Considering a TR3

Hello R3 owners,
I have been riding Yamaha Vmax 1200's since 1998 and love this machine. I have it all modded out to my likings (image attached), but I have always had my eye on a R3 for years. Power isnt a concern to me if you know the story behind the VMAX. My concerns are about how heavy this R3 appears. I've only sat on an R3 so far since my local dealers dont offer test rides that I have seen. How do these bikes handle pertaining to parking, traffic maneuvering and turns? Are U turns a big concern? How about cornering in the twisties? I dont want to step up to a bike that can handle the mountains in VA or PA when it comes to handling. I keep debating whether to just buy the newer Yamaha VMAX or go to the TR3

All feedback welcome...

Many thanks!

Hello Vmax2extreme and welcome from Virginia. I own a 2006 Vmax (It was my 26th ride) and loved it for all that it is. It was also the first street bike I crashed up in the Rockies after just 7500 miles. I miss that bike and want another. With that said, I ride the 2014 R3T and have 35K miles on it. I ride all over the mountains and love the way it handles. Two-up or single, this bike is sweet and has all the arm stretching toque I miss for the Vmax. My advice would be to keep your '05 and but the Rocket of your choice. The new Vmax is awesome for sure and I ave test rode 2 of them. But for the price and versatility of the Rocket compared to the Vmax, I think you will get more by going Triumph in this case. And you will still have your first gen Vmax for backup.
Now if you are going to sell that '05, someone in VA may be interested...
Add you location under your icon so we know what part of the State you are in. We are all over the world and many folks help each other out on a weekly basis around here...

The newer V-Max is speedier out of the box than the R3 Roadster, as well as lighter; I think it clocks in at 170 hp or some such. However, there's really no feeling out there like 204 nm of torque kicking you in the butt, and you can relatively easily raise the power numbers of the Rockets without any exotic addons like blowers or turbos, just naturally aspirated you can get to 240 hp or some such.

The Rocket isn't made out of lead, though. The Roadster is admittedly in the 800 lb range but that's not far from your average cruiser. A Harley Road King clocks in at 800+, a Kawasaki Nomad in the tourer livery is 900+, there are tons of bikes that go high 700, low 800. And unlike those, the Rocket has the power and torque to handle the weight.

Handling on these is great. They're well balanced and the weight disappears once you get it to walking speed basically. U-turns are easy (turning radius isn't small, though) as is low speed maneuvering. On flat ground, you can easily peddle backwards and walk the bike back and forth, but if you park nose down and need to reverse out, you're not going to be quite as happy.

They handle twisties just fine also. Stock shocks are just passable, so for optimal ride people often spend $5-600 on shocks, but that's true of many bikes.

So my opinion, without having tested a recent V-max personally, would be that the Rocket is the nicer ride and having tons of torque at all revs is more useful than having 165 horses on the top end and a high-revving engine. You can use the torque all the time without having to rev the engine like a loon, and I suspect the accommodations in the rider's office are also more plush and comfy on the Rocket.

Might be relevant:

My beloved VMAX before that fateful day...

Welcome from Florida can' help much other than to say the Rockets are a bit heavy feeling going slow in parking lots etc.. But you get used to it quickly and can be improved by changing front tire size (smaller).Wouldn't trade my R3T,the torque is amazing.

Just going to a Cobra up front vs the stock Metzeler made mine more maneuverable at low speed at that.

Boog said:

My beloved VMAX before that fateful day...

Click to expand...

I owned several V maxes and the newer 2011 model I like the Rocket its a nicer ride and it has endless potential you can add a pipe and lose 50 lbs and make 170 + hp or go for an engine mod and make 265 HP so its a bike you can transform into whatever you want

You can't go wrong with either bike. Go to triumphs corporate Web site and click on schedule a test ride, and they will put you in touch with a dealer that will accommodate you. Good luck on your quest!

That has to be a cheezy dealer....IMO. Down here When I bought mine they dang near twisted my arm off 10 different times to do the test ride. Because if I rode one I would have to buy one.....sure as I did ride it I bought the first new bike the dealer got in. I was trying to hold off and get the Orange Tribal. The dealer said it was doubtful when or if he got one

I really doubt that you will miss the speed of the V-Max.....What the Rocket will do from 1500 rpms to 7000 will blow your mind.

In high gear running 70-75 mph the rocket is in the middle of lts power band. I find it hard to maintain a steady speed on these hilly roads around here. The best way for me to ride the interstate is find a car that is running the speed I like and drop back 200+ yards and follow.

These tr3 - Google Search are TR3's.

G'day and welcome. The RIII (or even the R3T) are great bikes. I have 130,000 miles on mine and can't think of anything that I'd rather be riding. I've never had problems with twisty bits of road, even on the Dark Side.