Mid-year of 2011, Polaris Industries advertised a change in their gearing ratios in the 6-speed transmission on their Victory motorcycle lineup. This change was permanent and carried on until Polaris ceased production of the Victory line of motorcycles in 2017. With this change, other parts were changed and resulted in what has been commonly reported as a "C-Clip failure" in the transmission. Various motorcycles of this era have been affected and is well documented/reported on several social media chat forums and groups. We own a 2012 Victory Vision Ness motorcycle and we were impacted by this failure in June 2023 and as a result, the repairs costed $3,855.55. The C-clip failure references the actual part in the transmission on the gearing shaft that when it fails, the broken piece allows the gear to 'walk' into the opposing gears, which can cause an immediate and sudden stoppage of the rear drive wheel and cause the motorcycle to go into an uncontrolled skid because 50% of the control of the motorcycle is essentially eliminated by the locked-up rear wheel. In our situation, the rear wheel did lock-up but we were very fortunate that the issue presented itself under very low speed and a collision did not occur. The motorcycle had to be towed to the nearest Polaris/Victory dealer for repairs.
2012 Victory Ness Vision
Owners filed 2 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the structure › body. No safety recall has been issued.
| Component | Reports | Crashes | Fires | Injuries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Structure › Body | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Power Train | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
What owners reported
Newest filingsBOLT HOLES ATTACHING REAR SECTION OF FRONT FENDER TO THE FORKS ARE CRACKED. I CHECKED MINE DUE TO OTHER COMPLAINTS ALREADY FILED REGARDING THIS SAME ISSUE. I FEEL THAT THE CRACKS MAY BE CAUSED BY AN OVER TORQUE ISSUE. I WILL CONTACT THE DEALER TO ADVISE AND SEE IF ANYTHING WILL BE DONE. *TR
2 of 2 complaints, reproduced as filed.
Across model years
Worst on record: 2012| Year | Complaints | Recalls | Fires | Deaths | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 — this page | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 2010 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
Reading this record
No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.
Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.