BIKETEST TRIUMPH ROCKET III ROADSTER: With the Rocket III Roadster, Triumph succeeded in creating the muscle bike to end all muscle bikes, writes Geoff Hill
TRIUMPH HAS decided the Rocket III isn’t powerful enough – and not a moment too soon.
I mean, the original 2004 Rocket had a mere 2.3-litre engine, producing a piffling 139 horsepower and a weedy 194Nm of torque.
“I know, I know, it was hardly enough, really,” laughed Triumph’s Paul Taylor when I met him at the Hinckley factory.
“The original plan was for the Rocket to be a 1.6-litre triple but US dealers said to make it bigger, because that was the trend at the time, so we thought two litres with a 2.3 big bore kit, then thought, ‘what the hell, we’ll just make it 2.3 as standard’.”
It was the most un-British of bikes, cocking a snook both to Japanese muscle bikes and overblown American cruisers, and yet so popular that it created an 18-month waiting list and 18,000 bikes have been sold, either the original naked version or fully-dressed tourer.
However, the finely-tuned crystal ball at Hinckley predicted that with the appearance earlier this year of the 1,600cc Thunderbird as the firm’s mainstream cruiser, it was time for the Rocket to carve a new niche: the ultimate muscle bike.
Remarkably, it’s been done through evolution rather than revolution: keeping the iconic three-cylinder 2,294cc powerplant, maximum power has increased from 139bhp to 146bhp and torque boosted to 221Nm, the highest figure on any production bike and equivalent to over three 600cc sports bikes.
And here’s the thing: all that’s been done by a new exhaust system. Rather than a single catalyser feeding into three pipes which, with two one side and one on the other, gave an unbalanced look to the Rocket, there are now two cats feeding into twin pipes that wouldn’t look out of place in the Christchurch Cathedral organ.
The seat’s been shifted up and forward 1.4cm and the footrests moved back 12cm and down 2.2cm, ABS comes as standard, the twin analogue speedo and tacho come with useful digital information such as gear indicator and range and the gear selector’s been redesigned for smoother changes. And you can have any colour as long as it’s black, although you get to choose metallic or matt.
“The basic idea was better performance, riding position and equipment, and a more purposeful look,” said Paul as we walked out to the bikes we were about to take a spin on.
I climbed aboard, and it was immediately obvious that this was a more natural riding position than the feet-forward cruising choice of the original.
Not only does this make cornering easier and more positive, it makes this beast as stable as a moped at walking pace, as I found pottering through villages behind assorted grannies and school run mums before reaching the open road and opening the throttle again.
The engine, which has the visceral purr of a well-fed lion at idle, becomes a thunderous growl as the tacho winds up, and on the way back down, produces a delicious symphony of over-run pops and barks.
The gears and power delivery are both smoother than the original, but still with the feeling of dipping into a bottomless well of energy with each grip twist.
It’s the same story with the torque, the engine pulling effortlessly from just over 1,000rpm all the way to the 6,500 redline.
If this was a car, it would be a TVR: mean, purposeful and idiosyncratic, and based on the simplest of premises – a simple machine with a huge engine.
It may be an evolution rather than a revolution, but it’s a clever one that will only add to the Rocket’s iconic status, particularly since the UK launch price is a bargain compared to its only real competitors, the relatively weedy Harley V-Rod Muscle and the Yamaha V-Max.
Factfile Triumph Rocket III
Roadster
Engine: liquid-cooled, DOHC, in-line fuel-injected 2294cc three-cylinder; bore/stroke 101.6 x 94.3mm; compression ratio 8.7:1
Performance: max 146bhp @ 5750rpm, torque 221Nm (163 ftlb) @ 2750rpm
Transmission: five-speed gearbox, shaft final drive
Brakes: front twin 320mm floating discs, Nissin four piston calipers with ABS; rear single 316mm disc, Brembo two piston calipers with ABS
Wet weight: 367kg
Fuel capacity: 24 litres
The Roadster will be with dealers in January, price in the Republic to be confirmed. Contact Bikeworld, Dublin 12, tel: 01-456 6222, bikeworld.ie.
UK price £10,949. Contact Philip McCallen, tel: 028-92 622 886, philipmccallen.com.
