Why Did You Do It???

I had a 73 T140 Bonnie that I purchased a couple years ago and had been quite impressed with it. It had been many years since I even rode, and most of them where cheep Honda's. Well after riding the bonnie for over a year I was getting tired of the kick start, especially while getting the looks as I was repeatedly having to kick when it got really hot. Well I had explained to my wife that it was time to get something new. She was OK with the idea and we looked around. Her first idea was to go to the local HD place and look around. That ended quickly when I saw what I was getting for the money. Well I told her I like the Old Bonnie and I wanted to look at Triumph for a cruiser. I started looking online and at a dealer near by. I actually started getting fascinated with the America / Speedmaster and the T-bird. I saw the Rocket but figured she was well out of my league! The trigger was actually pulled by my wife thanks to a short ride on the Bonnie. We decided to take a ride to Gettysburg, PA. It wasn't that long of a ride but as we pulled into our driveway after the cruise I get the "Let me the F!@$ off this thing". The Bonnie had its orginal seat, and I loved it, she didn't! Well she went into the house and sat down at the computer. Looked online at Hermy's which is a local dealer and she comes back out and says you need to see this! Well it was the 07 R3 Classic with around 4K on it and less then 10K in price. We sure enough I was there later that week for a test ride and they where lucky I got off of it long enough to sign the papers!

On another note! I rode it home that night of course! Well I filled up just before we where getting onto the highway and I told my wife that I was going to see what it could do on the on ramp. She said OK, just be careful and I will see you at home. Well I got to the on ramp and its a 20 MPH curve then a strait shot onto the highway. Its about 8:30PM and the traffic is no where to be found. I cracked back on the throttle and I haven't stopped smiling about it since!

Why I Bought a Rocket III

I bought my first Rocket because I wanted to switch from a full dress touring bike to more of a cruiser but, I wanted more performance than V-twins have to offer. I also wanted something a little different. So, when I discovered the R3 while demo riding bikes at Sturgis one year I simply fell in love. It handles and performs unbelieveable for such a bike of its size. So, now after five years or so I have two. I own a 2005 standard and a 2008 Touring model. I've dressed each to suit me and love both. I think ultmately it's the engine I like most.

Been riding Harley's for 14 years after a long lay-off from road riding and had the move to the Rocket planned for years. Liked them from the beginning but cant really say why - just did.

A real factor was that, at 66, my riding days were numbered and I just had to have one, even if I didn't like it in the end. As its turned out I am now spoilt, what would take its place? There aint nothing that can be so good at either end of the spectrum, comfortably bimble around town or burn rubber on the open road - impressive.

Sold my Road King in 2007
,When it came time for a new Bike I had already decided it wouldnt be another Harley, or one of the many Harley clones that are out there.
I looked up Triumph online and wanted the Rocket as soon as I saw it.....
The rest as they say is History

johnreeder said:

I bought my first Rocket because I wanted to switch from a full dress touring bike to more of a cruiser but, I wanted more performance than V-twins have to offer. I also wanted something a little different. So, when I discovered the R3 while demo riding bikes at Sturgis one year I simply fell in love. It handles and performs unbelieveable for such a bike of its size. So, now after five years or so I have two. I own a 2005 standard and a 2008 Touring model. I've dressed each to suit me and love both. I think ultmately it's the engine I like most.

Click to expand...

Much the same here tired of cooking behind the full fairing and didn't like any thing else naked out but I wanted another shaft drive saw the rockets ugly good looks that only a mother could love but I al so the potential to make it mine so at the 2007 Uylsses AGM I test rode one .............. Took three years but I got my sex on wheels "The Mistress" and I doubt I will ever be able to buy any other bike again after 2 1/2 years I still get buzz and a silly grin like the one you get after good sex after ride on my Mistress!!

In 2010, we began to be concerned that while our '99 F-6 Valkyrie was ageing gracefully, she was nonetheless ageing and replacement parts and bling were becoming progressively more difficult to obtain. Ah, but what does one do for an encore to a Valk? Few bikes can equal a copy of Honda's mighty F-6; and fewer still can surpass. We had seen the Beast from afar, but were a bit skeptical. We knew little of current Triumph offerings, but we are old enough to remember when Triumph motorbikes were not known for their reliability (and that is puting it as kindly as we can). After some research, we decided to have a test ride on a Beast. Glad we did.

The Beast is a bit more "raw" than the Valk, but her virtues are numerous.

We trudge on.

The Rocket's the only bike I've sat on and felt like I "fit". I'm not a huge guy but even on dad's new Thunderbird - I feel like I'm too large for it. No way that happens with the rocket. Once it's rolling down the highway - the bike sheds it weight quickly and handles well... Did I mention the torque? LOL

It also gets attention everywhere it goes. I love that about the bike. I spent almost 1/2 as some of the HD guys but when I pull in its a Rocket show. LOL

A year ago last March, We rode our Valkyrie Interstate to Weatherford to meet up for a ride, but the wife is allergic to "early" and everyone had left by the time we got there. I told her jokingly that she owed me a day of bike shopping now. We had 92K on the Valk, but was in no hurry to buy. We drove to the Triumph dealer in Ft Worth and saw a Roadster out front. I took it for a spin and it blew me away! Rocket was the only thing you could name the thing. We wandered over to the garage and saw them putting together the first Touring I had ever seen and was instantly in love. They told us to come back on Monday to test drive it. Instead we drove over to European Cycle Sport in Plano and saw my bike. After a test drive, we did the paperwork and brought her home. Left for NYC the very next week. It was funny driving it to work and parking in the dozen or so Harleys, and watching all those guys crowd around it admiring it and a couple of them actually saying they were jealous(especially because of the price). When asked why I didnt buy an HD I had to tell them: you guys sit in the breakroom all day and tell each other what broke this week and what you had to pay for last week and totally talked me out of a Harley....besides LOOK at this Rocket! Wanna race?

Had a Bonnie SE and loved it. Looked at her then stablemate a Yamaha VStar 1300, and thought I'd like to replace it with another Triumph someday...

A few months later I went to the dealer to ***** about my "thank a hero money" and there she was; a 2011 Touring, sitting there (I later find out she was transferred from another dealer) at a price you couldn't ignore and a few weeks later I was riding her home.

Had a Vulcan 900 Custom for a few years when the wife says "We need to get a bigger bike."
Any husband knows that you can't hesitate when something like that happens.