Rock Ape

.040 Over
Joined
Aug 30, 2020
Messages
98
Ride
Rocket 3 R
Let me start by saying I love this bike and contrary to some of what I write about it, I still do..... even though I have barely had it half the time I have owned it actually on the road. Some Triumph issues, some mine, some a combination of both.

Started as many who frequent this forum know, the clutch blowing up. That took it off the road for 2 months and cost me $2000 AUD.

Then after years of accident-free riding, was wiped out twice in the space of 5 days by cars in Sydney.

Nothing I could do in either case but it is what it is. But what a bike! :cool:

The first one left me wedged half under a car with the bike on top of me. A miracle! No damage to the bike as my body smothered it - protecting it from the road. The Road Gods were with me that day. Plenty of bumps and bruises and sore for a week or so, but she was unhurt. :)

5 days later, with no time to react, a parked car took off and turned at last second in front of me to turn into a road diagonally opposite it. :mad: Hit me ... somehow I stayed upright and more damage was done to the car than the bike. What a bike as I said! 😍

But this time it needed it repairs. Rideable though, and I decided to wait out the 6 weeks before the repairer could fit me in. (Seems like a lot of bikes are getting wiped out). 🤨

Then torrential rain. I had left the bike on a hard grass surface in my fiancee's front yard as I headed for a business trip for 2 days. Slowly the stand sunk into the grass and she tipped. No damage as fiancee and 2 neighbours got her upright. 😝 Heavy.

Got home keen to take her for a ride and all was well until it wasn't. :)

Aside from the usual fob out of distance warning light, no signs of any other issues until I stopped one day for a rest by the side of the road in a dodgy neighbourhood for a quick smoke before continuing my travels. Then she would not start! Thought the day had come when the battery in the fob truly did run out of charge but no problems, I carried the spare "key" with me. Only that day, I found out I did not!! ****!!! So in the middle of nowhere, I walk an hour to find somewhere to find a battery for the key fob.

As luck would have it, a little Chinese guy in a tiny computer repair store became my hero. Replaced the battery, charged me next to nothing, left him a nice tip and off I went for the hour walk back to the bike. At this stage I am lying. I caught a cab back. :)

Ready to get back on the road, I go through the start-up process...... No luck..... WTF?! I spend the next hour trying over and over and praying to all the gods I could think of but none had any answers for me. Only Triumph engineers were going to solve this I thought unless I could convince the step-son to drive an hour and bring me my spare key. Great kid - he did! So confidently I repeat the process - NOTHING! Now I swear at the gods ... but it's not their fault. They only specialise in Japanese bikes.

So long story short, I call the repairer to come get the bike earlier than the 6 weeks they originally said they could fit it in.

By now, I am thinking insurance would give me a new bike if it was wiped out by a car parked where I was - not the safest place and odds not that bad. Was kind of feeling like it was a great option or given the repairer could not pick it up until the next day, maybe someone would steal it overnight.

But not to be. It safely arrived at the repairer the next day. A few weeks later, I get a call saying it was the battery, but it would be a warranty repair and not cost me a cent. "What Rocket 3?".... I had almost forgotten I owned one. :) Was then told it could be a couple of months before she could be repaired because there were literally NO parts in Oz to fix it and parts in the UK were hard to come by and slower even to ship to Oz.

So used to it being off the road, I was like; "Take your time!".

The missus has convinced me it is jinxed as I said at the start of this long rant. She wants me to sell it. No way! It's the best **** bike there is .... when it is actually on the road!

In the meantime, riding a brand new Gen 2 Huyabusa I picked up for next to a song given the Gen 3 has just arrived. But that's another story.........
 
Why did the clutch repair cost 2000 dollars and not repaired under warranty as the battery issue was?
They were pricks about it. Said I was doing burnouts and riding it hard with TC on which I wasn't. At the same time they had that promotional video of the Rocket 3's doing burnouts through Las Vegas out. Under contract, they said "wear and tear" not covered. There's a long thread or two about it here.
 
The "jinx" continues. Now told parts to fix the bike won't be in Australia until at least end of July at the earliest.
She's been in the shop for ages already. Might just pick her up and ride her damaged - still ok. Otherwise my first 12 months of ownership will pass with something like 9 months in the shop. 3 months rideable.
 
Picked her up yesterday and try not to look at the damage. :) Great to have her back on the road. As much as I also like the Busa I bought in the mean time, she just feels like another sports bike, albeit larger and super comfortable for my size. The R is another thing altogether. I forgot how much attention she gets. :) Now to wait until August until the parts arrive to fix her properly. Hopefully the jinx is now over.
 
Picked her up yesterday and try not to look at the damage. :) Great to have her back on the road. As much as I also like the Busa I bought in the mean time, she just feels like another sports bike, albeit larger and super comfortable for my size. The R is another thing altogether. I forgot how much attention she gets. :) Now to wait until August until the parts arrive to fix her properly. Hopefully the jinx is now over.
easy?😂😂😂😂
 
Just got my red R on Friday after a 6 month wait. Reading your story, I am certain my bike will be trouble free as you seem to have received everyone’s bad juju… 😂 Seriously though, I feel for you, I’d haaaate to be without it now and I’ve only been on it a half dozen times so far!
 
Update: Parts now will probably not arrive until September. That has been a wait since March. So as much as I still love the bike, it irks me every time I have to look at my damaged bike. I estimate in the 12-15 months or whatever I have had her, less than 3 months she's been home with me immaculate. Either 3 months waiting on a new clutch that went after a month or so, 3 weeks for a warranty battery repair and this. Come on Triumph.
 
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