MC Cruise a long time to install....but wow!

[Longrider]

I just have to have a rave about MC Cruise.
When I received the box and had a look inside it scared the devil out of me. I took three weekends of procrastination, read the detailed manual about five times, drank a lot of fire water and eventually attacked it. It seemed that I had to just keep taking more bits off the bike to put little bits on ..... but .... just went for a test ride and the whole thing worked seamlessly. I have been riding my 04 Rocket since new with a throttle lock - across Australia three times including once south to north .... now I'm ready to go again. Best mod I have put on the beast besides Darkside, Ramair, Tune ECU, Progressives (front and back), Bags, Foran Dumper, (can't wait for Viking System). I'm now absolutely more rapt in the Rocket that will be definatly my last bike .... although I am thinking about getting another, but it will have to be an 04.

 

[mully95]

Good for you. We love pictures!

 

[Dawg68]

Interested, pics please.

 

[Longrider]

The story of the Rocket. In 2006 I heard about one of those super powerful Rocket things that a man had bought and fell off the first day. After that he put it in a shed claiming that it had all been Triumph's fault.
Later that year a mate called me to say he had a friend who had cancer who had a shed full of MG's and old Triumphs and there was one huge thing that I might be interested in as a project .... it had been dropped.
It turned out to be the mythical Rocket, a bit bent (all cosmetic) with 236 km on the speedo. The story went that this fellow had picked up the bike and rode like a ratbag (unregistered) when the rear end seized and spat him off. The bike went back to the Triumph dealer who seemingly replaced the final drive. You can still see the oil stains in the rear rim on sunny dusty days. I made a ridiculously low offer and as cash was needed I got it. I spent around 6 months working on her, rubbed back the scratched on the radiator shrouds, got thunder thunderbike bars from NZ, straightened bits out, had a friend remake the crushed bearclaw and put mesh in it. Another tank, complete with a couple of little dents from the US and interestingly .... new front rotors as the wave washers in the factory ones were all broken? The dealer still won't talk to me about the bike or supply its original service book. So here I was with a new (to me ) rocket ... I will admit that I fell head over heels for it. As soon as I got it registered I booked a day with Dennis Foran for him to custom build a dumper single pipe. Sounds like a Merlin engine under noise. The only dealer its ever been near is Anders in Canberra (after careful research). I've had the second gear jump out thing happen but care, proper clutch adjustment and learning to feel the shift helped a lot. I have had a variety of seats and bags on her, including a custom Metcruise dual seat and footboards but at the moment is in Solo touring trim. Moving the ignition switch allowed me to put duel USB power source in the old ignition hole, great for bar mounted iPhone (1000 songs blue toothed to my helmet) Overall the best bike I have ever owned. Every now and again I listen to the cam chain guides and decide I'm not hearing anything. Waiting for some Paul Bryant manic to happen ....... I don't know if the Rocket will ever remain static in terms of being worked on.

 

[cr0ft]

Yeah, I'm thinking the MC Cruise will probably go on my bike this winter. I've been thinking about it for a while, time to get on it. Glad to hear another happy user sing its praises.

 

[rocketjohn]

They (MC Cruise peolpe) have a laundry list of specific pieces of kit to order.....could you give a list of what you procured to make the thing work for you?

 

[Joesmoe]

Oh no my good Captain @rocketjohn - you would order the Triumph Rocket III Touring kit. See the link in my signature.

The ONLY thing the kit did NOT include, were 'T' pieces to deal with the plumbing associated with the evaporative canister.

The step-by-step instructions, liberally illustrated with photos from an actual installation on an actual Rocket, are among the best produced anywhere.

 

[rocketjohn]

Oh, Joe, you link is dead, MC Cruise have moved the information. But found it, and oh my, the price!

 

[Joesmoe]

You were too fast.

Try again.

And if you order this one, it is improved over the one I installed (I'm installing the new one on my commuter bike).

He switched from the vacuum-driven servo to an electric solenoid.

 

[Joesmoe]

And worth every penny, if you have the penny to spare.

This is Touring -- and being in the saddle a while.

Obviously, humans are tremendously adaptable - witness the Iron Butt entries -- some of that august group are here !

Need butt -- see all the discussion about seats

Need legs -- I'm looking at highway pegs now

Need hands and wrists -- see the discussions about risers, and . . . cruise control.

I use that almost every time I get on the bike. Just makes a huge difference (to me) of being able to alternate hands.

Not the only way to do it, to be sure. It's just nice I don't have to worry about the cop just behind the next hill, and I don't have to keep looking down at the tank. I can pay attention to the road, the traffic, and have a little time left over to enjoy the scenery and talk to my wife.

To each their own. I don't know that I would make the same decision once retired.