Cruised down to Arlen's last night and hung out with him for a while. I have met him a number of times, great guy and just really enjoys bikes. He was having a bike night at his headquarters. As I was talking with him we started talking about the Victory's and I mentioned that other than my Roadie it was probably the only other bike I would consider. He asked if I had ridden one, I said no. He goes "come with me", we walk inside, he grabs some keys and tosses them to me and points to one of his Victory Vegas out front and says "give it a try". So I have the King of Choppers asking me to ride one of his bikes. Let's see, hmmm, should I?
All I can say is that bike is superb, hell of a ride, smooth and really nimble. Pulls more linear than the Roadie but just as strong. Nice layout and very comfortable. It also absolutely convinced me that our tank is way too damn big at the rear (though I already thought so). I get back and he says you want to ride a Vision? I said thanks but it has too much crap on it, I like mine simple. He laughed and said "you really are old school aren't you?"

sweet.

I forgot this!

only part i ever bought with his name on it was a let down. rusted in a month. but i will say if i bought a 'new' out of the box bike, it would be a victory.

my friend is on his second in ~12 months, first one had 4 accidents, new one dropped in my driveway, 2 weeks old because he didnt have it on the stand properly.... but the new one, an 08 new out of the box sputters and pops just sitting idling. they say the intake manifold isnt sealing properly and the mass air flow sensor anti polution stuff doesnt work correctly if there is any intake leak (every mechanic knows this).
the dealer is telling him to warm it up before riding so the engine expands to close the gap and it wont pop so much, and that is just wrong.

Did he give you an AN T-shirt.

Doc

Doc, Arlen didn't get where he is by giving anything away! I did buy a couple things as they were on sale. He had some great deals on some bikes, just amazing. Also amazing is what he charges HD guys for some of his parts!

Hey Gardner: Don't know about your buddy but the one I rode was primo. Lit right off and drove without a hitch, only had 18 miles on it. Truly a nice bike and I don't say that very often.

Cool experience! BB