Triumph Rocket 3R and Rocket 3 GT Video Review
You read the review, now see the movie! Filmed in an exotic location in full Technicolor last November, and featuring an all-star cast of one, it shouldn’t be too painful to watch because it’s only barely four minutes long. No animals were harmed, though my right ankle still hurts from being yanked off the Triumph Rocket 3 GT’s forward-set footpeg.
We still haven’t quite got our hands on a new Rocket 3 for further testing, but Triumph says the new 2458 cc triple produces 163 lb-ft. of torque at 4000 rpm, and 167 horses at 6000 revs. Stout-hearted! Maybe even better than that, the new WBEM (World’s Biggest-Engined Motorcycle) is said to be 88 pounds lighter than the outgoing model; Triumph’s claim of around 645 pounds, dry, is still a lot of motorcycle, but this one feels considerably lighter on its tyres.
In fact there are two new Rocket 3’s: Your R in red ($21,900) gets mid-mount foot controls, an inch-higher seat and lower handlebar. The GT ($22,600) gets forward-mount pegs, a higher pullback bar, adjustable backrest and slightly bigger windscreen. Footpegs, handlebars and seats are swappable between the two bikes.
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The vid was filmed in the middle of my one day on the bike, the morning of which didn’t include any really vigorous riding. In the afternoon, though, we did hit some warm, dry sporty roads that drain from Tenerife’s active volcano to the Atlantic, and both Rockets showed that they’re not just great motorcycles for blatting around, but also for surprisingly serious sporty riding, with plenty of cornering clearance and surreptitious power delivery. I’d’ve been more positive, in other words, if we’d filmed at the end of the day.
Not that you have to ride like a cephalopod to appreciate this motorcycle. Check the new seamless gas tank, the TFT display, and all the wondrous functions it controls to keep you from hurting yourself and to keep you in contact with the outside world, should you choose to be. The hydroformed exhaust on the right side is a thing of metallurgical beauty, so are all the brushed aluminium bits and brightwork, all of it meticulously put together by Triumph’s brightest minds to serve notice to the world, as we enter this new decade, that it’s not only the biggest but the best. Lately it’s hard to argue.
More by John Burns
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Cephalopod. Nice. The rumor is even Squidward approves of the Rocket 3 R.
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Oh, what sad times are these when
passing ruffians can say 'ni' at will to old ladiesthere are 21 comments about a man's favorite jeans, but only five concerning such profound matters for our time as the advent of a new and huge offering from Hinkley. There is a pestilence upon this land. Nothing is sacred. Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.