Blast Off with the Rocket III

[crashpete]

I've had mine since October, and I absolutely love it.

 

[steve59]

I just did another 1000 mile weekend hwy run and can't imagine a more fun bike to pass the miles on. I swear when i'm in the rt lane coming up on traffic they nearly always floor it to beat me to the semi just to box me out!dicks. anyhow on the R3 I enjoy it cause they're goin 90-95 and I just twist the wick and fly past scoot into the left and engine brake before rear ending the cager in front of me. there's no other bike I know of that handles the hwy better and iv'e hit some turns at speed on rough roads, rough enough to stress the suspension but never a hint of frame flex like many lesser cruisers. sometimes I wish for a trophy or gold wing but I know all those gadgets couldn't replace the ride of my beast.Review a pickup truck. seriously

 

[Claviger]

Steve,
I totally agree on the open road, R3 handles it incredibly well. The only situation I'd rather have my 'Tona is when I feel like "eat it cops I'm gona go faster than your chopper can" and go full tuck at 180+ for a few miles

 

[idk]

Steve,
I totally agree on the open road, R3 handles it incredibly well. The only situation I'd rather have my 'Tona is when I feel like "eat it cops I'm gona go faster than your chopper can" and go full tuck at 180+ for a few miles

You couldn't do that for too many miles or you would run out of island.

 

[Claviger]

Ya, the lack of roads is getting old REALLY fast. Only 8 months in 36 months on the island and I am already over it....

 

[kaivalagi]

Poor review, didn't cover any of the bike features or show any of the bike at all, it was just a ride around with some subtitles. A review IMHO should have a start (general context, show the bike, talk through the basic specs etc) and middle (test ride, handling, pros and cons, what it's good for and what it's not) and an end (summary of the points that stick out, final rating based on both it's competitors and generally).

Now having both a KTM SM-T and the Roadster I can also vouch for the cornering capability of the rocket, for the bike that it is. I know what cornering in the twisties at a fair rate of knots is like thanks to my super moto, and know the Rocket is deceptively fast considering what it is. I regularly go out for group ride outs with bikers using all types of bikes and don't struggle to keep up on my '14 Roadster, in fact I need to throttle back A LOT! I've lost count how many times I've had the pegs on the tarmac too. I was even congratulated last weekend by a Class 1 Police motorcyclist (also does Police based bike rally races through europe) on just how well I managed to get that bike through the twisties, admittedly the pegs grounded out several times but there is way more lean angle to a rocket than most other cruisers, so that speaks volumes to me about the bike. The only thing you need to learn to do on the rocket is MAKE it lean more than you would with other more "cornerable" bikes out there, and ensure to get the lines right from the outset...getting the lines wrong wont end well, no sharp corrections on this thing. The bike makes you a better rider I think, forcing you to really put attention into what you are doing.

About a year ago when I bought the Rocket I also test rode a few other cruisers, 2 others worth a mention were the Victory Hammer S and the Thunderbird Storm, but both suffered from poor cornering capability when compared to the rocket...I was reluctant to get the Victory over that far, it just felt plain wrong (maybe with some practice it would have worked) and the Storm although easy to lean over and very much more flickerable was scrapping pegs on the first ever ride on it, this left me thinking it would become a nuisance.

I think the Rocket is a grand 10 out of 10 muscle bike, it's not a sports bike but it sure is a lot of fun! No regrets in getting mine one bit!!

 

[TOMCAT]

Where's Hedgehog gone ... I hope you blokes haven't scared him off .. f#ckin bullies

 

[mexican]

Where's Hedgehog gone ... I hope you blokes haven't scared him off .. f#ckin bullies

 

[Nat67]

I don't understand how you can knock the handling, when you never pushed it even near the limits. Not once did you take a proper line through a curve or scrape the pegs. Way too much brake before, not enough engine braking, and never had it in the powerband pulling out. I ride mine harder than that 2 up.

+1

 

[Nat67]

Well, let the abuse begin.

It never ceases to amaze me that there are folks out there who think that others would value their opinion so highly that they would publish their thoughts on something about which they appear to know virtually nothing at all.

If you want to bash what would now be considered a very old Rocket III, take it over to one of the forums for people of like mind..... muttered under breath "Dumba$$"

Ouch !