JMichael
.020 Over
What took me away from my Rocket?
There were a number of things:
The ride, a lot of my riding is touring on long trips and the Rocket rode too stiff. A bunch of guys I ride with all ride Harleys and I thought I should have one too. The Harley had the radio, intercom, CB, cruise and more fairing.
It turns out that I didn't use much of the toys and the softer ride came at the expense of proper handling. I also learned to appreciate not being one of a million Harley owners. I missed the uniqueness of being a Triumph rider.
I have to say that the extra power the Rocket has over my Harley isn't that much of a deal for me, but the handling abilities of the Rocket over the Harley is huge. The Harley has the wobble in high speed corners that scared the crap out of me. The first time I felt it I was going 90 mph in a big sweeper in Utah with a cross wind blowing pretty hard, the bike went into a tank slapper that I thought was going to take me down. Additionally, the bike steers all over the place at normal speeds while crossing seams in the pavement at any speed. As much as I looked forward to riding the Harley Ultra with all the goodies, it was that, which made me look back at a much more simple bike without the fairings and all the toys. Don't get me wrong, I will be setting up this new Rocket to tour with bags and windshield, but it will be a much more simple machine.