Triumph Rocket III Motorcycle First Ride Remarks

The rest of us have been holding our collective breath waiting for a word, a clue, from staffer Andrew Cherney, who got the envied assignment of riding Triumph's big, bad, new 2294cc Rocket three at the press launch ride for Britain's new missile. After feasting on this plum on the roads of Northern California finally deigned to drop us an email on the topic.

Unfortunately, Cherney was pretty skimpy with the details. Sure he's a meat-and-potatoes guy, but we want more meat. However, if you read on, you'll know as much as the rest of us do at this point.

"Triumph's new porker pretty much lives up to the hype. It looks like a cross between a Valkyrie on steroids and a slimmed down Boss Hoss, and it feels and turns surprisingly like the Honda, but it's kinda weirdly styled—there's no way to hide that big-time industrial chunk of an engine. Got 140 horsepower, 147 ft/lbs of torque, a wide comfy seat and a 240 rear tire, though, and all that stuff works pretty well.

"Some of the fit and finish is a bit generic looking and the asymmetrical pipe arrangement takes some getting used to, but like I said, it's so much fun to ride you forget about the little stuff. Big honkin' instant throttle response, lighter and quicker than the V2K.

"$15,999 though, so we'll see."

We will be getting a Rocket III test bike in the near future for a full test, slated for our October issue, so we will have more details. But there are already rumors of new challenger riding in to rob the Rocket of its cruiser performance crown.