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Polaris Industries is starting the year off with some surprising news, announcing that it will cease operation of Victory Motorcycles and other related business operations to the brand.

Scott Wine, Polaris Industries Chairman and CEO, explained the decision as coming down to basic business factors, with Victory not showing the growth and volume in order to sustain its continued existence.

Polaris in its press release also cites the changing landscape of the motorcycle landscape, and that the resources and investments required to make Victory competitive going forward were too hard to justify for the troubled brand.

Instead, Polaris will focus solely on its Indian and Slingshot brands, for the motorcycle space.

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Considering how much growth they are achieving, how many brands they are acquiring, and how many new bikes they are developing, it really is a shame that we don’t talk about Polaris here more often. The American OEM is one of the true movers-and-shakers of the motorcycle industry right now.

It probably has something to do with the fact that Polaris’ two sub-brands, Indian and Victory, produce machines that are outside our usual fare at Asphalt & Rubber. That is a polite way of saying, they make cruisers, and we don’t really like those sort of motorcycles here.

There is nothing wrong with someone riding a cruiser, of course. In fact, roughly one of every two new motorcycles sold in the United States comes from our friends at Harley-Davidson. American motorcycling really looks more like a Harley-Davidson cult than we may think here in our sport-bike focused echo chamber.

In the pursuit to see how the other half lives, I have been riding around on a Victory Octane for the past few weeks, as part of an ongoing discussion with the folks at Victory about their products, and how sport bike riders perceive them.

My initial thoughts on the Octane, and Victory as a whole, lead me to some interesting notes about the bigger picture at Polaris, and how the American OEM can set itself as one of the top global brands in the motorcycle industry. Like with Rommel in the desert, it involves a two-pronged attack.

In addition to the recall for its brake pressure switch, two more recalls have been filed by Polaris for its Slingshot three-wheeler. While both additional recalls affect nearly the 18,000 units that have been made in the lifetime of the Polaris Slingshot, they differ in cause.

The first recall is for the Polaris Slingshot’s rear swingarm, which filings say may not have adequate strength for its application. Polaris dealers will inspect the swingarm, and if necessary, repair/replace the swingarm free of charge. Polaris’ number for this recall is T-16-06.

The second recall is for the hood on the Polaris Slingshot, which may not have enough clearance with a fuel line. Polaris dealers will inspect the fuel line’s retention clips, in order to reduce the risk of interference. Polaris’ number for this recall is T-16-03.

Polaris Slingshot owners should take note of this latest recall, as it affects 6,860 Slingshot motorcycles that were manufactured between December 28, 2015, and April 27, 2016.

According to the documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the brake pressure switch on the affected units may have been over tightened, which may have damaged the seal.

If the brake pressure switch is damaged, it may allow brake fluid to leak, which would result in reduced braking performance. Since this can increase the likelihood of a crash, the recall was issued.

If you believe the rumors coming out of Italy, Polaris is poised to save acquire ailing motorcycle manufacturer MV Agusta.

We have documented MV Agusta’s precarious financial troubles already in great detail, and how MV Agusta CEO Giovanni Castiglioni is between a rock and a hard place with his main investor, Mercedes-AMG.

According to the Italian media, and those who repeat their words like parrots, Polaris represents an escape from MV Agusta’s difficult position with the German automobile-maker, though the reality is that nothing could be farther from the truth.

I was surprised when I discovered that we haven’t spoken about Timbersled before now, and the company’s line of snow bike conversion kits. It’s a concept that’s been intriguing me for some time now.

That intrigue started when the Idaho-based company was acquired by Polaris last year – adding to the juggernaut that Scott Wine is creating in Medina, Minnesota – which is where I first saw Timbersled’s interesting take on motorized winter fun.

For those who don’t know, Timbersled’s concept is a pretty simple one: it allows dirt bike owners a fairly straight forward kit that enables them to create a snow bike for winter riding.

If you’ve been debating whether or not to get a Polaris Slingshot, your indecision may have just cost you $1,200. Just posted to the company’s website, Polaris has raised the MSRP on both its Slingshot models by $1,200.

The price hike is a simple matter of supply and demand, as Slingshot dealers cannot keep the three-wheeled not-a-car fun machine stocked on their showroom floors. With many dealers sold out, and Polaris capped on how many units it can produce a year, the only economic choice then was to raise the prices.

This price increase is already effective, as of the beginning of this week, and any further Slingshot orders this year will come at the more expensive. As such, the base model Slingshot is $21,199 and the Slingshot SL is $25,199.

All the way back in February, I got an email from a loyal A&R reader, Tone, who had just put a down payment on the Polaris Slingshot. He had just sold his Honda RC-51 to make room in the garage for his new three-wheeled toy…to put it shortly, he was excited for his soon-to-arrive “motorcycle”.

I love meeting enthusiastic readers because they remind me why I started Asphalt & Rubber in the first place: for the love of motorcycles.

But, I have to admit…I didn’t quite get the fuss about the new Slingshot — and to sell an RC-51 (a bike I wouldn’t having in mind two-wheeled collection) for one? That seemed sort of blasphemous — may the Gods of Motorcycling forgive this transgression.

Tone’s enthusiasm and offer to give me a ride in his scoot, once it arrived, won me over in the end though. After all, if you’re not having a good time in a motorcycle, even a three-wheeled one, you’re probably doing it wrong. Right?

Fast-forward several months, once Polaris finished up its wheel bearing recall, and Tone was meeting me in Portland for a quick after-work joyride. For the tl;dr crowd, I take back every word of doubt about the Slingshot I’ve ever uttered in public and in private.

Our Bothans had been hinting at a secret entry in the TT Zero event at the 2015 Isle of Man TT, and it seems that entry could be Brammo.

The tip-off comes courtesy of renowned road racer Lee Johnston, who tweeted that the weather in California was just fine…while sitting next to the Brammo track trailer, and with a Brammo Empulse RR beside him (pictured above).

There is really only one reason why “General Lee” would be testing the American outfit’s electric race bike, and that’s if the now R&D company wanted to go head-to-head with Mugen, Saroléa, et al.

Trademark applications with the USPTO show that Polaris has registered “Victory Charger” as a mark to be used with “electric motorcycles and structural parts therefor.”

The application is a strong hint that we could see an electric cruiser from the Victory brand, which is owned by Polaris, in the coming future.

The news is especially timely, as Polaris just acquired Brammo’s electric motorcycle business, and plans on building electric motorcycles at the company’s facilities in Spirit Lake, IA.

As if there wasn’t already enough fuel for the fire, on a product roadmap for investors, Brammo listed an “eCruiser” as a possible future model — a model that could easily be repurposed for the progressive Victory cruiser brand.