I think Victory’s biggest problem was that they came out with an early 2000's styled factory custom bike, which was really cool in the early aughts, but did not age well at all. They banked a lot on that platform and styling which very quickly became outdated while the market split between modern retro, and…

At WOT sure. At 70 mph, no. On the highway (where baggers usually are),both bikes are below their torque peak at which point they perform very similarly. For passing, you won’t know the difference. 

6'0", so not freakishly tall. I fit well enough on the ‘Wing, but trying to slide my feet forward resulting in toes hitting body work, and rearward would have been a little too sportbike for my tastes. I felt very locked into a single position with no option of adjustment. If that particular position is good for you I…

A %20 difference in power is absolutely going to be noticeable, especially considering the fact that the Indian is slightly lighter.

I’ll clarify first by saying that I haven’t seen any official statements but the differences lead me to believe that this is a new frame and not a modified Scout frame. The Challenger has a bigger motor, uses a mono shock compared to the Scouts dual shock, and has a roughly 4" longer wheelbase. I would suspect that…

Honestly I wasn’t impressed with the new ‘Wing. It was incredibly smooth and confident out on the road, and handles better than the Indian/Harley/Yamaha baggers, but it was really cramped and the ergo’s locked you into one position and one position only. Despite the weight, power, and handling disadvantages, I’d much…

The engine is based of of Scout architecture, but this is an all new chassis.

Except better in every way.

Couple of thoughts on this.

Except for the one you posted which is a Yamaha.

I’ve never driven an ATV or SxS where I thought the CVT was a better option than a set of gears. Driving with the throttle feel of a rubber band ruins so much of the fun and experience. Sure CVTs may function well enough in a SxS, but gears would make it so much better IMO. Thankfully Yamaha makes the YXZ with a…

CVT’s in side-by-sides are also garbage. CVT’s belong in snowmobiles, and nothing else. 

Oh yeah, the FTR enginge is perfectly suited to the FTR, and it’s an awesome engine. I thought you were implying to put the FTR motor into the new big cruiser simply because it makes more power. I see what you were after now.

Well this just moved to the top of the list of potential next bikes. I was already interested in Indian’s current offerings, but this is icing on the cake.

On a big heavy bagger the fewer torques will absolutely equal lesser performance. I’ve ridden the FTR, it’s scary fast, but it’s an absolute dog under 5,000 rpm. Not the kind of power deliver you want in a big cruiser.  

I move mine between the car and truck often enough for it to be a little annoying, but nowhere near enough to consider it a factor in a vehicle purchase. What I really want to know is if they put LATCH anchors in the middle seat. For some stupid reason Ford only puts them on the outside two seats which is a far worse…

I think you’re missing my point in that the power delivery ie characteristics of and engine don’t change based on what kind of bike it is in. An inline acts like an inline, a v-twin acts like a v-twin, a thumper acts like a thumper etc etc. Overall performance of the bike is affected, but not the way the engine…

I could sit here and continue to provide counter points and examples of such, but I get the feeling that your mind is made up and you wouldn’t care to acknowledge them anyway. I’ll make a couple last and quick points.

10.5 isn’t all that low, but it’s not all that high either.

There is still a little shake to these new bikes, but nothing compared to the Sporsters. I had an 883 for a while and even with the rubber mounted motor it shook everything within a 100' radius loose.