A random day on the Victory

[AD345]

I decided to go for a bit of a putt yesterday with no real destination in mind. Because I needed a pack of smokes that set my first stop and pointed me towards the new bridge at Ormiston which decided the initial direction. A nice wander out through Clevedon on a glorious morning getting to know the Kingpin.
First impressions:
1. 6th gear is absolutely an overdrive with a final ratio of around 0.84:1. About 3 piston strokes per kay it sounds like.
2. The rear brake peg is a fair way forward. A couple of nice adrenaline shots when trying to find it initially....

Arrived at Kawakawa bay and stoped for a smoke and something to drink. There was a Ducati parked up and a couple of other bikes - the usual "cher, cher" headnods were exchanged. I began to realise that I have NO clue what most of todays bikes are.
Onwards to Kaiaua through the few twistys and more to learn about the Kingpin. Its a much better bike than I am a rider at the moment. Seems to have better clearance than the RoadKing or Heritage I've ridden recently. I need to trust the torque range more rather than hunt through the gears - it'll pull from anywhere in 4th or 5th. The stock pipes are a bit muted but there's still a nice throaty rumble to be gleaned and I was pretty happy heading in and admiring my shadow profile (as ya do). I pulled in to the Kaiaua pub and noticed there were 4 H-Ds in the parking lot and a whole load of sports bikes in the adjacent cafe. I decided to head in for a beer and sat down in the beergarden at the back (head nods with the H-D boys). After a burger and another beer I was thinking about heading out when one of the H-D boys said that a friend of theirs was heading in - on a Victory! So I hung around for another 3/4 of an hour when a really nice Heritage rumbles in to the beer garden, then another H-D, then another, then a bloody great swarm. It turns out there was a trivia run on - plus a few others.
Anyway, the Victory rider finally rolls in, a really nice guy called Junior on a beautiful Vegas jackpot - the first Victory sold in NZ by the new dealership. Conversation was good, phone numbers exchanged, bikes admired and I headed off south towards the link-up with SH2 enjoying the afternoon sunshine and the long effortless lope of the Kingpin (the calming effects of a couple of beers are not to be under estimated).
I'm loving the set of the bars and the ease of the seat as I trundle along the motorway towards home when I notice the fuel light come on - bugger. Blipped past the Ramarama off ramp due to being a little distracted by a blonde in a convertible and headed off at Drury.
Where the hell is the gas station around here?
Finally saw it at the top of a little rise, whew. I started to fill up when a rumble pulls alongside me - a Victory! Turns out that Brett (the dealer) and a couple of others were having a beer at the Two Fat Cows, which is a pub right next to this gas station. By this time I'm convinced that Victorys are pretty thick on the ground around these parts and I join them for an OJ (No way I want to be the first Vic owner to lose license, life or limb). I met Laurie from Tauranga who has a Hammer that he imported in Feb of this year. So there was me on my Kingpin, Laurie on his 08 Hammer and Brett on the 09 Hammer (stroked out to 106ci for the new model year).
A good time was had by all before Laurie headed off and Brett asked me if I wanted to head out to the Kentish pub at Waiuku which was where the trivia run I had met earlier was finishing (as a little aside I had a big "penny dropping" moment as my crap hearing finally recognised that it was "Waiuku Riders" and not "Waiheke" - I was wonderin about the wisdom of cruisers on a wee island....).
Off we went to Waiuku with me following the Hammer, good lord that thing has some accelerative power and watching it roll around on the big 250mm rear was both a joy to behold and a real time instruction on the physics of contact surfaces and traction.
We arrived at the pub just as the trivia riders were rolling in and once again there were 3 Victorys lined up as Junior rolled in next to Brett and myself.
A beer and a good yarn later it was finally time to call it a day. Brett and I headed back to the motorway (exceeding the recommended limit for riding with panniers - with nary a whisper of deviation from the line) and home.
Just a random day.

[slimjim]

good on ya's...nice how things sometimes fall into a day...

[Bren]

bloody darned good post...bling to you you lucky bastard!

[xknuts]

Laurie J has certainly blinged out his Hammer, Hasn't he! Once you have the Chrome bug, it neva goes away. Have you met Nigel H, from Blockhouse Bay, another Kingpin owner??

[AD345]

Laurie J has certainly blinged out his Hammer, Hasn't he! Once you have the Chrome bug, it neva goes away. Have you met Nigel H, from Blockhouse Bay, another Kingpin owner??

Not yet

I'm heading North tomorrow to try and make another convert...

[thehollowmen]

1. 6th gear is absolutely an overdrive with a final ratio of around 0.84:1. About 3 piston strokes per kay it sounds like.

I think a lot of bikes need this sort of sixth or seventh gear for touring. To save petrol, to set the pace and just cruise without fear you're going to slide slowly above the limit.. And the rest can be nice close ratio for the twisty stuff.

Nice little write up. I'm liking the victory motorcycles the more I hear about them.

[vifferman]

Was it really a random day? Sounded kinda special.

Nice story!