Triumph Rocket III in the driving report: more and less

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Triumph Rocket III in the driving report

More and less

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Triumph has given the new Rocket 3 even more displacement and newton meters, while at the same time reducing the weight. That doesn’t sound bad, as the first driving impression with the new triple head on Tenerife shows.

UTo avoid misunderstandings right from the start: The new Rocket 3 from Triumph is still a damn big motorcycle. A wheelbase of almost 1.7 meters, plus a weight of a good 320 kilograms with a full tank of fuel and tires whose dimensions could easily be seen as a swim ring on a beach holiday – tight looks different. Nevertheless, the new Rocket 3 does not have to shy away from the comparison with its predecessor, because it weighed another 40 kilograms more. At least that’s what the English say. The unequivocal receipt on the calibrated MOTORRAD scales is still missing. But the promise of triumph sounds believable because they really have redeveloped every screw and every part on the new Big Triple. Only the ignition box remains from the old Rocket 3. Everything else was completely redesigned within the four-year development period and checked for every gram. Also precisely because the new engine has increased its displacement again with a full 2,458 cubic meters. The combination of less pounds and more pressure sounds really promising.

Always enough thrust

That’s why we’re now putting pressure on us to force the starter to crank the engine for the first ignitions. Pleasant big-bike rubbish immediately escapes from the three pots that share the space to the left and right of the motorcycle. The first gear engages in the transmission, the inclined gears of which can transmit extra torque. And they have to, after all, the new motor should have a peak output of 221 Nm at 4,000 revolutions. This value is purely academic in nature, because the torque from 2,000 rpm to the governed speed is a little below 7,000 rpm, actually never below 200 Nm. So there is thrust on paper.

And there is also thrust when driving. The big three-cylinder hangs super clean in all Fahrmordi (Rain, Road, Sport, Rider) on the gas, and the fat cardan of the chic, new single-sided swing arm does not jerk even during the wildest maneuvers with the gas hand . And the triplet pushes forward with power in the specified speed tidy. Never like a robbery, but more like Thor’s hammer wielded with elegance by an English gentleman. The reward for it all: The Rocket 3 combines great acceleration and pulling power without overwhelming you when you get full power.

Braking at athlete level

However, when surfing on the really fat power wave it can happen that the hurried rocketman steers a little too briskly towards the next bend. Then you have to quickly shift down a few gears in the transmission because the sheer centrifugal masses of the engine only slightly delay the load when simply closing the gas. The brake can do that all the better. An 18-series Brembo radial brake pump at the front, paired with Brembo Stylema 4-piston fixed calipers on the 47-inch fork and the 4-piston caliper at the rear bring the Rocket to an athlete-level stand.

As a special feature, Triumph has coupled the front brake with the rear brake on the Rocket 3. If you reach for the anchor at the front, the IMU-controlled electronic control unit decides how much brake pressure should be built up electronically at the rear , depending on the deceleration, the lean angle and other parameters. The driver does not feel anything of the intervention at the rear while driving, and it is still possible to operate the rear brake.

Chassis confidently up to scratching the notch

Another building block for the Rocket’s really good stopping behavior is the chassis. This comes from Showa both front and back and is fully adjustable. Triumph has tuned the 120 millimeters of travel at the front and 107 at the rear so that the big three-wheeler doesn’t roll over patched areas with extreme sensitivity, but it never slips around when braking or when swinging hard in curves. Even when scratching the grid, the Rocket lies on the track without rocking or sneakiness.

Incidentally, this applies to the Rocket 3 R and the Rocket 3 GT. Triumph offers two models of the large three-cylinder. The former follows the roadster principle, has an only slightly cranked, wide handlebar and right in the middle, 15 millimeters height-adjustable notches. The Rocket 3 GT, on the other hand, emphasizes more gliding and traveling. For this, the handlebars, which are also wide, are curved further back, and if the notches, which can be adjusted forwards and backwards by 25 millimeters, are clearly further forward, the seat cushion embeds the pilot a few millimeters lower. And even if the driver integration differs significantly due to these differences, the bottom line is that the two are on a very similar level in terms of driving dynamics. Both allow a lot of driving dynamics, do not bend excessively, but very reliably, are neutrally sloping and are also very fond of brisk propulsion. So Triumph’s less-and-more formula seems to have worked out perfectly – at least as far as the presentation bikes are concerned.

Both bikes should go on sale from December. The Rocket 3 R costs 21,950 euros, the Rocket 3 GT 22,750 euros – plus additional costs and including a four-year guarantee.

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