Initial Assessment

The first time I threw a leg over the Victory and sat down I could tell something wasn’t quite right about the rear suspension.  I conducted a bit of a seat of the pants test and the feeling I got was that it would compress and rebound much too easily; especially on the rebound.  These factory shocks only have compression adjustment capability so I figured something must be wrong with the valving/oil for the rebound.  I took the bike out for a test ride and then definitely knew the rear shock was shot.  It wasn’t rough or unruly but it would wallow a bit on the large bumps, and on sharp bumps the rear end would chatter, presumably from the rear tire bouncing as a result of the lack of rebound dampening. 

The worst condition was a sharp bump soon after accelerating from a stop, as the rear end would bounce and break traction on the tire.  It gave a similar feeling to a slipping clutch; rpm’s would rise but no impact on speed.

Rear Shock Research

I did a bit of poking around throughout the internet and found that this is not an uncommon issue on the Victory bikes.  Numerous posts on forums and sites indicated that the shocks fail and exude the same behavior as I was experiencing. 

I rode the bike in this condition for a while.  Initially, on rides, I was taking it pretty easy as I got comfortable with the bike and how it handled.  As I learned the characteristics of the bike I began to ride more aggressively and push it to perform.  At this point I could consistently feel the rear shock misbehaving.  I needed to find a replacement shock.  I searched online for a good deal and found a used one via eBay; $14.48 delivered from Canada! This was a complete shock (strut, spring, bolts).  I have no clue why they sold it as cheap as they did but I was grateful to find such a good deal.  Shipping alone must have cost at least $15?  Oh well, accept the deal and move on.

Replacing the Rear Shock

Seeing as I do all my repair work either in my driveway or in my small garage, I don’t have any fancy lifts or anything to support vehicles or motorcycles.  When removing the rear shock on the Victory I’d need some way to support the frame and also keep the whole bike balanced.  That way I could take the load off of the rear suspension linkage, loosen and remove the shock bolts, and then remove the shock.

I figured out a scheme in which I slung ratchet straps over the ceiling joists of the garage and ran them down to the handlebars; this was my method for keeping the bike standing upright and supported.  The other thing I did was to use a floor jack under the frame of the bike in order to take the weight off the rear shock and suspension linkage.  It took a bit of jockeying around but I finally struck the balance of enough tension on the straps and adequate pressure from the floor jack.

For fairly big bike the rear shock is squished into the chassis pretty tightly.  There wasn’t a way I could figure to remove the shock out the bottom of the chassis, and it couldn’t come straight upward either.  Eventually, from all the angles and methods I attempted, I figured that all the nearby electrical connections needed to be separated and in so doing would create a large enough pocket for the shock to exit up and out at a 60 degree angle right through the field of connections. 

Once I figured out the correct exit location it came out pretty easily.  With the rear shock now removed and sitting in my hands I could clearly see a film of oil covering most of the lower half of the shock body.  It was definitely blown.

Installation was simply the reverse of the removal and went pretty smoothly.  I got the two bolts slid back into place and tightened up.  Reconnected all the different electrical connections I’d taken apart. Bolted the seat back into place and popped the side plastic covers back on. Done.

I once again threw a leg over the bike and planted my butt squarely on the seat.  It felt exactly like it was supposed to.  The bike sank under my weight but the rate of compression was more metered and there was no quick recoil at the bottom, it just sat there waiting for me to get off.  I bounced on the seat a few times and the unwanted pogo stick behavior was wonderfully absent.