Now owing Rocket 3, how do you tolerate other bikes? What would your next bike be?

Kiwicol said:

Poor roads, yeah I can relate. It's funny, when I'm driving my car around my local open road environment I find myself thinking about road positioning for upcoming corners and road surface issues etc ,as if I was on the bike. I'm like, move right for the start of this bridge because there's a big bump in the centre of the road, won't matter in the slightest to a 4 wheeler, but my brain is still on bike mode, prob wishing I was on the bike.

Click to expand...

Same here with iron manhole covers. They like to put them on bend apexes. Many's the time I've seen one last second and had to hang off the bike and push it upright so I don't get high-sided.

Gimlet said:

Same here with iron manhole covers. They like to put them on bend apexes. Many's the time I've seen one last second and had to hang off the bike and push it upright so I don't get high-sided.

Click to expand...

Out here we have what is called open range meaning cattle is going to be in the road so they use cattle guards (about 5 steel beams across the road in the road) not to bad in a straight line just a bump when you go over it.
but when it is in a bend it becomes a real pucker moment you have to try to stand the bike up while going over then back in the lean mode to make the corner.

Protonhound said:

It would be a YouTube moment for sure and probably not good for the internals at all with no road to push back.

Click to expand...

TURBO200R4 said:

Out here we have what is called open range meaning cattle is going to be in the road so they use cattle guards (about 5 steel beams across the road in the road) not to bad in a straight line just a bump when you go over it.
but when it is in a bend it becomes a real pucker moment you have to try to stand the bike up while going over then back in the lean mode to make the corner.

Click to expand...

We have the same set up here, we call them Cattle Stops, usually 5-6 lengths of rail lines across the road. One in particular comes to mind & I'm sure Tal knows it too, there's a few cattle stops on the summit road in Christchurch, the one I'm thinking of is on the road from Sign of the Kiwi to Gebbies pass, just after you go through to the Governers bay side. It's on a corner and slippery as when wet. I always used to try & cross that one upright (ish)

cattle stops/cattle guards
in a right hand turn wet my el Camino turned side ways
in a straight on wet my sportster gained about 2000 rpm was like i hit a patch of ice

I have a 24 Ducati Diavel V4 and it’s bad ass but I still prefer my R3 GT. I think BT Moto just released a tune for the 25 R3 so I might be doing that.

TURBO200R4 said:

Out here we have what is called open range meaning cattle is going to be in the road so they use cattle guards (about 5 steel beams across the road in the road) not to bad in a straight line just a bump when you go over it.
but when it is in a bend it becomes a real pucker moment you have to try to stand the bike up while going over then back in the lean mode to make the corner.

Click to expand...

We have them too. In the UK they're called Cattle Grids.

Take them totally straight & at 90degrees to the grid & no touchy brakey when passing over, or you're toast.

A1A Rider said:

Being one of the lucky few with that absurd low-end torque, how do you tolerate bikes?
Is there any bike out there that could actually eclipse the Rocket in your eyes, what will be your next bike?

Click to expand...

I test rode a speed twin 1200 yesterday.
It's an animal. The shove is instantaneous and more aggressive than the rocket.
It's quite lighter and has that 2 cylinder torque. Quite a violent motorcycle. Get a test ride and you'll see what I'm talking about.

TURBO200R4 said:

Out here we have what is called open range meaning cattle is going to be in the road so they use cattle guards (about 5 steel beams across the road in the road) not to bad in a straight line just a bump when you go over it.
but when it is in a bend it becomes a real pucker moment you have to try to stand the bike up while going over then back in the lean mode to make the corner.

Click to expand...

As Jagster says above we have them too - cattle grids. There's a lot on the moors where I live which is all open land. Usually they're on straight sections but there's a couple on bends on fast twisty sections. Luckily they're all marked with red triangle warning signs and there's always a gate next to them for horses and horse-drawn vehicles, so you should (should...) see them coming.

Round here, more dangerous than the ironmongery they build into the road surface is the road itself. Being moorland there are no visual clues where the road is going. No hedges, no walls, no telephone poles, no trees and the roads are full of tight bends and sudden dips. You should always only ride to the road you can see but wide open landscapes can play tricks on your sense of perspective. You could be approaching a crest and see the road beyond meandering away on what looks to be just the other side of the rise, appearing to be closer than it really is, and then when you crest the rise there's suddenly half a mile of sudden dips and tight bends in between that you weren't expecting. And often no roadside signs warning what's ahead. You really have to learn the roads and quite a few people come unstuck.
TBH these roads are not the Rocket's natural habitat. It's not a bike that welcomes a sudden change of plan at the last minute.

atomsplitter said:

If you'll note A1A I have 6 bikes in my garage. The Rocket is NOT the fastest or lightest, that belongs to my Speed Triple RS: It dyno'd at 150 RWHP and weighs 437 pounds.

For just taking the mail down to the post office and cruising around town, it's hard to beat my Bonneville Bobber with all its suspension upgrades:

If I'm headed out of town and doing a highway drone for hours on end or doing 2-up duty, my Thunderbird Storm is just the ticket:

For blasting around the suburbs and being a general nuisance the Thruxton R in SPORT mode is just the ticket:

And for those days I just want a light weight easy handling fun ride with adequate everything it's the T-120:

The only drawback to this is how crowded my garage is:

Click to expand...

I take it, you may be a bit of a Triumph fan Atomsplitter!!
That's some collection! Good on you sir!

Gimlet said:

My next bike is already on the way:

Click to expand...

OOOH. Good choice sir! It was a toss up between the Diavel V4 and the Rocket for me. The rocket won out due to the major service cost of the Diavel and that an Akrapovic exhaust is over £5k plus fitting

I was sooo close, but had wanted a Rocket since 2019, so I test rode it first and the rest is history. Is yours the V-twin?