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