Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

iTEEI the tfiree conical exhausts. lnstead of *E deep, distinctive, burbling blat from the fiple slash-cut silencers of tlp Rocket lll, this hulk o{ a motor sounds more car than tike. But Triumph has to sell the aftermarket stuff somehon and, you guessed it, the slash cuts are in the catalog. Feet-up U-tums are easy on the Classic, thanlc to the relpoosive, coftrollable throtde pickup and a clutch action rlw b ultrdliglE in spite of all that power and torque to be har- nessed - plus the beautifulty balanced feel to the Rocket lll's architecture, in +,ite of i{s mas- sive bulk - sod r,, Hulk. The mega-triple's substantial weigtrt is held very low down thank to (he dry-sump engine format, as o/idenced by dle way it! so unex- pectedly esy to nuneuver around tight cor- ners, and how sEble it is over bumpy surfaces in fast srr'/eepi.8 turns. TtEt's when the plush 43mm Kafaba fork and twin-shock rear sus- Triumph Rocket lll Clossic pensioo rnake light work of all but the worst bumpc, aided by the heavy 704 pound dry weiSh of $e Rocket lll (plus accessories on diis one. so figure an exra 33 pounds minr- mum) which mak€s it sit dovm well. It feels planted on the road, with no sur- prises beyond *re lact h's so relatively rnaneu- verable. Though you'd never call this a nimble bike, it's rehtively eag/ neering and unexpect- edly lighrhandling for sudr a rnassive bike - again, presumably thank to that low center o, SraMt/. Blipping the throtde in neutral when idling at a trafilc ligtlt will see the Triumph rock slight- ly to the ri8llt, hjt the inertia forces of fl€ lengthways crank are efiectively cancdled out by the counterbalancer running parallel to it, which together with the gearbox tums in the opposite direction. The only (irne you notice this is if you back off the throtde in a fast right- hander: perhaps because you're starting to run out of ground clearance ('anked hard over. Do so, and there's a slight tenderry for the Triumph to unde.stee[ pushin8 the frort wheel ahd occasionally obligng you to back off tre throttle, so you can haul it back on line, But the understeer b alwE)6 there, to a gr€der or lesser extent. But dlat g0e5 with the territory. But, letk face iq 6is bike is all about the enSine. And what a hnta$icali/ thrilling and addictive ride h makes, too, There! no need to kick down a gear to access the Classic's explocive r€ach for trle far honzon, iust gas it up wide open and hold on tight, Very tigtrt! .lust as two years ago, I caugttt myself laugh- ing out loud more than once at the sheer thrill of that awesome accderation, as the Triumph pulled wide open from iust 1400 rpm in ffd\ wifi zero transmissbn snatch but phenome- nal top€ear roll-on all the way to the soft- action 720Grpm reviimiter. The Chssic doesn't have an explosive power delirery, more an ino€dibv musolar one, with a liqrid-smooth but irresistible boild of power all though the rev range. The uhra- flat torque cuwe makes the Triumph happy in ary geai accelerating hard tow"rd *le horizon irespective of what ratio and how rnary revs yo.r throw at it. Apan frorn the frequent diffi- culty of finding neutral, and that poorly designed shift lever, the transrnission is dynam- ically fzuldess, wth a clean, crisp action. However, it's honestry irrele\aht which gear you're ever in, becalse d|e Clarsic still deliv- ers. The f.ve-speed gearbox has three more ratios than it realt needs - two would suffcel one to get otr f|e mark, the other to take over from 20 mph upward. Clutchless up6hift5 from second gear onwErd are no problem, €verl with tlE shaft final drive, and Triumph's lirst Cardan trans- mission is still a lesson to others. h's done right, Far from beinS the intimidating monstrosi- ty it mighr +peer to be at first, fie Classic is, in hct, a pra.ti@1, eat/ and enlq.able mileater with massiw preseoce, tfiat you can ride ary Th€ Chrsic rnenber of Triumph's flourishirE f"miv of lncredible Hdk follo,lls its Bocket lllforebear in ernployinS an ideitiol.pecilicaion ofdE B.itish rnanufaaturer! unique all"aluminum I 0 I .6 x 94.3rtrn l4ui(ffi thrEe-€y'inder inlirE I2-'y"J./E rneta-motoc rnounted loflgitdirEly in the ft'erE and nteasliirB 140 dlbic inches - a nice round number that, trvo yea6 after its dehn in the sumrner of 2m4. nill sq/s "8€it S'aC" to Tri- umph's sllo.r,rrotrn ri'/als {o. the qrstomer dolbr Reprt.ent E exa

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