Phalanx
.040 Over
I have been staring at them. Watching youtube videos. Talking to folks about them. Visiting the dealer. bookmarking, researching, watching videos and generally becoming entirely friggen obsessed with them for going on 4 months now.
They are hands down a work of art, a road eating godzilla of epic proportions that any norse or greek god would be happy to ride. An engineering masterpiece and a full on dose of firebreathing dragon.
"Them" would of course be the Triumph Rockets.......
My last ride was a 1994 K1100LT that I rode every day I could. It fit my 6' 1" frame and even though it was top heavy, I still enjoyed it.
The K1100LT is a shaft-drive, dry clutch bike. On mine (apparently the only K1100LT lemon in all of Virginia) the rear deep seal decided to die and leak oil into the clutch, which of course made it work much much better.
I mean, you let out the clutch and you get this nice engine whine and it would stay perfectly in place, without using the brake! Awesome.
2 hours in a trailer up to Lynchburg...~$1500 later and wheeeeee!
For about 3 months. Then BAM. Hey guys, check me out, I can pretend to be going really fast without moving at all!
2 hours in a trailer up to Lynchburg....Same problem. Deep seal leaked, clutch = dead...They fixed it but sort of already started giving me a hard time. I didn't crawl in there and stab that seal, I didn't hire transmission gnomes to throw a party in there and destroy it. By trip #2, I'm no longer a happy guy.
Get it home, ride it for another 6 months, and i kid you not....Same....Friggen...problem.
2 hours in a trailer up to Lynchburg....Same problem....I have to talk to the mechanic and manager. Guys, C'mon. Seriously? Did we get the "super cheap third-hand part from who-knows-where" to fix it?
They give me a hard time about fixing it again under warranty, but then the mechanic lets something slip...."oh hey, yea, there is this SECOND seal down there, sort of didn't know about that, didn't replace that the first two times and that was totally gone". It's left me on the side of the road twice now because you forgot a part? and tried to charge me another $1500 for it? Yea. NO.
So, I get them to fix it (like they should have done in the first place) ride it for another year and then....Electrical problem. A relay decides it's done.
After the 4th time of getting left on the side of the road I was done. I already knew I was done with that dealer but now I was just done and that's where it left off a few years ago.
Life has since conspired to keep me out of the saddle for other reasons; A shredded ACL from an 18' fall and then taking care of my dad who had Alzheimers/Dementia in my home 24x7 for 11 months.
I buried my dad in may of this year (2015); Alzheimers took everything from him and the Veterans Admin system failed us badly (both of us being Navy Vets, I expected so much more from them), but we figured out what worked for us and I tried my best to keep him safe/comfortable.
I bought my 2015 Rocket 3 Touring (cranberry & black) today at 2:00pm eastern and as strange as it may sound to some, my first ride on this brand new bike was the 12 or so miles over to Hollywood cemetary to visit Dad and show off the new bike to him. I remember his laugh and big eyes when I brought the BMW over the first time. I know, I absolutely know he would have had a big stupid grin on his face looking at this thing and I wish I could have taken him for a ride.
I am a 42 year old rocket owner. I am a U.S Navy Vet (turned 18 in bootcamp). I am going to burn up the asphalt and ride every day I can and if it were possible, I'd have flames and lightning shooting out of this thing while doing it.
It didnt take a test drive, didn't need one, it kept calling to me and today I am back home in the saddle!!!!
They are hands down a work of art, a road eating godzilla of epic proportions that any norse or greek god would be happy to ride. An engineering masterpiece and a full on dose of firebreathing dragon.
"Them" would of course be the Triumph Rockets.......
My last ride was a 1994 K1100LT that I rode every day I could. It fit my 6' 1" frame and even though it was top heavy, I still enjoyed it.
The K1100LT is a shaft-drive, dry clutch bike. On mine (apparently the only K1100LT lemon in all of Virginia) the rear deep seal decided to die and leak oil into the clutch, which of course made it work much much better.
I mean, you let out the clutch and you get this nice engine whine and it would stay perfectly in place, without using the brake! Awesome.
2 hours in a trailer up to Lynchburg...~$1500 later and wheeeeee!
For about 3 months. Then BAM. Hey guys, check me out, I can pretend to be going really fast without moving at all!
2 hours in a trailer up to Lynchburg....Same problem. Deep seal leaked, clutch = dead...They fixed it but sort of already started giving me a hard time. I didn't crawl in there and stab that seal, I didn't hire transmission gnomes to throw a party in there and destroy it. By trip #2, I'm no longer a happy guy.
Get it home, ride it for another 6 months, and i kid you not....Same....Friggen...problem.
2 hours in a trailer up to Lynchburg....Same problem....I have to talk to the mechanic and manager. Guys, C'mon. Seriously? Did we get the "super cheap third-hand part from who-knows-where" to fix it?
They give me a hard time about fixing it again under warranty, but then the mechanic lets something slip...."oh hey, yea, there is this SECOND seal down there, sort of didn't know about that, didn't replace that the first two times and that was totally gone". It's left me on the side of the road twice now because you forgot a part? and tried to charge me another $1500 for it? Yea. NO.
So, I get them to fix it (like they should have done in the first place) ride it for another year and then....Electrical problem. A relay decides it's done.
After the 4th time of getting left on the side of the road I was done. I already knew I was done with that dealer but now I was just done and that's where it left off a few years ago.
Life has since conspired to keep me out of the saddle for other reasons; A shredded ACL from an 18' fall and then taking care of my dad who had Alzheimers/Dementia in my home 24x7 for 11 months.
I buried my dad in may of this year (2015); Alzheimers took everything from him and the Veterans Admin system failed us badly (both of us being Navy Vets, I expected so much more from them), but we figured out what worked for us and I tried my best to keep him safe/comfortable.
I bought my 2015 Rocket 3 Touring (cranberry & black) today at 2:00pm eastern and as strange as it may sound to some, my first ride on this brand new bike was the 12 or so miles over to Hollywood cemetary to visit Dad and show off the new bike to him. I remember his laugh and big eyes when I brought the BMW over the first time. I know, I absolutely know he would have had a big stupid grin on his face looking at this thing and I wish I could have taken him for a ride.
I am a 42 year old rocket owner. I am a U.S Navy Vet (turned 18 in bootcamp). I am going to burn up the asphalt and ride every day I can and if it were possible, I'd have flames and lightning shooting out of this thing while doing it.
It didnt take a test drive, didn't need one, it kept calling to me and today I am back home in the saddle!!!!