Considering a Rocket, but have some Doubts.....?

Tazmool

Standard Bore
Joined
Jul 23, 2009
Messages
3
Howdy,

I have been with out a bike for just over a year now, my last one was a ST1300 which I enjoyed, but eventually sold as its intended purpose was now complete, and I just did not ride it that much.

My pre ST1300 bike was a Honda Valkyrie, and as many ex-Valk owners, I have regretted selling that beast, and would like to get back into riding a cruiser.

Hence, my interest in the Triumph Rocket.

Reading lots of owner opinions, the R3 has been described as Out-Valkyrie'ing a Valkyrie (ie its a smooth, powerful, good handling cruiser)

But the one BIG doubt I have about the R3 is its reliability.....

Is the R3 really plagued with poor design, bad quality control and drunk assembly workers as it seems?

I have owned 9 different bikes, sport bikes, cruisers, sport-tourers, and have only come across one other bike that seemed to have as many catastrophic problems as the R3 (and that was my old TL1000S which grenaded its tranny locking the rear wheel [among other issues], a problem I see on the R3 forums that more than a few R3 owners have had happen)

What bothers me even more about the R3, is that it seems that the problems stem from Triumph themselves and not poor maintenance or abuse, I keep hearing about "upgrade kits" from the factory that get installed on the R3 to "fix" problems owners are having, and these kits require a major tear down of the engine which can take months and a competent dealer. I hear of dealers taking 3 or 4 tries before the problems are fixed..... my closest dealer is 2+hrs away, next one is 4.5hrs away... (hence I would be doing 99.9% of the work on the bike myself, and out of pocket)

"Paint can rattle" problems..
Idle problems....
Tranny/Shifting problems (really don't like this one)
Bearing issues, wiring, etc etc etc...

Now I'm not trying to bash Triumph bikes, and I have my eyes set on a R3 for some time, it seems to be the ultimate cruiser, but I do want a bike that is reliable, one that I can ride across Canada & USA and not have to ship it home in a box and grumble over a ruined dream ride....

Are there any R3 owners (not Rocket Touring owners mind you, I'm looking at the R3 classic or Std) that have had zero problems with their bikes? and how many miles/km have these owners put on their bikes?

Another possibility I am contemplating is maybe waiting another year and saving up, and getting the Triumph Roadster...
Is that 2nd gen Rocket 3 more reliable? has it had the bugs worked out?

Or should I set my sights on a different bike all together?

Again, I'm not trying to bash any bikes here, I'm looking for honest opinions from owners of the R3, I want an R3 myself, but I'm more than a little discouraged...

Thx in advance

Tazmool
 
Tazmool,
I have a demo '07 standard.
I really like my bike and wouldn't ride anything less.
I have had some problems, an output shaft bearing, and a TPS,
to name the ONLY two that were Triumphs fault.
those issues have been resolved in the newer bikes BTW.
Get you a test ride lined up, take a test ride,
then decide if the Rocket is worth the the risk.......
i've rode mine a thousand miles each way a couple years ago,
and never gave it a second thought, but then, I like mine.
Gonna do it again this year too.;)
Plus, my wife is gonna be on HER rocket,
would I put the woman I love on a thousand mile journey
if I didn't think her ride was safe,
and have a "fair" amount of trust in the Rocket?
 
I'm curious as to why you excluded The Touring owners? I know that there are tuning differences between the R3's and the R3T's but other than that, aren't the engines, tranny's, and electrics the same?
 
Are there any R3 owners (not Rocket Touring owners mind you, I'm looking at the R3 classic or Std) that have had zero problems with their bikes? and how many miles/km have these owners put on their bikes?

I have an 05 Standard I bought in feb 05, 77000 miles, no major problems, just the idle re-tune and a blown ignition switch. This bike has had the "paint can rattle" off and on since about 10k miles.


.
 
If you think about the early goldwings, each new generation had it's teething problems (alternators, intakes, etc.). No different with the Rocket. The first few years saw some small issues and some more significant issues on a small number of examples. However, by the 07 model year the issues had been largely resolved. 08 and later models are very reliable. No "paint can rattles", no tranny issues, even the ignition switch and primary tps issues are no longer.

Also consider that the Rocket community is far, far smaller than most others and we tend to congregate on this and one other message board. Hence, every big or little problem gets posted here leaving an outsider with the impression something is more than it is.

I would say that the latter model Rockets are on par with the major asian manufacturers now in terms of reliability.
 
...and if you're really worried about the Rocket's tranny, the T_Bird has one that's called silky smooth.
Many, many Rockets have tens of thousands of trouble free miles.
 
I bought my '07 Classic with 3500 miles last summer, it has 10,000 miles now, zero problems. I was little surprised at the limited choices for the rear tires, so to replace them is expensive, but that's not a reliability problem, just something to consider. On the other hand I really like the 10,000 mile service intervals.
 
Or should I set my sights on a different bike all together?

Again, I'm not trying to bash any bikes here, I'm looking for honest opinions from owners of the R3, I want an R3 myself, but I'm more than a little discouraged...

Thx in advance

Tazmool[/QUOTE]

If you have any doubts about the R3 then do not test ride one, just dont do it!!!!!!;)
 
I recommend the Rocket 3 I have a 2007 classic and I had the output bearing problem the Bearing being put in with the oil deflector shield reversed and TPS fixed but I have owned H-D since 1977 the problems and repairs are no comparison :D
 
I had an 07 Rocket Classic and other than the aforementioned ignition switch problem (fixed under warranty) my bike didn't give me any problems. I rode it to Bike Week in Daytona in 2008 then to Key West and back to Molino, FL (north of Pensacola) on the same trip and didn't even give it a thought (about any possible problems on the road)...the beast just wanted to keep on going.

The shifting gets easier after the initial 500 mile service and as others have said the next interval isn't until 10,000 miles.

Just be aware if you are looking only for the Standard or Classic models they are probably all going to be in the "used" category as they are no longer being made. The R3T (which I am planning to add to my stable in the fall with my current Thunderbird) is pretty solid and if you want a new bike you will have to go with the Roadster.

If you are looking for the "perfect" bike with zero potential problems...it doesn't exist.

Good luck.

Dennis

107 dtg Dubai
108 dtg Home for good!
 
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