Triumph's Rocket III Touring kilometre-eater with its 2.3-litre three-cylinder engine -the biggest production motorcycle engine around - is now available in South Africa.
It shares the engine with the Rocket III and the Rocket III Classic - but not much else. The frame, wheels, fuel-tank, suspension, seat, instruments, lights - just about every component - have been redesigned for the bike's role as a machine that can comfortably gobble continents.
The Rocket III was designed in 2004 as a brutal bare-knuckle streetfighter but packaged as a cruiser, the Touring had to be capable of travelling at high speed for maybe 18 hours a day through all sorts of weather without tiring the rider.
It also had to be almost as quick as its ferocious sibling without feeling like it was straining - a tall order for a smaller, peaky engine but the huge three-cylinder was designed with dual-purpose in mind.
The engineers culled 34 horses from the herd but left a more-than-adequate 106 (79kW) penned in the casing. That would be a big sacrifice in any other bike but the new machine's strength lies in its abundant torque.
The original Rocket III had a whopping 200Nm at only 2500pm - the Touring musters 209Nm at 2025rpm and on any road, in any gear, at any speed up to around 200km/h, the Rocket III Touring will leave almost anything on two wheels or four gasping in its wake.
Cycle World confirmed after attending the Texas launch: "Yes, power dropped by almost a third to 78kW at 2000rpm, but who cares? There's no substitute for cubic inches (or torque) so the Touring moves out with an unexpected edge anytime you twist the grip, most anywhere in the rev range."
Motorcycle Daily.com agreed: "Reduced power compared to the Rocket III or Rocket III Classic was never a problem. The Touring might be less of a red-light racer but it is still brutally fast if you want it to be.
"No other touring motorcycle has as much torque and you could probably tow an 18-wheeler if you had enough grip to get it moving."
The already huge 150/80-17 rear tyre has been replaced by a 180/70 on a 16" rim and the the 150/80-17 front by a 150/80-16. The narrower rear tyre allows space for two large and quickly detachable 39-litre lockable panniers without making the bike too wide for traffic.
Lots of adjustables
The world's biggest luxury cruiser also had to be the most comfortable so the Rocket III Touring comes with a standard windscreen that clips on/off the new 43mm Kayaba front forks. The rear shocks are also new Kayaba items and the softer set-up all round makes the bike eminently comfortable for long distances.
The standard heel-and-toe gearshifter, chunky but
comfortable handgrips and teardrop footboards are each adjustable.
More than 70 accessories have been designed for the bike, including a range of seats and backrests, luggage options and loads of chromed parts.
And some final words from Cycle World: The Triumph is still a mighty Wurlitzer but now it understands words it never understood before - agile, nimble and "how about 200km before breakfast?"
Specifications
ENGINE:
Liquid-cooled, DOHC, transverse three-cylinder displacing 2294cc with bore/stroke of 101.6mm/94.3mm and fed by multipoint sequential electronic fuel injection.
TRANSMISSION:
Shaft final drive, wet, multiplate clutch and five-speed gearbox.
RIDES ON:
Tubular steel, twin spine frame with twin-sided swing arm housing the driveshaft.
WHEELS/TYRES:
Front cast aluminium alloy 25-spoked 16x3.5" with 150/80 R16 tyre, rear cast aluminium alloy 25-spoked 16x5" with 180/70 R16 tyre.
SUSPENSION:
Front Kayaba 43mm forks with fully shrouded uppers and 120mm travel, rear Kayaba chromed spring twin shocks with five-position adjustable preload and 105mm travel.
BRAKES:
Front twin 320mm floating discs, Nissin four-piston fixed calipers, rear single 316mm fixed disc, Brembo two-piston floating caliper
DIMENSIONS:
Length 2608mm, width: (handlebars, excluding end weights, levers and mirrors):895mm, height: 1182mm ( excluding screen and mirrors), seat height 736mm, wheelbase: 1708mm.
DRY WEIGHT:
358kg.
FUEL TANK:
22.3 litres.
PERFORMANCE:
At crankshaft, 79kW at 5400 rpm, 209Nm at 2025 rpm.
PRICE:
R186 000, including two-year unlimited distance warranty.