Victory Kingpin

VICTORY KINGPIN

Classic-fied Vegas

Quick Ride

THERE ISN’T A LOT wrong in the world when you’re riding the right bike in the right place at the right time.

Such was the case when Victory invited us to California’s wine capital, Napa Valley, to sample its new Kingpin, a full-fendered retro-custom based on the lovely-and-talented Vegas platform. The weather and scenery were stunning, the roads phenomenal and the bike a pleasant surprise.

How so? The Kingpin’s engine performance and ride quality are a cut above standard cruiser fare and, like the Vegas, miles ahead of previous Victorys in terms of power, refinement and styling.

The fuel-injected, fourvalve, 92-cubic-inch Freedom

V-Twin has low-end torque like its Harley-Davidson competition, but continues to pull as revs rise. Shift quality is good, although the gear primary drive is unpleasantly noisy during low-speed parade-mode cruising. Excellent Brembo brakes grace front and rear.

With a 66.5-inch wheelbase, the Kingpin won’t instill fear in the hearts of sportbike riders, but it

nonetheless handles admirably for a floorboardequipped cruiser. The Victory works well enough on winding roads that it’s actually surprising to hear scraping noises so soon.

What’s even more surprising, though, is how quickly thereafter undercarriage hard parts touch down. Still, in the cruiser world, this type of chassis composure is laudable (audible?) and ride quality is excellent, which is how it should be. Thank the tunedfor-comfort inverted cartridge fork and rising-rate link-type shock, not to mention the bigger, plusher seat. Wheels are 18-inchers-shod with

130mm front and 180mm rear tires-with cast sixspokers standard, billet or laced optional.

As with the Vegas, Kingpin styling was penned with help from Arlen and Corey Ness,

and it shows in the pleasing proportions, not to mention the aforementioned wheel sizes, 18-inchers being a common aftermarket upgrade for cruisers. Our testbike was equipped with selected options, end result serving as an example of what buyers can do using Victory’s Custom Order Program. Base price is $14,999, but for about $3500 more you can replicate the bike shown here.

It’s actually quite cool to be able to go to the company’s website (www.victorymotorcycles.com), click on “options” and watch the image of the bike change to reflect your choices. Build it like ours with the billet hoops, extra chrome, silver engine and frame, plus a purple basecoat with silver tribal flames, all for much less than you’d spend trying to accomplish similar results using the aftermarket. Add optional saddlebags and a windscreen, and then hit the road on a pretty day. On the Kingpin, that would be a very nice world, indeed.

-Mark Hoyer