The reason for the limit is that Triumph was concerned about the potential for wobbles with a heavy load and worn tyres. It’s an addictive feeling, marred only by the fact that, although the Triumph blasts through the 80mph mark and keeps accelerating hard, it abruptly runs out of breath at an electronically limited 120mph. There are plenty of faster bikes, but few that even approach its ability to cruise gently along, feeling relaxed, then unleash a mighty burst of acceleration at the flick of its rider’s right wrist. The Roadster is so grunty that it pulls from 1,500rpm without complaint, helped by sweet fuelling and a torque curve that peaks at just 2,750rpm. The giant triple’s performance is unique. Triumph borrowed the front brake set-up of its now deceased Daytona 955ie sports bike: big twin discs and four-piston calipers that have to work hard to slow a bike weighing well over 350kg with fuel. The chassis layout is traditional, apart from its size, with the steel frame holding 43mm upside-down forks and twin rear shocks. The maximum power output is substantial, but what is more relevant is that the mighty motor produces more torque at idle than most motors do at maximum revs.
TRIUMPH ROCKET 3 PLUS
The Roadster’s unchanged layout features a DOHC, 12-valve top-end with twin plugs per cylinder, plus liquid-cooling, a five-speed gearbox and shaft final drive. Right from the original Rocket, the engine was a vast, longitudinally mounted, three-cylinder unit with a capacity of no less than 2294cc – far bigger than any previous purpose-built motorcycle powerplant. This added 9bhp to take maximum output to a hefty 146bhp, matched by twice as much peak torque as Triumph’s own Speed Triple, all delivered in a wonderfully seamless way that made the Roadster a muscle-bike to compete with Harley-Davidson’s V-Rod Muscle and Yamaha’s V-Max. Although that model wasn’t a huge success in the States, it gained a cult following and sold sufficiently well to lead to follow-ups: the Classic, with screen and panniers, the even more comprehensively equipped Rocket III Touring, and the more aggressive Rocket III Roadster.
Triumph unleashed the original Rocket III mainly in an attempt to attack the cruiser-dominated US market. Although the Rocket Roadster is undeniably heavy, expensive and slightly crude, it’s also comfortable, handles remarkably well and is hugely entertaining to ride. It boasts a 2294cc, longitudinal three-cylinder powerplant that Triumph still describes as the world’s biggest production motorcycle engine, and which kicks out an arm-yanking 146bhp, with vast reserves of low-rev torque. The motorcycle world has changed hugely since Triumph’s Hinckley factory began production of its original Rocket III back in 2004, but the current Roadster has a unique appeal, despite having been around for much of that time.
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