Triumph Rocket III Classic

3 years of stupidly grinning, just like the first time I rolled on the Rocket throttle in anger – I have owned and ridden about 10 bikes during tee past 4 decades, still own three cruisers, I acquired my 2005 Rocket 3 classic about 3 years ago, it had 23.000klms on the clock and has been reliable since. The Rocket put a stupid grin on my face and frightened the legs off me first time I seriously rolled on the throttle.. hells bells, my nerves gave up way before the rocket would.. a couple of air shocks to lower fit my short old frame, delivered a bit more confidence, enough to have me wondering how much more was to be had on tap. Three years on, another 10.000klm, and a few surprisingly effective power up mods along the way, I am stunned at the amount of torque Triumph had evidently pegged back throughout all the gears at manufacture, I constantly catch my self grinning from ear to ear with immense joy and adrenal fear when the road allows the occasional squirt, a bit like a little kid on a frightening fast roller coaster ride.. what an amazing machine.. hats off to Triumph for building such a wonderful beast.. I have tried ridding a couple of my other cruisers since, it is a bit underwhelming and very unfair really.

I managed to finally get my wife to ride pillion recently, have kitted the Rocket up with back and armrest to keep my better half comfy, and am now certain that my Triumph Rocket 3 will most probably remain my last ever bike, I am 63yo, can't see me parting with it, nor hope to find another as monstrously exciting as my Rocket..

Surprise packet – I've never been a cruiser type nor aspired to owning one of these and then all of a sudden an almost new 2008 Classic came into my life out of the blue. What an amazing bit of fun. Rides remarkably well and is much easier to handle than its size would suggest. Low speed handling around town is easy although I've read elsewhere that some owners didn't find this to be the case. Incredible acceleration that, as others have posted elsewhere, puts a great big grin on your face. Hugely comfortable although the back suspension is a bit coarse over rough bitumen and I might need to change the shockers to suit my puny weight.

Looks like a fat boys bike but you don't need to be a big kid to muscle it around as it's well balanced. A fly screen makes the ride more enjoyable by taking the wind off your chest and stops you getting blown off the back. Seat is amazingly comfortable and the smoothness of the engine is a pleasure. Someone posted elsewhere that they vibrate but he must have been riding something else as these are smooth as silk. I'm at a loss how you could make a Rocket vibrate! Just smooth torque everywhere. Even with a useful selection of tools in the shed to ride, the Rocket still gets more than its share of outings. Sounds amazing with decent pipes and just goes! You've gotta ride one of these...

R 3 love - hate – I've got a 2010 r3 roadster. Had it since new. Brilliant bike. Only problem is if you do any modifications, apart from straight thru mufflers, triumph have no tune for it. Finding somebody to tune it is just about impossible. Have had it dynoed, bought new computer, had it dynoed again several times. Still no luck. Fouling plugs every 150 k's. Still can't bring myself to look at Harley's.

After 9 months – After owning one of these for over 9 months & riding it every day in all weathers I can say it's not at all bad! Fuel consumption isn't as bad as I've read elsewhere, it averages around 45mpg on the run to work & back (28 mile round trip) & it'll probably do more on some of my longer runs. It eats motorways cruising comfortably at 70mph (honest!) with just below 3,000rpm showing. There is one fly in the ointment, the tickover or idle, can be a little erratic at times. Its not a "turn it on & ride away" bike, you have to let the engine settle down, maybe 30 seconds or so, regardless of whether its hot or cold. Apparently its a common thing & has various "cures" none of which I've had the time or inclination to explore. Be careful with the throttle especially when pulling away around a bend/corner, I've been sideways like a dirtbike more than once! Makes for an exciting life but you can have too much. Triumph actually limit the power in the first 2 or 3 gears (not sure) but the front end will still get light on you if you give Mr. Throttle his way. Brakes are good, easily capable of hauling down your speed, the rear brake is very effective whilst the fronts are just as good they can feel spongy, apparently that's another trait of Rockets in general. Oodles of torque in any gear, only to be expected really! Will pull from 40mph in 5th if your teeth will stand it, transmission (on mine at least) can be a little snatchy at low rpm's, say less than 1500rpm, but it's only got 3 pots so there is going to be some pulsing going on. Mine came without a catalytic box & track use only exhausts, was a wee bit loud! Replaced with standard pipes & its tolerable, didn't have to remap the ECU but did the 12 minute tune instead. Can be a handful around town, it really doesn't like tootling along, it wants to go! All in all a fair all rounder but really likes the wide open spaces before it can show its true self. One other matter, the gearchange can be a little agricultural at time but then you get used to it.

September 6th 2016 Update: Now after 4 years........

I wrote a review after 9 months of ownership & now we're nearly 4 years down the line. It's still going strong but there have been one or two blips on the way. The ignition switch & connector burnt out at the 2 year mark, there's a fundamental flaw, neither are designed to carry the entire bikes electrical load, especially the connector, all the power goes through one pin! Triumph have issued a modification which simply by-passes that pin with a heavier connection. Not really addressing the issue but at least the thought was there. I've recently found out that Triumph have stopped making the standard Classic silencers (mufflers) so all we can get here in the UK are 2nd hand ones. Or an aftermarket system, which there seems to be no shortage of but they're all TOO LOUD! Ok if you are just out for a blast but no good on a long haul, it's annoying. I was away in Scotland a month or so back & the alternator went faulty, I managed to get it back home by disconnecting the headlights thus easing the load on an already crook alternator. No driving at night! I was advised that when the alternator goes it will often de-gauss the rotor as well, they are both very expensive items (Alternator about £250 & rotor about £400 at the time of writing) & the engine has to come out, very labour intensive also BL**DY expensive!

Now, that may sound like a rant, maybe it was to some extent, I was spitting feathers at the time & swearing I would do all kinds of things to it when it came back but now it is back I simply don't want to part with it! Nothing I've ever ridden gives that arm socket wrenching acceleration in ALL gears, there's no need to red line that motor, it pulls like a steam train from 1500rpm upwards. Mine's now covered just over 60,000 miles with nothing more than routine maintenance, check the valve clearances if you want, I stopped after the third time as nothing had moved! All in all they have their problems & all mine have been electrical. Is it worth the hassle? Damn right! Grin factor 9 captain & all the flies you can scrape off your teeth! Power, low speed handling, solid feeling machine, wide service intervals (10,000 miles) Tickover can be erratic on some models, not easy to handle around town.