2005 Victory V92TC Touring Cruiser
|
 Within a year of selling my Nomad I started missing having a V-twin. Nothing against my Goldwing. It's a great bike and I'll have it forever. Sometimes it's just nice to hear the rumble and cruise on a simpler bike. In 2009 Kawasaki came out with a newer version of the Nomad. 1700cc, 6-speed transmission, shorter wheelbase, factory cruise, etc. For the most part I focused my attention on these models. I read the forums and was a little disappointed with what I heard. The new bikes put off a lot of heat. They have a lot of plastic parts, and they seem to have a lot of little issues that the owners are left to solve. I also wasn't thrilled with the color choices offered. They seemed rather bland. I like Harley-Davidson Road Glides and Heritage Softail Classics but I've never really considered buying one because they are expensive and have quite a bit of required maintenance. I've always thought the ultimate cruiser bike would be a Heritage Softail Classic with dual exhaust and hard bags. One night I couldn't sleep so I was reading my old trip reports. I was looking through some pictures I had taken of motorcycles at Deals Gap when MikeP and I had went there. One bike caught my eye. It had looks similar to a Heritage Softail Classic...it had dual exhaust...and it had hard bags. It was a Victory. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I've always thought Victory made nice bikes as far as electronics, drivetrains, handling, etc., but they're so odd looking. This bike looked normal. I did some research and found this bike was a V92TC or Touring Cruiser. The nice looking bike in the picture was a 2005 with the anniversary paint scheme. The Touring Cruisers were made from 2002-2006. They weren't that expensive used either and came in several nice paint colors. For several months I checked Craigslist, Ebay, Motorcyclezez, and other places to see what was available. Mostly just looking. Over the summer a few things happened. I turned 50. I paid off my house. I sold Donna's Burgman that she decided she didn't want to ride which gave me some room and extra money. I decided to start looking more seriously at buying one. I had decided the one I was looking for was a 2005 Anniversary model. It stood out to me as being the prettiest. I found three. The first one was in Long Island. It had the Stage 2 100 cu. in. upgrade...but it had a salvage title and it was a looooong way to drive. The second was relatively nearby in Terre Haute. However, it had a fairing on it. The guy said he would take off the fairing but it had gutted pipes and some paint scuffage. I passed. The third was in Ardmore, TN. It was a stock bike and he had the best price. We spoke on the phone and made plans for me to see the bike. On August 31, 2013, I made a trip down and came back as an owner of an American motorcycle.
My Goldwing's little brother. When I got home I gave the bike a thorough going over and removed some reflective tape from the rearend. If you have seen my Goldwing, Nomad, or Honda Shadow pages you know I tend to do a lot of upgrades and modifications. I don't plan to do much to this bike but there are some things I am thinking about: - Ape hangers. The stock bars are too much of a reach, and I love ape hangers. Done.
|
E-mail me