I wanna buy one but . . . .

[scot in exile]

Have to agree they are the worst bikes ever made, they look fugly break down at every turn, every body asks you questions about them, they are typical British rust buckets, you only get 200 miles on the rear tyre, the headlight bulbs only last a fortnight, it only has five gears one down one up and three side ways.
No one should ever buy a Rocket when my 2005 with 44000 trouble free miles ever breaks down I think i will buy a HD.

 

[snuffcityrider]

Close to 30,000 trouble free miles. The only problem is that I can't stop thinking of ways to put "bling" on it.

 

[rayjay]

Hi Tommy...i did what your doing..came on here..at about july of last year and drove the guys nuts for about a week or so. I had heard lots of horror stories, camshaft, gearbox. final drive, etc.etc. Sure there were some problems with earlier bikes, but that can apply to any new bike and any manufactuer..had enough harleys to know that.
I also believe that bikes built after NOV 08 have all the upgraded parts.
But what really swayed me..is the fact that triumph stand by their product.
I got my new standard in sept 09 and absolutely love it.. The only downside i can find is that it makes everything else that you ride feels like a scooter i would recomend that you get a battery tender of some sort. I like to judge a bike on how it makes me feel and triumph knew what they were doing when they called it rocket...because it makes me feel like neil armstrong Hope this helps

ray

 

[xhdskip]

Honesty huh?
YOU WANT THE TRUTH?
YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH,
because way down in places you don't like to think about....

Sorry, medication...
Seriously I thought it was the ugliest bike I'd ever seen.
Then I took it for a test ride.
Now have two, one for me, BLACK of course,
and bought a red (slower model) for the wife.
We both like them.

 

[crazyman]

I've had my R3T for a year now. 22000 miles and only had the fuel gauge and clutch switch replaced under warranty. 10k service intervals are nice, but expensive for those of us that aren't mechanics....... I do the simple stuff, but dealer service gets expensive. Every six months or so for me.

I still love my Rocket though !

 

[RocketDaryl]

I had a 2008 Touring model. I some issues early on, but then had the bike for another year with zero issues.

Issues within the first 9 months and less than 6k miles:

- Mirrors kept coming loose
- Blown head gasket
- GPS replaced under recall (or service bulletin)
- Tyres replaced under recall
- Clutch lifter shaft snapped in half; fixed under warranty

My bike was babied. The lifter shaft snapped as I was down shifting to stop for a red light. The old tires looked great when they were taken off. They had 5500 miles on them and I'm sure I'd have put at least 11-12k miles on them before they would've needed replacing. They were recalled because there some issues with torque induced separation on some. That tells me some folks were riding their bikes harder than the tire could handle. It was a mistake for Triumph to put a tire on the bike that couldn't handle what the bike is capable of. That said, I think they probably thought folks that bought a "Touring" bike wouldn't ride like that.

Anyhow, I sold the bike last month and bought a new Thunderbird and am much happier. I didn't sell mine because of the issues I had. I sold it because I just simply never bonded with the bike. Of course, I wasn't happy about the clutch lifter shaft and the headgasket (those are major issues, IMO), but the other stuff was minor. Again, the tires were fine on my bike. I also never had issues with the GPS. It was just replaced at the same time they did the lifter shaft; again, due to a service bulletin or recall.

 

[Molinoman]

Well, Skippy, if red is so slow why is the word on the street that you get showed up pretty bad when both of you ride together. That is why I got the red/black combo...the best of both worlds.

Dennis

49 dtg Dubai
50 dtg Home

 

[bcbatman]

Buy the Triumph

Ok I'm about to buy the 2009 Tour At least I think I am
I have been hearing stories about chronic repair issues with the R3
The break down frequently and are expensive to keep up .
Please tell me this isn't true ! What issues can I expect if any ?
I appreciate your honest responses ! True or false ?
Thanks

Tom
Boston

Talk to a Harley rider about break downs. Buy the Triumph.
bcbatman

 

[anhouck]

28,000 on an '06 RIII. The dang thing keeps running through rear tires -er- maybe that's just the way it's ridden (not a tire burner - just like the twisties and throttle combo on the beast).

Link Removed

Other than that - no trouble besides the slight bling-adding-issue mentioned in previous post.


Oh - and it'll run on the water used to hose off the gas station pumps - at least that's what I've heard and will find out when I'm able to run through a few tanks of the stuff. 32 High today and the glacier in front of the driveway an inch thicker than in January.

 

[xhdskip]

Well, Skippy, if red is so slow why is the word on the street that you get showed up pretty bad when both of you ride together. That is why I got the red/black combo...the best of both worlds.

Dennis

49 dtg Dubai
50 dtg Home

Now Dennis,
You know them women tell stories the way they want em to come out.
Why, I'd smoke her If I wanted to,
(and she couldn't whup me)
But since I don't, and she can,
guess I'll just slink on off to a corner and lick my wounds.