Howdy, folks. Mainer here.
I'm a long-time admirer of Triumph, and especially the R3. I rode various bikes from my later teen years into my mid 20's, then took a break from riding in order to prioritize getting married and starting a family. Several years later, now in my early 30's, we've established a good family unit and my wife was ok with me getting back into the 2-wheeled world. In April of this year I picked up a 2003 Yamaha VMax as I liked the look, it was affordable, and it would strike a nice balance between cruisability + sportiness.
Fast forward a few months, I've logged nearly 5k miles on it, using it as my main mode of transportation on good weather days, and I've Maxed (lol) out its performance with a number of recommended bolt-on parts. Now comfortable back on a bike and looking for something newer, "nicer", and with more power, yesterday I decided to finally pull the trigger on my 2023 Triumph Rocket 3R. Had under 10 miles when I drove it off the lot, and I got it for $21k since it's last year's model and the dealer was getting a $4k kickback from Triumph to get rid of it.
Words can't really express how impressed I am with the bike. It's everything I've been looking for, and I feel exhilarated every time I get on it.