New member, no rocket yet...

[dutchie]

Howdy folks!

I'm a new member from Durham, NC. I don't have an R3, but I'm seriously considering one. My current daily is an '86 FJ1200 which is no slouch by any means, but I don't like it for two up riding. As a matter of fact, my girl hates it.

I am interested to hear from captains and pillions alike about their two up experience. I am putting about 15k miles on the FJ annually, of which 5k is touring with the both of us.

I have a few specific questions:

How does your passenger like 600+ miles per day?
Are you doing this on stock seats?
Stock suspension?
If I buy an older model, what would I need to look for?
Are there any recalls?
Any common (small) problems?
Does the rocket use an OBDII interface?

Does anyone want to help me finance a rocket by buying my FJ1200? Or my GL1000? or my cb350? or my '72 thunderbird? (The girl says these have to go before I buy anything else

Thanks for your input!

 

[Pig9r]

Welcome dutchie.

I can answer some of your questions.

The stock seat sucks. There are some aftermarket and a touring seat offered by Triumph that are better suited.

The stock shocks also suck. Progressive 440's seem to be the first upgrade most do.

With an older model just make sure it has been serviced and that it hasn't had an idle or output shaft bearing issues.

For the older models there was a recall for the final drive unit.

Not a whole lot of "common" issues.... idle and output shaft bearing issues are the most talked about but really only have effected a relatively small number. A few have reported tranny issues. For every one that has had a problem there are several more that have not had any for thousands of miles.

Yes the Rocket uses OBDII. In fact if you get the Tuneboy software and usb cable you get full access to the ECU including fuel mapping, ignition, rev limit etc..

Don't sell any toys, tell the woman that she will be lucky if she gets to stay after you get a Rocket.

 

[dutchie]

Thanks, Pig9r.

So I guess people are happy enough with the front suspension ?

What characterizes the idle issue? (I'll also search)

 

[Pig9r]

There are progressive springs available for the front but the rear is the most noticeable because the swing arm doesn't move too much with the stock shocks.

There have been a few Rockets that have not been able to maintain idle. The problem seems to be with the throttle position sensor. Triumph released a new set of tunes for the ECUs that is supposed to resolve the problem.

 

[snuffcityrider]

My wife and I love the Rocket, but she hates the seat (Classic seat). We are going the custom route with Russel Day Long Saddles.

 

[dutchie]

Thanks for the reply snuffcityrider. I actually found a picture of those Russel saddles on

[URL="http://www.pashnit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3768"]Pashnit[/URL]

. Looks mighty comfy.
Do you guys ever ride two up on mountainous roads? (We would be riding the blue ridge parkway a lot.) I am just trying to make sure that this would be the right bike for us. (Not that there is a lot of competition) I guess I'm still considering the vtx1800, but I don't really like v twins. The other one would be a yamaha royal star, but I'm not sure It'll give me the oomph that I like so much.

 

[snuffcityrider]

Not to many mountains here in south central Texas, but there are alot of hills and tight twisty roads, and we do a lot of Farm to Market road riding. My wife likes to ride slow and take in the scenery and the bike performs well for that and for my like of speed when I'm solo. The bike really handles well.

 

[HeR3tic]

http://triumph.ppofc.com/ Chattanooga may be a ways from you but the clearance prices may be worth it.

The Classic seat becomes more comfortable with time. 7 months later now and I wouldn't trade mine, though the newer model with the rider back rest would be my alternative. I found: motorcyclebackbuddy.com as my alternative. As for the pillion portion, nothing would improve the seat enough for my wife. Let's face it, there's not much support, so I fully understand.

Welcome to the Forum

 

[dutchie]

Thanks for the welcome. Before I start shopping for accessories, I first ought to score me a rocket . They are relatively hard to come by in the local used market. They also seem to hold their value well, which is good but also a little bad...

 

[Gunshots]

My wife rides much of the time with me. and I get the same line that HeR3tic is getting. I'll be looking for a new seat, I have had several Corbins and have been pleased with them. But the AllDay seat seems to have a good following. I will look into several before buying. Captains seat is fine for me but we rarely ride over 400mi per day.

PS: The Goodyear Eagle flattens out the road helping bunches