DANCING WITH THE BIG GIRL - TRIUMPH ROCKET III

by Simon

The Big Girl

A few people over the time i have been here have mentioned the Rocket III both positively and negatively. I thought I would air my opinion. I am not the world's richest man, nor am I the world's greatest rider, or writer for that matter, but here is my opinion on the big girl. In the words of the Chinese waitress: "Please Enjoy!!"

I have owned a 2005 Rocket III for just over a year now and am still as keen on the big black Pommie lass as the day I bought her. Now if I still lived in St Kilda and worked in Carlton and used her to commute every day, I would, I fear, be desperately unhappy.

Because, you see, she doesn't like tight heavy traffic, and lane splitting through narrow side streets is not her thing either. While we are discussing her shortcomings, I should also add that she doesn't like tight cornering either. Which isn't to say that she can't or won't do either: she is just a bit too big and heavy to do a lot of it. In hot weather she tends to cook your bum and right leg. I blame the restrictive exhausts, and the catalytic converter just forward of the front of the rear tyre and under the gearbox. This is especially noticeable in heavy traffic. A solution involving a change of exhausts is detailed further along. While I am having a whinge, the paint is soft and scratches easily. The Speed Triple before her had the same issues, and mates with other modern Trumpys complain about it too. Lift your game Mr Bloor, If the c@r manufacturers can give us a hard coat so can you. And here ends the list of complaints.

The gear box and clutch deserve a word of their own. The word I would use to describe them is "deliberate". Fully engage the clutch. Change gear. Disengage the clutch. It is not difficult but it is not quick. The clutch is light and the shaft drive is mentionable only because it is not noticeable.

The brakes, like the shaft drive, are effective and are not noticed for just that effectiveness. The rear is particularly strong and will lock easily, but only once by surprise. You do learn to love it. If you really want to commute through Melbourne's daily grind try a big bore trailie with street tyres and a gutted muffler. If you get your jollies torturing Ducati riders on the Black Spur or the Great Ocean Road, then she has a sexy little sister, Speed Triple, who we would both be glad to introduce you to. I had a wonderful eighteen month relationship with said sister but the big girl seduced me and, well, that was that.

She is a fairly reasonable sort of bike to keep, which is to say that services are so far apart that you can't remember the damage from last time. Tyres, however, are her weakness. And if you have ever spent any time with a woman who is trying to out gun Imelda Marcos, or are a woman trying to outgun her you will know exactly what I mean. A rear tyre fitted is $500 a time or near enough fitted. You will get 5000 km out of a rear tyre. If you are completely obsessive about tyre pressures you might get 8000 km out of a rear tyre. A front tyre will deform at the rate of two fronts to every rear. It is worth being obsessive about tyre pressures on the handling front too. If the tyre pressures are even a few PSI down, steering and stability suffer noticeably.

She does like a drink, too. Fuel stops seem to appear with startling frequency. I have never bothered to work out just how thirsty she is but a little research on the net suggests 32 to 37 miles per US gallon and 21 to 22 km/l seem common. The tank reputedly holds 24 litres. I just fill her up again when the low fuel light starts flashing. My experience suggests that the harder you ride her the thirstier she gets. Not that hard to figure out really.

While we are discussing her desires the standard suspension is doing a Kwaka 9 and after about 12000 km beginning to wear a little. I can see Ikon shocks and progressive springs in our future.

And, what about the power, you ask? "What'll she do, mister?" Well, my answer is lots. She is grunty rather than fast, but certainly quick enough. If you want fast, perhaps a Daytona would suit you better. A club run where I was running a little further than I liked behind the pack saw 180 km/h (it was on a private road you copper bastards) in fourth and then I hit the picks for a series of corners. I have yet to open her up in fifth (top) gear but somewhere around 220 km/h in the real world is pretty likely. The feet forward position makes very high speed travel uncomfortable for any length of time. It is highly satisfying though.

Once again in the real world, I run in about the front third of the group but Milo rounds me and a few other blokes up on his Bonnie without really trying too hard.

Get a black one. They're faster.

Does she handle well? Well yes she does given her size and weight. For those of us that grew up riding (sometimes very) second hand Kwaka 9s and 'onda fours it's not that hard. Prepare your line early and hold it and whatever you do, don't close the throttle. If the surface is broken, holed or badly off camber she will buck and weave. Put your faith in your tyres and the road gods and she'll be right. Having said that I'll be very interested to see what upgraded suspension will do for her.

Ground clearance is adequate without being startling and I think the feet forward riding position has a lot do with that. As a riding position it is far more comfortable than I would have thought (this is my first feet forward cruiser). Balancing for tight cornering or slow work on wet grass or a muddy road is a skill I am still developing.

Speaking of riding, why would you buy a motorcycle and then not ride her? So I do ride her. She loves a good long hard ride away in the country on quiet unused back roads unsullied by people in strange blue suits that drive white cars with flashing blue and red lights. Strangely enough these are my preferred roads too. Some are so quiet that should one wish too one could ride (shock, horror, and gasp) without a helmet.

She is quite competent on our so well policed main roads as well. She offers a hugely comfortable ride at legal speeds. The two headlights and the massive radiator encourage the caged to get out of the bloody way.

She loves a pillion too. It might be more accurate to say that my Mrs loves the back seat. The bitch pad is surprisingly comfortable, and the Triumph accessory touring seat with aftermarket pillion boards as against pillion footpegs is nearly luxurious. Of course almost anything would be luxurious after the back seat on a 1050 Speed Triple.

I have fitted aftermarket T Bars, which have made a huge difference in the way the bike rides. It is such an improvement, and it looks good too. She came to me fitted with small aftermarket mirrors, which work well enough at suburban speeds. They tend to vibrate a little too much at open road speed and are substantially useless when you really need them. I fitted Small rear indicators and front indicators that mount on the bar ends. Small Coil Engineering in Geelong did the wiring for me and very handsomely too. They also wired in the GPS system my family kindly gave me for my 50th birthday. I have yet to use the GPS system but I hope that I will find a trip long enough to take it out of the bottom drawer and bolt it up. A tool bag came up at a price too good to knock back, so I fitted it to the handlebars. I reckon it looks good and is very useful. She came fitted with a big screen and panniers, both of which I have removed. The panniers are very good, and bolt back on in around twenty minutes the pair. The screen on the other hand caused instability in strong cross winds once too often and too severely, so it has been removed, and is hung up in the shed forever. I seem to be in a gang of one over the screen. Every one else I have spoken to who has one loves it.

I plan to fit Triumph (Legend?) mufflers which are sitting in the shed .The standard mufflers are too long for my taste, and I have always liked megaphone style exhausts. I'll be very keen to see how loud they are. I am hoping for something with a bit of a note but not too obnoxious. I really hope they help her run a bit cooler too. I am planning on re-covering the seats in something different or pretty. I am sure I know what it will be when I see it. Every motorcycle seat in the country is in black vinyl or leather and I am after something a bit different but serviceable. I might sidemount the rear number plate too, although doing it in such a manner that I can still use both panniers is proving entertaining. I plan to keep riding the Rocket as long I can physically deal with her size and after that well who knows. Should the new Thunderbird twin come out as a 1600 Bonnie, with a serious weight loss, it may well suit me in my dotage. Then again Phil put a big bore kit in his America and it goes pretty well too. A hopped up Bonnie is no bad thing.

A comment has reasonably been made about catastrophic shaft drive and gearbox failures. I have had no experience of either, but the following is what I found when researching the issue before handing over the money for her. Catastrophic gearbox, and to a lesser extent final drive failures, appeared in some primarily 2004 and 2005 Rocket IIIs. These failures generally appeared between 5000 and 8000 km. Triumph has almost always come to the party by covering these issues with warranty even when the bike concerned has exhausted its warranty. If YOU buy a Rocket III and it goes TITS UP don't come whingeing to me. I've got a good one and I am happy with it.