Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128230
TRIUMPH DECIDES TO GET NASTYAND SHOW CRUISERS WHAT POWER IS ALL ABOUT. B y B LA K E C O N NE R P HOTO S C OU RT E SY OF T RIUMPH ri u m p h ha s en te re d t he po w er cru iser market. No , i t h a s slammed into th e powercruiser m ar ket head on li ke a Ma ck tru ck into a MINI Cooper. Wh en John Bloor and the team at T r iu m p h decided they wa nted to go big , they didn't fool around . T hey decided t hat if they were going to create the largest-displacement motorcycle in production from a major manufacturer - it needed to be more than " a little bigger." So wha t does b ig mean i n the ' world of motorcycle engines? Well up until now it meant 1800ccs of fla t-six Gold Wing or Valkyrie Rune power, Vtwin VTX 1800 power or something of that nature. Th is defined where Tri umph wanted t o go, because be ing the bi gg est wa s o f great importance in terms of marketing to the company fr o m Hin k ley . So the decision was made to hit a grand slam, not just a home run, and build a 2294cc mon- 30 S EPTEMBER 3 . 2003' cue One of the most Important goals that Triumph had In the creation of the Rocket III was for the bike to loo k like a Triumph. Elements such as the Speed Trlpleinspired headlights guarantee that it does. I e n e vv s ster - yes, that does say 2294ccs, 2.3 liters! As a matter of fact the motor in the new Triumph Rocket III is alm ost a full liter larg er than the aforemen ti oned M INI Cooper 's. The Rocket III is bu ilt for America , like that needed any cla rifi cation. Sure , the bik es will be so ld worldwide, bu t th e co ncept was penned o n the n ap k i n s of an establishment c all ed the Redn eck Gourmet, need we sa y more . Most Europeans don 't drive cars ov er two liters, so a 2 .3- liter b ike w ill surely ro ck their sen ses. It 's obvi ous where most of th ese b ikes will be he aded. I'm sure you are wondering how and why T riumph named t h e b i k e the Rocket III. I mean everyone knows the Ro ck et was a BSA - oh yeah, it wa s t he first bike powered by a Tri u mph triple engin e. Appa rently the naming rights holders of BSA don 't have a probl em with it, so Triumph resurrected th e name that in its day screamed performance. " T h e Ro c ke t III i s the ult imate power cru iser and gi ves Triumph a strong foo thold in the c ruis er mar ket ,' expla ins Triumph Motorcycles p ro d u ct manager Ro ss C lifford . " It break s th e mold and w il l ap pea l t o ride rs seek ing a un iq ue and im pres siv e riding ex pe rie nce . It' s the sort of bik e tha t enth ralls the ri de r com p lete ly , engaging al l th eir senses." Triumph cl aim s that th e longitudina ll y mounted motor pumps out an earth -sha k in g 14 7 ft.-Ibs . of to rq ue and 140hp, with 90 p erc ent of th at to rque ava ila b le at o n ly 18 0 0 rpm , m ean in g that it m akes m ore torque just off idle than the Valk yrie makes at its p eak. Oka y , so I fo rgot to m en tion that th e m otor is a triple - what else would it be? Wh at th at m eans is tha t has som e b ig -ass p is tons , th e size of a 10-lite r Dodge Viper's slugs , or 10 1.6m m to be ex act. Th e bike is fuel injected wi th a ban k of thr ee Kei h in throttle bodies on th e left side of the motor, wh il e the right side of th e m otor is d om in at ed by the exh aust an d th e counterbalancer's housing . Th ink of the tw o sid es of th e motor as the hot s ide and the cold side, exhaust and int ak e. T he motor is a dry sump design with a five -liter oil sup ply. As you can imagine, the crankshaft on the Rock et III is heavy , so heavy in fact that small cranes had to be added to the assembly line in order to li ft the 39 pounds of meta l and lower it into the cases. Otherwise the company would be facing a lot of back-related workman 's comp ensation cla ims . The transmission is li ke a sideways Yamaha R1 design with the shafts stacked in an effort to keep things small in an en g i ne where fi gurin g out how t o pack it into the frame was the design tea m's biggest headache . All of that monster power is fed to the rear tire via shaft dr ive , a first for Triumph.