The Rocket III is a fairly scary bike, face it. Trying to unleash 143bhp while sitting in a position similair to the one that labouring women use isn’t exactly the most relaxing way to begin a mid-life crisis. Sales have been strong but not as strong as expected in the US. The Americans (being Americans )demanded more from Triumph and the Rocket III, they wanted more comfort and less power. Less power? Which is why we now have the Rocket III Touring.
Built to accompany but not compete with the original Rocket, the Touring should be able to reach the parts of the extremely important US cruiser market that the original model can’t touch. The problem stemmed from the fact that because the US cruiser market is so diverse it has been segmented into different styles of cruiser. A laid-back bike with no screen or anything in the way of storage such as the Rocket has to be placed in the ‘power cruiser’ sector and can’t compete for sales in the other cruiser sectors of the market, which account for 50% of all bike sales in America. You may not view this as an important bike if you ride in the UK, but the sales from bikes like this in the USA will help fund projects for the UK market in the future.
It’s a shame that Texans don’t like their roads how they like their men (it would appear) as we had to ride a fair old way to find the bends we used for the pictures. When we did it took no time at all to realise that this bike has a much more fluid feeling than the standard Rocket, and any of the air-cooled Harleys I have ridden. Ground clearance is an issue that has been addressed with the use of replaceable sliders on the edge of the footboards, as yet there are no plans for sparky options. Which isn’t that surprising.
The riding dynamic of the Touring is completely different to the Rocket. It’s relaxed from the off. While the rear sub frame is narrower the seat width is slightly up, it’s a really comfortable riding position, especially with the optional highway pegs and tall screen.
The Rocket III is a fairly scary bike, face it. Trying to unleash 143bhp while sitting in a position similair to the one that labouring women use isn’t exactly the most relaxing way to begin a mid-life crisis. Sales have been strong but not as strong as expected in the US. The Americans (being Americans )demanded more from Triumph and the Rocket III, they wanted more comfort and less power. Less power? Which is why we now have the Rocket III Touring.
Built to accompany but not compete with the original Rocket, the Touring should be able to reach the parts of the extremely important US cruiser market that the original model can’t touch. The problem stemmed from the fact that because the US cruiser market is so diverse it has been segmented into different styles of cruiser. A laid-back bike with no screen or anything in the way of storage such as the Rocket has to be placed in the ‘power cruiser’ sector and can’t compete for sales in the other cruiser sectors of the market, which account for 50% of all bike sales in America. You may not view this as an important bike if you ride in the UK, but the sales from bikes like this in the USA will help fund projects for the UK market in the future.
It’s a shame that Texans don’t like their roads how they like their men (it would appear) as we had to ride a fair old way to find the bends we used for the pictures. When we did it took no time at all to realise that this bike has a much more fluid feeling than the standard Rocket, and any of the air-cooled Harleys I have ridden. Ground clearance is an issue that has been addressed with the use of replaceable sliders on the edge of the footboards, as yet there are no plans for sparky options. Which isn’t that surprising.
The riding dynamic of the Touring is completely different to the Rocket. It’s relaxed from the off. While the rear sub frame is narrower the seat width is slightly up, it’s a really comfortable riding position, especially with the optional highway pegs and tall screen.
