Yamaha rider - considering a new Rocket III - would like advice

[cusso ken]

Not all your fellow Auzzies are so "exclusively road bikes".........

Great Vid ,But! WTF was that accent I was trying to work it out ! Looks fun, and some nice Aussie Scenery, And there are hundreds of those old pubs around the traps , by the way did you know Aussies invented motorcycle dirt track speedway,

 

[CanberraR3]

But if your heart is focused on an attention getting cruiser, the R3 is a great choice.

Ouch! Not doubting the bike's too much for some people, but for some of us it's just right.

 

[Evil Mitch]

I ride mine everyday mate and im a mere 75kg. Welcome to the site and enjoy the new beast. Now everyone with those stupid computer pixel avitars change them to something origional its doing my head in

 

[Ogremeister]

Ouch! Not doubting the bike's too much for some people, but for some of us it's just right.

I've noticed that a lot of large people fit on the R3 well.
Whereas, they look like a circus bear riding a tricycle on anything less massive.

One thing's for sure...once you are used to riding a Rocket, almost anything else seems small.

And that has been a very good thing for me. When I had a FJR, other feejer riders would say things about its weight, heaviness or size....I would laugh. It felt like a sport bike to me. Same/same with my S10...people say it's a heavy ADV bike but feels like a little dirt bike to me.

 

[CanberraR3]

I'm 80kgs, just under 5'11". I don't ride a Rocket because it's needed to lug my huge frame around nor for the attention it attracts. I ride my Rocket because it's the best bike available for what I do, which includes ridding in traffic every day. My bike's about 94cm (37ins) at it's widest point ie handle bar. Tenere isn't much different. Just how much room do you need to get through traffic? I don't take it off road but I doubt I'd find much use for a bike I could anyway, much as I like the idea of also getting a Tiger.

 

[cusso ken]

I've noticed that a lot of large people fit on the R3 well.
Whereas, they look like a circus bear riding a tricycle on anything less massive.

One thing's for sure...once you are used to riding a Rocket, almost anything else seems small.

And that has been a very good thing for me. When I had a FJR, other feejer riders would say things about its weight, heaviness or size....I would laugh. It felt like a sport bike to me. Same/same with my S10...people say it's a heavy ADV bike but feels like a little dirt bike to me.

I've noticed that a lot of large people fit on the R3 well.
Whereas, they look like a circus bear riding a tricycle on anything less massive.

One thing's for sure...once you are used to riding a Rocket, almost anything else seems small.

And that has been a very good thing for me. When I had a FJR, other feejer riders would say things about its weight, heaviness or size....I would laugh. It felt like a sport bike to me. Same/same with my S10...people say it's a heavy ADV bike but feels like a little dirt bike to me.

You mean like me 6 1" 110 kgs 25 years ago sitting on my 1984 superglide2 I thought it was a "huge" bike now its a mini bike

 

[Ogremeister]

I'm 80kgs, just under 5'11". I don't ride a Rocket because it's needed to lug my huge frame around nor for the attention it attracts. I ride my Rocket because it's the best bike available for what I do, which includes ridding in traffic every day. My bike's about 94cm (37ins) at it's widest point ie handle bar. Tenere isn't much different. Just how much room do you need to get through traffic? I don't take it off road but I doubt I'd find much use for a bike I could anyway, much as I like the idea of also getting a Tiger.

If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail...

If I only had the R3, then that's all I would ride.

I am about the same weight as Evil Mitch. 165 pounds, 5 foot 10 inches. The R3 is not big for me it's just fine. I just got back from a 12 day trip to Colorado & back. GPS says 4003.9 miles, for that trip. (That sounds low, maybe I reset it?)

edit: trip meter #2 on bike was set at start and I just checked it....4,851 miles

I save my R3 for trips & a (very) occasional day ride with other cruisers. I've ridden the R3 to California and back last year and the year before. Utah and back the year before that. And I go south through the Appalacians for destinations from West Virginia to northern Georgia, multiple times, each season.

Why burn up my tires and jolt my bike and my body on the nasty roads around here (northwestern Pennsylvania)? (And BTW, I have upgraded Wilbers suspension on the Roadster.)

Even if they re-pave a road, it's crap again in a year or 2 again because of the excessive freeze/thaw cycles we have each winter. We don't really have "traffic" here and even if we did, filtering is illegal.

Traffic here means passing a line of vehicles that are stuck behind some slow mover. Legal passing zones are few and far between. The S10 can pass just as well as the Rocket.

When I run errands (unless I am taking a car or truck) it is usually my Bonnie with the sidecar and my dog goes with.

As far as riding around here on day rides, it's the S10. It makes the crap roads feel smoooooth! And I have the option to play in the dirt as well. Lots of forest roads around here because of oil/gas and lumbering.

So, believe me, the Rocket is NOT "the best bike available for what I do" around here.

(OH, since you mentioned it, Tiger Explorers are not that great off road. (And I like Triumphs and wanted one before I test rode the S10.)

 

[cusso ken]

If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail...

If I only had the R3, then that's all I would ride.

I am about the same weight as Evil Mitch. 165 pounds, 5 foot 10 inches. The R3 is not big for me it's just fine. I just got back from a 12 day trip to Colorado & back. GPS says 4003.9 miles, for that trip. (That sounds low, maybe I reset it?)

edit: trip meter #2 on bike was set at start and I just checked it....4,851 miles

I save my R3 for trips & a (very) occasional day ride with other cruisers. I've ridden the R3 to California and back last year and the year before. Utah and back the year before that. And I go south through the Appalacians for destinations from West Virginia to northern Georgia, multiple times, each season.

Why burn up my tires and jolt my bike and my body on the nasty roads around here (northwestern Pennsylvania)? (And BTW, I have upgraded Wilbers suspension on the Roadster.)

Even if they re-pave a road, it's crap again in a year or 2 again because of the excessive freeze/thaw cycles we have each winter. We don't really have "traffic" here and even if we did, filtering is illegal.

Traffic here means passing a line of vehicles that are stuck behind some slow mover. Legal passing zones are few and far between. The S10 can pass just as well as the Rocket.

When I run errands (unless I am taking a car or truck) it is usually my Bonnie with the sidecar and my dog goes with.

As far as riding around here on day rides, it's the S10. It makes the crap roads feel smoooooth! And I have the option to play in the dirt as well. Lots of forest roads around here because of oil/gas and lumbering.

So, believe me, the Rocket is NOT "the best bike available for what I do" around here.

(OH, since you mentioned it, Tiger Explorers are not that great off road. (And I like Triumphs and wanted one before I test rode the S10.)

By the same analogy if you are built like a nail beware of hammers,
The rocket is my hammer and I love it , it suits my needs perfectly,and definitely is the best bike available for what I do

 

[Ogremeister]

By the same analogy if you are built like a nail beware of hammers,
The rocket is my hammer and I love it , it suits my needs perfectly,and definitely is the best bike available for what I do

I can do everything that I can do on my Rocket, on my S10 (in most cases better, easier & cheaper).

I can not do everything that I can do on my S10, on my Rocket.

The S10 is versatile. The Rocket is limited.

Neither the S10 or Rocket can take the dog along like the sidehack.

 

[Ogremeister]

If I could clone myself and race one of me against the other in the paved twisties, the S10 would win.

On dirt, the R3 would be creeping along in the far distant past, while the S10 frolics along.

On high speed multilane highways, I would be able to keep up with the Rocket but be working harder on the S10, especially in high winds.

If I was in California, and in traffic, lane splitting would be a bit easier on the S10.

If I drag raced my clone...the R3 would win.