Triumphrat

TallRocket · 07-22-2009, 09:47 PM

Diego,

Czar of the Rocket forum....

In the Main Menu column on the left of this page, under Discussion Forums All Forums, the Classics and Vintage is the first option and Twins is option two.

If Classic = Hinckley and Vintage = Pre- Hinckley, then where is the love for my Rocket?

Or if Tiger can be a stand alone forum, why can't Rocket?

I understand that everything is possible on the web, however getting everyone to sign off and selecting which battles to fight is what corporate life is all about. Just pointing out an improvement opportunity.

TR

Diego · 07-22-2009, 10:46 PM

Interesting observation. It's kind of a confusing situation.

If you'll notice, for instance, Club Cafe is also encompassed within the Classics and Vintage, even though the dominant bike in that forum is the Thruxton, which is very much a contemporary twin, classic only in terms of styling. Of course, all the Twins are called Classics by Triumph, but Twins is a separate section of its own here. And we at this site, we use "classics" to mean Hinckley Triumphs no longer in production. Except for Club Cafe. And the Rocket.

My head hurts.

In other words, I have no idea why Classics and Vintage incorporates us. That's lost in the dim recesses of this site's ancestry. Well, OK, only a little over five years ago...though in Internet time, that's something like 7000 human years.

As for the Tiger, most of the forums are grouped together by the type or purpose of the bike, and I also have no idea why the Tiger was made an exception to that principle. I don't see that happening with the Rocket, though, which is neither as old a part of the Triumph lineup nor as big a seller. But--

--it just happens that the introduction of the new Thunderbird has recently caused the moderation team to begin discussion of a Cruiser category. Makes sense to me in a way. That would bring back some of the idea of grouping bikes by type. The new T-bird shares very little in common with the Bonneville family, so in many ways it ought to be away from the Twins; apart from the fact that some Bonneville descendents are also cruisers of a sort, so that leaves the question of where to put the Speedmaster and America. (Ow. My head is starting to hurt again.)

Anyway, leaving those issues aside, what I think I'm trying to get at is, if the group thinks our forum ought to be located in SOME category a little more logical than Classics and Vintage... and if you don't mind being grouped in a broad category with one or more Twins-based cruisers... I could probably make a case to my brother wizards that we should be located there too. (Once they work out the other details, of course.)

Let me know what you think.

(But let me say, we're not looking for clever new names for this forum itself. We're looking for some kind of category to fit it within that will better reflect its standing in the world of Triumphs.)

TallRocket · 07-23-2009, 10:05 PM

Cruiser works for me! The TBird creates a cruiser family with the Rocket so that works. The only exception I see is with Sport and Touring. When the TBird is given bags and screen and is called TBird Touring then along with the Rocket Touring you have two bikes that are called touring not found in Sport and Touring.

So, Hinckley, Cruisers, Twins, Sport and Tiger untangles it some.

Diego · 07-24-2009, 10:25 PM

It is precisely such dilemmas of classification that the powers-that-be are currently struggling with.

For the 2009 models, Triumph's own Web site classifies the three Rocket models together with the America and Speedmaster as Cruisers...and, of course, calls the new 2010 T-bird a Cruiser as well. But some of those other owners feel having two cylinders means they should only be lumped in with their cousins in the Twins section. Yet that feeling is not universally shared, as demonstrated by the Thruxtonians being off in a forum of their own under Classic and Vintage, along with us (at present).

Incidentally, you may have noticed that, although the menu at left still only shows the wording "Classic and Vintage," they have changed the title of our category when you use the All Forums listing to more explicitly read "Classic Triples - The Rocket III - Vintage - Club Cafe'." It's not exactly what I think we're looking for, but it's a start as they mull over a more widely acceptable solution.

Anyone else want to weigh in on this?

TRIIICK · 07-24-2009, 10:53 PM

As long as it's Representation without taxation..works for me too.