[VictoryFella]

Hi all,
I am a proud new Victory owner. I recently purchased a 2010 Kingpin. I am loving the bike so far. Just a couple of days ago I had a stage one kit installed. I have read quite a few very positive comments about the stage one kit and the performance gains it brings.Afterthe installation,I can hardly wait to try it out. My first impression was that Iwas not very impressed.The bike definitely sounds a lot better and it does feel less restrictedgoing down the open road at highway speeds but my issue is when I let go of the throttle. At times, especially when in first or second gear, when I let off the gas it is almost like reaching down and turning the key off -- the bike goes dead. This can be a fairly big problem when accelerating out of a corner or curve. Getting back on the throttle suddenly wakes the bike back up and it can get very jumpy in the process -- somewhat dangerous coming out of a curve. It also backfires, and at least once, it has missed on the top of the RPM range whileunder hard acceleration. The latter was somewhat embarrassing because I was riding with a couple buddies who ride Harleys and I wanted to show them what the"New American Motorcycle" could do. I amnot sure they heard the misfire due to the fact that I was eating their dust.
With all that being said I believe that I may have found the problem and I am looking for confirmation. I took the bike to the dealership and a veteran Victory rider happened to be there. He was telling methat after 2007 Victory changed the main computing chip from one that can be "tweeted" withlap top to one that Victory specifies what code should be entered after a given modification such as a stage one kit. This type of CPU cannot be mapped so it is dependent on all its sensors. After learning that, I looked down and noticed that the new side bow pipes did not have the O2 sensors installed! I brought this to the mechanics attention and he agreed this could be an issue. The new O2 sensors are now on order and I will have to wait about two weeks to get them installed. Do any of you agree that the new O2 sensor installation will solve the problem?

 

[OneThumb]

Hi all,
At times, especially when in first or second gear, when I let off the gas it is almost like reaching down and turning the key off -- the bike goes dead.

That's normal on the closed loop FI, when you back off on the throttle above a set rpm somewhere in between 1,300-1,700 rpm the Fuel injectors are shut off. One way to aviod that is to keep your throttle just above idle then you you wont even notice it.

 

[VictoryFella]

Thanks for the input One thumb but I truly hope that the O2 sensors being reinstalled will fix the problem.I will not be happy ifwhen I am riding Ineed toalways be awareof my throttle position. The bike ran better totally stock than it does now. If the problem persists, I will have wasted my hard earned money.

 

[bikendad]

My XC had a stalling issue with the stage 1 and the dealer re-flashed it, no more problems after that.

 

[gentlemanjack]

I wish you luck. I too have a 2010kingpin. I am wanting to put on a stage 1 before next summer. I think you said you have the new x-bow pipes. They are sharp looking. I am considering it or the new 2-1 tri-pro pipes.
Keep us updated on your progress to let us knowwhat they did to straighten your bike out in case I or others with the closed loop injection run into the same problem after adding a stage 1 kit.
By the way the blue and sandstone is a sharp color scheme. I considered it heavily when I bought mine before settling on the midnite cherry.

 

[VictoryFella]

Thanks for the input guys. I am keeping my hopes up that will end well. One positive thing in all this is that my local Victory dealer seems very willing to work with me until I am satisfied. That is always encouraging. If all else fails it is my understanding that a Power Commander could solve the problem but I currentlyam not willing to throw more money at the problem. I will definitely keep you all posted as to the outcome and what the solution is found to be. Gentlemanjack for what it is worth I too seriously looked at the 2-1 Tri-Pro pipes. They are very nice looking with dash of coolness and a touch of class. I also like the X-Bow's look but in all honesty the main reason that I choose them was because they were in stock. It was more on a whim than anything. I like the way they sound but they are a very loud pipe. When coming home I always keep the RPM's to a minimum (not easy to do considering my current problem) for two reasons: 1. I don't want anyone in the neighborhood to complain and 2. When the kids on my block hear them they all want to come see my new Kingpin. I think the loud rumble is more effective than ringing their door bell! Have you ever had aspirations of being famous? I sure haven't and now I know why. LOL… Not for a moment did I consider modesty when purchasing my new pipes. Maybe I made a mistake…NOT. X-Bow's are not for the modest. They are loud and obnoxious. Very Cool!​

 

[gentlemanjack]

Ha! now that seems to be a new version of the Pied Piper fable. Hopefully not so bad of an ending for the children as the original.
In the least you have now have severalyoung ones dreaming of beingfuture bikers. I am sure in a lot of minds you are the coolest cat in the neighborhood.

 

[OneThumb]

If you have an exhaust upgrade an exhaust leak will also cause backfires or stalling.

 

[OneThumb]

I like the way they sound but they are a very loud pipe. When coming home I always keep the RPM's to a minimum (not easy to do considering my current problem) for two reasons: 1. I don't want anyone in the neighborhood to complain and 2. When the kids on my block hear them they all want to come see my new Kingpin. I think the loud rumble is more effective than ringing their door bell! Have you ever had aspirations of being famous? I sure haven't and now I know why. LOL… Not for a moment did I consider modesty when purchasing my new pipes. Maybe I made a mistake…NOT. X-Bow's are not for the modest. They are loud and obnoxious. Very Cool!​

Just idling into my survey sets off the car alarms. LOL

 

[poptop]

I have the 09 pin and when I first got it after all the hype I was a bit disapointed about its abilities. I have about 13000 on it this year since picking it up this spring and it has been building power all along. I find it a bit tempermental at times . Some days ready to explode out onto the street and other days a bit of a slug.
The reality for me is , I should have done more reasearch on proformance upgrades before I bought. My stage one kit with the what I found out latter all but useless sweep pipes from Vic. I am only very mildly satisfied with . I am in the proccess of trying to find a reasonable dyno tuner around here (Alberta)The Vic stage one chip im sure will need to go in the future. I just don't know when but not before I know a whole lot more about where my proformance dollars are going!
There are several guys on here that I have made notes from that I will continue to reflect on as I go forward.
It Is a bit unfortunate that the power of the Vic is imho oversold !!(out of the box.

 

[bikeriderga]

If you are having problems with the VIC stage one, try upgrading to the S&S or get a VFC or PCIII.

The S&S download maps seem to be spot on. My plugs show that the bike is running perfectly in the fuel range. Both front and rear cylinder plugs are just the color they need to be.

The S&S kit will run you about 300.00 plus or minus a few bucks, depending upon where you buy. Dealers usually charge from 50.00 -125.00 for the reflash. So for about 400.00 dollars (average) you will get more power and a better running bike.

If you opt for the PC-III or VFC, you will be out about 300.00-400.00 or so for fuel controller and up to 250.00 for the dyno tune. A little more expensive perhaps, but gives you more options. Only downside is you still have the Stage 1 filtering system, so you will not get equal performance that you can with the S&S.

 

[poptop]

I would love to all the above ! But as was spoken by a poster this morning who just went back to HD parts and upgrades here in Canada are about double the price that you have quoted on Vic stuff. If you think about it as the dollar is close to par someone is pushing something soft and pink into our left ears . I dont know if its the dealers or Victory , it don't matter it still all wrong.

 

[VictoryFella]

Thank you all for the input. You guys are great. My problem goes to show that a little more home workcould save a fella a few problems.
Bikerider - All I have to say to you is, "I am glad I ride!!!" LOL... Thats funny dude.

 

[Salty]

See Beaker at RGB Classic motorcyels in Wainwright
Tell em John in COld Lake sent you
Great HD shop but he can tune a bike, did two of mine for me.

I have the 09 pin and when I first got it after all the hype I was a bit disapointed about its abilities. I have about 13000 on it this year since picking it up this spring and it has been building power all along. I find it a bit tempermental at times . Some days ready to explode out onto the street and other days a bit of a slug.
The reality for me is , I should have done more reasearch on proformance upgrades before I bought. My stage one kit with the what I found out latter all but useless sweep pipes from Vic. I am only very mildly satisfied with . I am in the proccess of trying to find a reasonable dyno tuner around here (Alberta)The Vic stage one chip im sure will need to go in the future. I just don't know when but not before I know a whole lot more about where my proformance dollars are going!
There are several guys on here that I have made notes from that I will continue to reflect on as I go forward.
It Is a bit unfortunate that the power of the Vic is imho oversold !!(out of the box.

 

[Salty]

2010 King Pin 8BAll with simple stage 1 slips on from Vic, airfilter and flash..sounds great, runs great too.

 

[VictoryFella]

I just thought I would update you all to the Stage 1 Blues saga. I did finally receive my O2 sensors and they were installed into my swept system pipes. I was really hoping for dramatic performance gains but common since told me not to get overly confident. To be honest, as time went on without the O2 sensors the bike seemed to adjust. It really did not run too bad but I did not want to say anything to the service dept. that did the work and made the mistake to begin with. It was as much a matter of principle as anything else. You all had convinced me that some of my problems, particularly the "dead engine" when the throttle is released, is an inherent problem with the closed loop fuel injection system and it is true. The O2 sensors made absolutely no difference with that issue. To compensate, I have purchased some asphalt draggin' type knee pads for cornering; just keep the throttle open and the knee on the ground. It works like a bad dream -- Just kidding. All in all I am happy with the Stage 1 system. The bike definitely sounds better and it does run a little better than stock. The swept exhaust system looks very nice. Going down the road it does seem to be a little more effortless. But I cannot tell much of a difference in all out acceleration. However if acceleration was based on tail pipe noise, I'd bet I was turning 10.0 second quarter mile times. Was it worth the price you ask? Well in my humble opinion there is not a dramatic performance gain but the bike looks bad ass. If the saying, "Loud pipes save lives" is true, I should not die from another motorist's lack of hearing; Hell they can feel me. To answer the question, yeah it's probably worth it.
If any of you get a 2 into 1 or the new Tri-Pro exhaust system, I would be interested in your thoughts about it.

 

[midian]

Okay, closed loop EFI sucks, no two ways about it. But, I learned quickly, like OneThumb said, keeping the throttle a bit above idle works and isn't difficult... you can feel the tension on the hand grip. Also, in a tight turn, like turning onto a side street, the tiniest pressure on the clutch works wonders to smooth out the EFI opening back up.

 

[johnfrey]

If I read your first post correct you had new exhaust put on. Then you found No O2 censors??? What happened to the stock one??
Dealer threw them away?? Dealer broke them and sent you down the road any how??
What??

 

[VictoryFella]

John, you are getting into a cloudy area. When I went down to pick up my bike after the work was completed, I asked where my original pipes were; I was considering keeping them but really I have no place to store them so I was not adamant about it. At that time, I got some crazy answer along the lines of: I can give them to you if you really want them but they are not worth much. We had to cut the retaining bracket off to remove them so they cannot be reused… I really did not want them anyway so I kind of disregarded the answer. I probably should have asked to see them but I did not. I do not know if they were on the up and up or trying to hide something. At that point, I had no reason not to trust them. It was not until the next day that I discovered the O2 censors missing. My hunch is that they did not have any O2 sensors in stock so they just left them out thinking I would not notice and conveniently did not bother to let me know about it. When I brought it to their attention, they supposedly tried to remove them from my original pipes - behind closed doors - but stated that they were frozen into the pipes and could not be removed and that they ordered some new ones. I could probably bore you further with this story but long story short when it comes to servicing my bike they have lost my business. This will be an inconvenience for me since they are the local shop but they have lost my trust.