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/128238
Milan Motorcycle Show Part " est oJ;he est Hyosang 61650 Coma geT-i s - b est " c usto m er sec tor , th e By A LA N C A T HCA RT P HOT OS By K YO ICH I N AKAMU RA Rock et III wi ll all eg edl y out -drag a O CTOBER 29 , 2003· eye fro m a st andstill - with a pa ssen ger ! Ha yabusa up to 30 m ph in j ust 1.0 Th e new k in g o f th e st reet d r a g s seconds. says Triumph, aided by its ","::\ i sr egarding th e four Japan ese UCI m an ufa cturer s , each o f which trailed th eir Milan Show novelties very extensi ve l y vi a p ress launches and advan ce publi city in the weeks lead ing up t o the exhibition , there wa s still pl enty at M ilan ' 03 that wa s new to look at and that wasn't trailin g an Ital ian tricolore from its rear fender. Perhaps im pro bably, it was th e Best of British th at gra bbed th e most attention, with two co mpletely contrast in g new Tr i umph m od e l s laun ch ed a t M il an - o ne d ir e ctl y ai me d at the U.S. ma rket, the other at more t radit ionally m inded European c usto mer s, t ho ug h t he re m ay pe rhap s be lots o f crossover cu stomers fo r each . Th e first o f these was th e mu ch t ra i l ed Ro ck et III drag c r ui se r , a 2294cc/140 cu. in . behem oth with a len gt hw ays do he three- cyl inder inlin e engi ne deli vering 140 bhp and a ma ssive 14 7. 5 foot -pounds of peak torq ue, but no less than 132 of that at a me re 1800 rp m - sufficient to pro p el th e 7 00-pou nd monster in 50 St ate EPA -fri end ly guise to a series of ben chmark straight · lin e performan ce figu res v i a which Triu mph ap pea rs eag er t o t hrow d own th e go-faster gauntlet to riva l m anufacturers. T arge ted specifically at th e " b ig - 32 m od el, p ull ing 1.2g in th e proc ess , acc ele rat es from zero t o 60 mph in massive 240/ 50 rear ti re, the largest 2 .8 sec o n d s - t w i c e a s f as t a s a fitt ed to a ny c u r re nt pr oducti on Hon d a VTX 18 0 0 , so it' s c l ai me d - 1r;umph Rock~t "' I e nevvs covering zero to 10 0 mph in j ust 7.20 se c o nd s . So un d s li k e p ink sli p s at dawn at a corporate level at the twola ne blackto p of your choice - once deliverie s beg in next spring. A l o ng s id e a res tyl ed 95 5 i D ay tona, wh ose p oorl y received Hond aesque looks, implanted three y ears ago on a bike that stood out from the cr o w d when it was or ig inall y launched back in the last millennium. have been replaced by a more indi vidual family appearance bas ed on the 600 D aytona, Triu mp h a ls o l aunch ed th e l at est iteration of its t win -c yl inde r Bonn eville family, the Thruxton 900 ca fe rac er. T hose who w er e h op ing for a ha lf-fa ired '70s sty le retr o s po r t b i k e wi ll h a v e to address th e afte rm ark et cata log ues in orde r to ach ieve that - for the Thruxton 's genesis comes from the pr evi ous decade, bas ed as it is on th e late'6 0 s production racer s th at fini shed 1- 2 - 3 in th e T h r ux ton 500 -m i le endurance cl assi c and in so doing spawned a wh ol e generatio n of A ce Cafe look ali k e spe cials . Th is means th e born -again Bonneville is unfaired, co m es fitted wi th clip -on ha ndle bars , r e ar- set footrests , c u t b a c k mud g u a rds, alloy r i m s , l o n g e r r ea r shocks , a larger 320mm fro nt br ak e ( st ill j ust a single o ne, though) and fa st bac k sea t , an d it s 790cc air/oil cool ed 36 0 -degree t wo- up engi ne has megap hone exhausts, high-lift cams and n ew carbs and has been over bored 4mm to 90 x 68mm dimen sio n s f o r 865 c c , in wh ich form i t d eli v ers an ex t ra 8 bhp up on the st o c k Bonn ie. Just add Brylcreem , a nd la st o n e t o th e cafe bu ys the esp ressos.. .