hello from central wyo

[veemax]

hey rocket people, long time R3 owner, new to this forum. out here in the wide open spaces, casper wyo. currently in the crowded single garage stable: 6 triumphs, 2 yamahas, 1 kawasaki. most are oldies, a few newer. when i saw the first pics of the rocket in march 04 i was hooked. the brits had the balls to build something so different! deposit sent the next day, picked up the red beast in july 04. 9 years and 57 k miles now. **** thats it?!! feels like i rode her more than that! dark side now for 45k. it finally broke at 51 k miles. drive shaft failed and so did the ignition switch. other than that she has been rock solid. so here is where im at: ride the beast until the wheels fall off or trade it in on a brand new roadster before more things break. who knows, maybe it will go as long as a gold wing?! hard to say. cant go with the touring as it is far too ugly. the factory dudes who penned that one should be ***** slapped!! sorry. the only problem trading her or selling her is that it has the dreaded "death rattle" at 1700 rpms. has had it since 7k miles or so and of course dissapears as soon as she begins to warm. ive heard this is a $2500 repair. i assume the new ones have no "rattle". can you imagine selling the beast without disclosing that the engine rattles until warm? any way i love her and probably will always have a rocket or until someone else tops it. hmmmmm, what if yamaha took that 1700 v4 and bolted it into a big honkin cruiser that could be toured on?!! oh the possibilities. thanks for listening............... scott








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[pete.triumph]

welcome from down under

your title VEEMAX sounds youe own a VMAX 1700 NOW the question is do you love your rocket3 more or as your vmax hint there is only one right answer

 

[peter k]

Welcome veemax v max also a nice bike. nice stable of bikes ya got there ,

 

[Wetrudgeon]

Welcome from Texas. Sounds like your Beast has served you well.

We too have considered the implications of the Yamaha people bolting that big ole 1700 v4 motor into their Royal Star. It would be interesting.

We trudge on.

 

[idk]

G'day and welcome.

One of my favourite moments in my RIII travels was in Casper. I was fuelling the bike up and getting a snack when a boy, probably about 10 years old, started talking to me. He asked if I was from around there, and then proceeded to tell me why Casper was the best place in the world. He said that the hunting was good, he could ride dirt bikes all over the place, Yellowstone was just down the road, etc. etc. etc. I have never met a kid who was aware of the good things about his home, let alone one who appreciated his home town and state as much.

The best solution for the ignition switch problem is to install something like the Eastern Beaver bypass kit, and/or a keyless ignition system.

 

[Rocket65]

o4 model

Depending on your finances and desire, you could fix the ignition and drive shaft and trade it with the noise. It will be warmed up when the dealer test drives it.
When I had the rattle fixed it was about $1400. Might have been less but they went into it twice. First time, they adjusted the valves and put in new tensioners. The new tensioners helped but did not fix the problem. The next time they did the new chain and new sprocket. It is really quiet now. So, I don't think $1400 is too bad including the valve adjustment. Bought my 05 knowing it had the problem (9400 miles now) My original rattle was pretty loud and never went away hot or cold.

 

[mr hunt]

Welcome veemax

 

[TexCav]

Welcome from Cowtown, TX! Come on down for a visit in October!:bch::bch:

 

[stephantmi]

Welcome

I assume you don't like the look of any bagger... I think the R3T is gorgeous, it's big strong and impressive... like a bagger should be. I'm sorry, but you are just wrong, obviously, beauty is not in the eye of the beholder.

 

[cootertwo]

I have to agree with veemax, floor boards belong in cars and trucks, not motorcycles.