Victory Motorcycle Forum banner

Kingpin rear shock measurement

7K views 18 replies 6 participants last post by  ObiSteve 
#1 ·
Could one of you kind Kingpin owners please pop off your r/h sidecover and lay alongside your bike with a tape measure?
Eyeball the centre of the top shock bolt with the top of the tape then run the rest of the tape measure down past your swingarm till its roughly in line with the bottom bolt centre?
That will give me the length of a Kingpin shocky, as they are supposedly longer than the rest of the steel frame cruisers shocks.
Thanks in advance.
 
#2 ·
p/n 1542391 vegas p/n 1542391 king pin

I went to victory's web page and searched the parts section and came up with vegas and king pin have the same part.
 
#5 ·
Thats right, I'd like to go up in shock length not down.
Sounds like the Vegas Low and Vegas 8 ball both run the 355mm - 14" shock as standard then.
Somehow my 2010 Vegas Low has ended up with a 368mm shock, which so far seems to be the longest stock shock offered from Vic in a steel frame cruiser.
Was hoping the info of Kingpin having a longer shock was correct but at this rate its not looking good.
Thanks fellas, if anyone else has measurements please keep em coming.
 
#11 ·
I just bumped up my 2014 Highball from the shorter 14" (355mm) shock to the longer 14-1/2" (368mm) shock from a 2005 Vegas. Made a world of difference in cornering and handling.

Hope this info helps.
 
#10 ·
If I remember right, victory stopped putting the longer travel rear shocks in KPs around 2010-2011. The last few years of production, they all had the shorter 3" travel shocks. I have an 8-ball KP with the shorter shock, so that won't help you if you're looking for the length of a long one you need 2010 an earlier.


Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App
 
#13 ·
Should have known you'd have been all over this topic years before me, MBX.
Think I will talk to IKON in Albury next week. I've been happy with there stuff before.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Motorbikerx
#14 ·
You looking for a shock upgrade?

My Progressive 465 is still sitting on a shelf.
Removed it from my Vegas when I put it up for sale.
Pin handles great the way it is and I'm not willing to compromise the extra travel.

Did lots of footpeg scraping on the Vegas,
Pin rarely touches down.
My guess is the extra travel combined with better footpeg location, more forward and more up.
Tried my forward controls on the Pin too ,
for that little bit extra...
but combined with Pins peg brackets they were too forward to be comfy and practical.
Just didn't feel right if ya get my drift.
Saving for a future Vic....
Just can't see me progressing past the ultimate Kingpin.
Let me know if you're interested.
 
#15 ·
Is the Progressive the 368 mm length?
I checked the High Ball. Although it's supposed to be Vegas Low height, mine has the 368 mm shock too, with a 153 mm link, so sounds like your Vegas.
You were having trouble in 2014 getting an answer about the shock length on the earlier, higher King Pins, but have it in front of you now. What's the shock and link lengths on Ol Yella?
I'll have to do some part number checking, see if they are the same for the suspension rocker and link in King Pin, Vegas & High Ball. If they are, I imagine any ride height and travel difference comes solely from the different shock.
While every post you made about riding the Vegas showed you happy with handling and comfort, you obviously appreciate the difference with the King Pin.
Ikon list a shock for High Balls, and were prepared to custom make shocks last time I dealt with them, so I'll talk with them, and get back to you about the Progressive. I'm sure it would give better comfort and control, but no more ride height. Man this thing scrapes easily! I'm scuffing up the sump already, and leaving metal all round corners every time I ride. Still loving it though.
If my bike is stock Vegas height, I can't imagine anyone lowering it any more. The seat is barely higher than my knees!
 
#16 ·
As I'm reading this...right now.
I'm not at my workshop, I'm at my lady's place , been gardening and buffing a car that's been sitting idle under her house for a coupla years.
Kingpins out the front, never actually measured the shock, just presume it is longer as it's less prone to be scraping like the ol Vegas did.
Progressive was a lot better over bumps and made the bike track better in curves.
Though it did sorta force me to upgrade the front to match.
Better springs and gold valves and synthetic fluid made a world of difference.
I can measure the shock on the Kingpin the morning if you like.

Pin does still ground out occasionally, but it's cool, peg feelers are even still on it !!
Vegas pegs were worn half away on the ends.
They ended up on Scotty's Vegas when I swapped him for his bikes forward controls.
So his 8 ball Vegas looks like he rides harder than he actually does.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ObiSteve
#17 ·
Mate, I would greatly appreciate it if you could measure the shock, and while you're down on the floor, the link as well. Whenever it is convenient.
I'm gonna be spending money on it slowly, not had an income for 3 months. Probably shouldn't have bought the thing, but the constant big grins are worth it. Money's slowly coming again now, so we'll pull back out of it, but probably do shock first, then do el cheapo option up front, preload the spring with some nylon bushes with some extra heavier fork oil.
 
#19 ·
Thank you for that. So it seems that the Kingpins better clearance and comfort is because of the shock, 32mm in clearance from those measurement, with 25mm more travel from the Kingpins specs.
No, that's wrong, the 25 mm extra travel in the specs is wheel travel, not necessarily shock travel.
I'll try to calculate how much shock travel translates to wheel travel, starting at the 400mm shock length. Bell crank movement is complicated.
I'll talk to Ikon about a special order shock and spring to match those specs.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top