Triumph Rocket III Touring

You can go your own way!

Purring through Bandera County, Texas, with signs for Dude ranches and various horse ranches alongside the road, there is time to clear my mind as the vast vista slowly rises and falls before me. With the distant horizon blurred through my sunglasses the way the world distorts in a heat haze, lone trees and buildings transform into cowboys, and wagons rolling west in search of gold. As an Englishman in a foreign land, the highly untypical motorcycle beneath me pulling these incredible scenes across the handlebars is the perfect platform to explore this wild, rugged, American land.

All new for 2008, the Triumph Rocket III Touring is not just a warmed over Rocket III, as it shares few parts with the original bike. Starting with its own tubular steel twin-spine frame, it also gets a new steel swingarm. The dimensions of the new frame differ from the original Rocket some with a more relaxed rake and trail, which gives the bike a 67.2-inch wheelbase, compared to 66.7 inches. This slightly lazier set up is not noticeable from the riders perch though, as the Touring comes with much wider bars for increased maneuverability. Also helping the bike to be more agile are the new 25-spoke machined, cast-aluminum wheels. Gone is the Rocket's chunky 240/40-rear tire, replaced by a more sensible 180/70 series 16-incher, and this is complemented by a 150/80 R 16 front. This is the same width as the Rocket’s but comes wrapped around a smaller diameter wheel. And, this new combination gives the bike excellent handling manners for a machine that tips the scales a double cheeseburger away from 800 pounds.

Still displacing a whopping 2300cc and kicking out more torque than a barn full of Texas Steer, a mind blowing 154 foot pounds at 2,000 rpm, the new Rocket III Touring is now producing 108 horsepower at 5,400 rpm. Where the original Rocket was laying down asphalt shredding 140 horsepower, Tri­umph has elected to detune the new Touring, which makes an enormous amount of sense for a bike that has been built for cruising. And, as an added bonus to this more manageable power output, the bike now makes more torque at even lower rpm. I have to admit I have always enjoyed the Rocket’s wild ride, but it has always seemed like a strange idea for a cruiser to have so much power. So now with the Rocket III Touring, Triumph has created a true American-style cruiser, and tuned the power output accordingly.

The engine architecture itself remains the same, and there is no need to worry that the big Triumph has had some of its testosterone reduced with the decrease in horsepower. The three massive 766cc pistons still snap up and down with a fearsome growl, rocking the bike to the side as you blip the throttle from idle. These bucket-sized lumps of metal run an 8.7:1 compression ratio and ride on a 120-degree crankshaft that weighs in at 39 pounds. As the biggest crank in the business, I remember while touring the Triumph production facility in England that a special machine was built to put this in the engine to save the Triumph workers backs. The big, inline lump gets fed through a multipoint sequential fuel injection system, with twin butterfly valves in each throttle body. Twin spark plugs per cylinder set the mixture on fire, and a 3 into 1 into 2 exhaust system, with catalytic converters placed in front of the mufflers, deals with the spent gases. A five-speed gearbox takes the power through a shaft drive to the rear wheel, which rotates counter to the crankshaft to avoid unnecessary shaft jack­ing under acceleration.

So how does it perform now that it has more weight and less power, I can hear you ask? Well, this was one of the first questions on my mind, and the easiest way to describe the new Touring is, that it feels exactly the same as the previous Rocket from take off until you hit the peak horsepower output. The additional torque offsets the added weight and it is impossible to detect any difference. At this point you are happily cruising along your road of choice around 70-80mph and life behind the handlebars is fine and dandy. The big dif­ference comes if you twist the throttle at this point, as the Touring feels sort of flat higher up the rpm. Where the original Rocket would be taking off like a scolded cat, the Touring is wandering off with quiet disdain. This really isn't a problem on a cruiser though, as the last thing you want is your passenger exiting the rear when you crank the throttle at speed if you don't have the luggage rack in place.

Later in the day, I had an opportunity to try an acces­sorized version of the new bike and found a completely different animal. This one is geared to the solo riders out there who are going to ditch the touring wind­shield, slap on a single seat and install the pipes. These aftermarket mufflers come with a factory re map to increase the horsepower to 125, and the added sound and grunt totally change the nature of the Tour­ing. Louder, without being obnoxious, the power out­put is more aggressive, and with the shorty windshield allowing more wind in your face, the whole experience feels more edgy and exciting. With the modifications easy to perform, it's like having two motorcycles with two completely different personalities.

On the highway, the seating position is plush and reach to the bars is not taxing. The broad, wide seat sits closer to the floor this year, making parking lot maneuvering a tad easier than the slightly taller Rocket. It has never been a big problem though, as the longitudinal engine sits low in the frame and the bike has great low-speed balance. A light clutch and foot controls that don’t put your legs in a Yoga stretch to reach, compliment this ease of operation.

The Touring differs from the original Rocket here again, with its use of floorboards instead of conven­tional foot pegs. Using a heel toe shifter, it is set up so you can easily use it like a conventional gear lever without using your heel. The floorboards themselves are sensibly placed and are just about wide enough to wriggle your feet around for comfort on a longer ride. They are also high enough up to allow some healthy lean angle in the turns, before you are greeted by the sound of metal grinding away beneath you. I would also hazard a guess the Touring has the most ground clearance in the heavy weight cruiser class at this time.

Suspension duties this year are handled by a set of 43mm, inverted, shrouded forks. I know the original Rocket’s were a derivative of Triumph's aging sport bike, the 955i, and I wonder if these are just more leftover units modified to take the Touring's greater weight. Either way they have a pre-load option avail­able and gave a very compliant ride on the less than smooth Texas tarmac. Keeping the rear wheel con­nected with the ground, Kayaba also supplies the rear suspension, with a pair of twin, chrome shocks that have a total of five positions of pre-load available. With the bike having a pair of good-sized hard bags and a large rack, these adjustments are really the minimum you need for adding a passenger and luggage.

Down at the wheels, a pair of 320mm floating ro­tors and two Nissin 4-piston caliper brakes handles stopping duties. These calipers look also as if they came out of the 955i parts bin, but do an adequate job of slowing the beast without any weird behaviors to report. They are joined in their speed loss campaign by a single Brembo two-piston caliper getting cozy with a single 316mm disc when required. This set up allows a good healthy stomp of the boot before the fun begins, and you start leaving trails of smoke from the rear tire. Did we really behave like that on a press test? Surely not!

Traveling on the near deserted Texas Hill Country roads gave plenty of opportunity to try the Touring’s cruising abilities, and it performed this duty with com­fort and style. There aren't too many twisty sections to be found in these hills, but there are a couple of high-speed sweepers that pop-up. With a good ability to turn in at speed, adjust its lines when needed, as well as soak up mid-corner bumps, the Rocket III Touring was highly competent at speed in the open Texas Hill Country. The mirrors work well and give an almost uncluttered, vibration-free view of what's happening behind. The speedometer sits on top of the tank in true cruiser fashion and is large and easy to read. There is a mileage range to empty readout, two trip counters, and an integrated fuel gauge accom­panying all the usual warning lights, so all the usual functions are where they should be.

As the Rocket Triumph should have built first for the American market, the new Touring is a more cohesive looking and acting cruiser. With its smaller custom gas tank, enlarged fenders, and chrome accents in all the important places, it is a visually attractive bike. Priced at $16,999 for the Jet-Black version, the two-tone versions are a tad more expensive at $17,299. These choices are Jet Black and New England White, Jet Black and Sunset Red, and Eclipse Blue and Azure Blue. Coming with over 70 aftermarket accessories to customize your ride, there will be no shortages of excuses for visiting your Triumph dealer to see what to add on next. A unique take on the classic Ameri­can cruiser theme, with a distinctly English flair, the Rocket III Touring makes an excellent alternative to the rider looking for something different in the big-displacement cruiser market.

2008 Triumph