Triumph Rocket III Classic Tourer
Triumph Rocket III Classic Tourer
first rides 2007
A useful boost in capacity
TRIUMPH'S BIG CRUISER ABSOLUTELY CRUSHES THE COM petition in one regard. Which regard? The deep-toned lunge and the command with which its 2.3-liter three cylinder engine launches its 805 pounds.
This Limited Edition Classic Tourer version is not a new motorcycle. The main gist here is that the standard Classic is outfitted with leather saddlebags/pannier rails, a passenger backrest and windscreen, which add up to a $700 premium rather than the $1978 Triumph would charge if you bought the items separately and applied them to the $15,699 Classic yourself. If math is a challenge for you, let it be known that the Tourer (with silver-painted engine and three two-tone paint schemes) goes for $16,399.
It’s been a while since we had one of these things around the office. I was on the original Sonoma, California, press introduction for the standard Rocket III. The main thing I recall from that 2004 trip was the time I tried to showboat for the other magazine guys as I was exiting the lunch-stop parking lot. Being a large, mostly hairless primate, I couldn’t resist the urge to clutch it big-time in first gear while whipping a major handful of throttle. In my mind, I envisioned a bitchin’ smoker of a burnout. What I got was 8 feet of metal and chrome rearing up on the back wheel like a rhino about to charge!
A wheelie of this magnitude didn’t seem physically possible because of the bike’s sheer heft and size, and my jaw dropped open so far I almost swallowed the gas cap. The fright limped my body, and the throttle closed so that the bike sat down again without looping and surely crushing me to death. In fact, one of my typing brethren gave me the thumbs-up whilst I reeled in my jaw, so it all must have looked intentional. Obviously he didn’t hear the scared monkey sounds.
Luck and fear made me a hero once again. Hope it doesn’t run out.
Where we are going here is that this is that same kind of motorcycle. I got the burnout right this time because of some more recent experience drag racing. It’s waaay better to clutch it in second gear, folks, especially when you’ve got more torque available than from a small car. Nice thing with the Tourer is that you can continue into fifth gear and trundle on down the highway in pleasant comfort.
The windscreen was a welcome friend on our very cold and sometimes-rainy riding day at the Morro Bay, California, press introduction for this bike and the revised and restyled America and Speedmaster Twins. Triumph America CEO Mark Kennedy was on hand to relate that the cruiser range accounts for about a third of Triumph's U.S. sales. It was also noted that dealers who had acces sorized their Rockets tended to move more units, so the factory thought adopting this scheme was perhaps a good move to assist those dealers who weren `t accessorizing their Rockets.
It certainly does make the bike much more usetul and more comfortable on the highway. The Roadster screen does a pretty good job of providing clean air where your body does get some direct wind, while the rest of you is protected from, in our case, temperatures in the 40s and the aforementioned rain.
The bags are pretty big (but pack light on a weekend for two) and their closure mechanism is almost emblematic of the way this Retro Movement is going. Old-time spirit is retained in the shiny chrome trio of buckles, but it's really three efficient black plastic plug-and-snap thingies that do the job, like on a fancy backpack. It seems a bit silly on one hand, until you have to use the other hand alone to open the bags-do-able with the backpack latches, nearly impossible with chrome showpieces. Looks Old, Works New.
At speed, the heft of the bike disappears. You do feel most of it when you're maneuvering in parking lots and at low speeds lumbering through town. Don't park nose-downhill toward a curb, is what we're saying. Braking is impressively strong and the bike stays very stable, as it should with its 66.7-inch wheelbase. Likewise cornering, which is pleas ingly sure, with enough clearance to have some fun-though fairly high steering effort remains the order of the day, even with those wide bars. This is reality when a motorcycle is equipped with the sales-floor-necessitated wide rear tire, a 240mm Metzeler here. Or perhaps in the case of the Triumph, its 140 foot-pounds of torque do make the mega meat genuinely necessary.
In any case, this remains a big, powerful, essentially over the-top powertrain with wheels, and it takes some muscle to handle. It's hardly unmanageable or truly beastly, but as with the throttle it is best to remain respectful. The rhino could charge at anytime! Nice thing is, now it can keep on running. -Mark Hoyer
