Greetings from NH

[TriumPhil]

Falcon, warp 9.9 (Scott) is giving you the straight dope... he's really one of our #1 go to guys here for tech/mechanical advice and he's forgotten way more than I'll ever know about motors or wrenching on them.

Yes, you should first try to research the provenance (prior ownership) of your Rocket to see what, if anything, might have been upgraded. Others here will share with you the symptomology of those things or parts that might begin to fail or go bad over time, so you will have a heads up or know what to look or listen for. As Scott said, you might be lucky and have a perfectly fine motor, too, so stay cool, calm and collected while you both learn and ascertain the fact!

As far as fixing the TPS is concerned, for a long time Triumph was picking up either the part cost, the labor cost and occasionally both, so if you will be employing a Triumph dealer to do the fix for you, it's worth inquiring whether they still might prevail with Triumph corporate to pick up some of the cost. Slim odds of that at this juncture, but definitely worth the inquiry.

 

[cardinal93]

Sorry for the delay and thanks to Phil and Warp you're up to speed on the update kit. Biggest reason i mentioned it, is because my beast limped all summer without second gear so it's going in this winter. But I'll do the work myself (with the help of some far better wrench turning friends).
The EB relay is from eastern beaver (but you can make your own). Long story short our older models had the ignition wired through the headlights with no relay or cutout option. Because of this, many (most) will experience ignition failure sooner or later. It's a 20 minute project and also brightens your light output!

 

[warp9.9]

Sorry for the delay and thanks to Phil and Warp you're up to speed on the update kit. Biggest reason i mentioned it, is because my beast limped all summer without second gear so it's going in this winter. But I'll do the work myself (with the help of some far better wrench turning friends).

Hey Bud I road mine 700 miles round trip just to have the tech check out the problem and get it authorized by Triumph. He then told me that it would suck missing out on good riding and as long as I skipped second gear I coudl ride it until the weather got sloppy and then bring it in. It worked out well and did not hurt anything except I was only able to hit 160 mph in the quater skipping second gear. Later on when I exploded the internal clutch hub at 180 mph and bent the input shaft on the tranny, I took the engine out myself to change the damaged parts. And found nothing wrong with the update work.

 

[Boog]

Hello Falcon and welcome from VA

 

[FalconR3CT]

Hey there NH man and welcome from the great state of Alaska...I grew up about 3 miles out of Concord in a little burg called "Pembroke" NH...left there in 1977 and have not really looked back since! Love NH, spent many summers at Weirs beach, but once the west coast got in my blood... My sister lives in Contoocook and rides Triumphs-she is always looking for riding partners-what part of NH are you residing in? She really likes that Great Bay dealership as well-Doug

Hi Doug.

Thank you.
Alaska that's quite the move. The new Triumph dealership is in Pembroke, a few miles from Heritage Harley. I'll still stick with Don at Greatbay as they are awesome people.
What does your sister ride? Maybe I've seen her on a few rides.

 

[FalconR3CT]

Hey Bud I road mine 700 miles round trip just to have the tech check out the problem and get it authorized by Triumph. He then told me that it would suck missing out on good riding and as long as I skipped second gear I coudl ride it until the weather got sloppy and then bring it in. It worked out well and did not hurt anything except I was only able to hit 160 mph in the quater skipping second gear. Later on when I exploded the internal clutch hub at 180 mph and bent the input shaft on the tranny, I took the engine out myself to change the damaged parts. And found nothing wrong with the update work.

Hi Warp9.9 (Scott),
Could you please tell me what the conditions or the crux of the problem is (or may be) with Rocket 3?
Maybe a link to a page the describes the condition, causes, effects, What to look for, and engine build time frame so I may research the issue more.

I will take a visit to my trusted dealer (GreatBay) and speak with the experts there, only wish I purchased it from Don rather than the new shop. He will probably have more insight than anyone I know in the area.

 

[FalconR3CT]

Hello Falcon and welcome from VA

Thanks Boog!

 

[FalconR3CT]

Sorry for the delay and thanks to Phil and Warp you're up to speed on the update kit. Biggest reason i mentioned it, is because my beast limped all summer without second gear so it's going in this winter. But I'll do the work myself (with the help of some far better wrench turning friends).
The EB relay is from eastern beaver (but you can make your own). Long story short our older models had the ignition wired through the headlights with no relay or cutout option. Because of this, many (most) will experience ignition failure sooner or later. It's a 20 minute project and also brightens your light output!

Hi Cardinal,

I'll be looking into the Eastern Beaver relay to add to the rocket. I'm also trying to source some new lights as the OEM glass just doesn't give enough light, I like the Truck-Lite brand but cannot find a 5.75" LED lamp within reason.. It also appears that I have a mounting bracket for left hand roads as the left beam shines higher on the road than the right beam. Opposite of our US cars and bikes.

 

[cardinal93]

There are a few (more than that) threads about the lights on here. I think the biggest problem is the bowls/reflectors rather than the glass. Depending on how much you want to spend there are multiple options. Myself, I just switched to h4 bulbs but I don't do a lot of night riding anyway. @1olbull put day makers on I think, but pretty sure those are a penny or two!

 

[cardinal93]

The bowls are pretty easy adjustments for aim points too.