN AT VERY HIGH SPEEDS WHEN LEANED OVER IN GUSTY CONDITIONS. APPARENTLY THE LOCKING MECHANISM IS FAULTY AND CAUSING MY RIGHT SADDLEBAG LID TO FLY OPEN ON THE ROAD, POSING A HAZARD TO ME, THE RIDER, AND OTHER DRIVERS. WHEN IT ?THE SADDLEBAG? POPS OPEN THERE IS A SENSATION OF REAR STEER. *DT

I WAS RIDING ON AN INTERSTATE HIGHWAY AT ABOUT 60-65 MPH AND PULLED IN THE CLUTCH, TO DOWNSHIFT FROM 6TH TO 5TH GEAR. IN MID-SHIFT LIKE THIS, I THEN DECIDED THAT MAYBE TRAFFIC WASN'T SLOWING THAT MUCH, AFTER ALL, AND WAS JUST ABOUT TO RELEASE THE CLUTCH AND CONTINUE TO RIDE IN 6TH GEAR. IN THAT SECOND OR TWO, THE ENGINE STALLED, PRESUMABLY BECAUSE MY LONGER THAN USUAL PAUSE IN THE SHIFT PROCESS HAD ALLOWED THE ENGINE RPMS TO DROP DOWN TO APPROXIMATELY IDLE SPEED (ABOUT 1,000RPM). WITH THE CLUTCH STILL PULLED IN, I HIT THE STARTER BUTTON; THE ENGINE FIRED UP AGAIN, AND I RELEASED THE CLUTCH. HAD THIS STALL OCCURRED IN A SIMILAR SITUATION WHILE I WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LEANED OVER IN A CURVE -- JUST WHEN A MOTORCYCLE NEEDS TO BE CONSTANTLY PULLED FORWARD, UNDER POWER, RATHER THAN RELY ON STRAIGHT-LINE INERTIA -- I WOULD LIKELY HAVE CRASHED. IN MY OPINION, THE FUEL-INJECTION SYSTEM -- HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE -- OF THE VICTORY 106 ENGINE DOES NOT PROPERLY MANAGE THE ENGINE, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE ENGINE RPMS ARE ALLOWED TO DROP TO OR NEAR IDLE. WHEN THE THROTTLE POSITION IS ABRUPTLY CHANGED -- EITHER FOR MORE OR FEWER RPMS -- THE CONTROL UNIT, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE SOFTWARE AND POSSIBLY OTHER HARDWARE, DOES NOT ADEQUATELY KEEP PACE WITH AND PROPERLY ADDRESS ENGINE FUEL-MIXTURE REQUIREMENTS. SUCH STALLING HAS OCCURRED AT OTHER TIMES, BUT THE SITUATION DESCRIBED HERE WAS THE FIRST AND CLEAREST EXAMPLE. *TR

THERE IS A MISALIGNMENT BETWEEN THE RIGHT SIDE SADDLEBAG LATCH MECHANISM AND THE HOOP THAT IT CAPTURES WHEN THE LID IS CLOSED. THERE IS NO ADJUSTABILITY BUILT INTO THE DESIGN SO THIS A MANUFACTURING DEFECT. THE RESULTING PROBLEM IS THAT THE SOFTER METAL OF THE LATCH MECHANISM IS WORN AWAY BY THE HARDER METAL OF THE HOOP, EVENTUALLY RESULTING IN FAILURE OF THE LATCH. THIS WILL RESULT IN THE LID BLOWING OPEN AND THE CONTENTS OF THE SADDLE BAG BEING BLOWN OUT ONTO THE ROADWAY, POTENTIALLY CAUSING AN ACCIDENT AS FOLLOWING MOTORISTS WERE EITHER STRUCK BY THE CONTENTS OR SWERVED TO AVOID THEM. THIS ISSUE IS SHARED TO VARYING DEGREES BY A MAJORITY OF OWNERS OF THIS MODEL, SPANNING ALL 5 YEARS THAT IT HAS BEEN IN PRODUCTION. *TR