Triumphrat

09-04-2005, 07:29 PM

Did any of you RIII owners check out some of the Victory models, such as the Hammer, Vegas, or Jackpot? I rode the Hammer (it's got 250mm wide rear tire!!) and it was an awesomely comfortable ride...but compared to the RIII the Hammer was a little too "civilized". I like things that seem a bit more powerful and dangerous.

I haven't gotten on the HD Street Rod or the new '06 Night Rod. Anyone here checked those out and compared them to the RIII?

How about the Yamaha (now Star) Warrior?

I'm still leaning towards the RIII, but the other bikes are still possibilities...that's why I'm asking questions on this forum.

Thanks,
Rockycat

Valkyrie111 · 09-04-2005, 08:22 PM

No, this bike is unique. Hammer looks cool but how far can you ride one in comfort?

Toystoretom · 09-04-2005, 11:58 PM

Street Rods are light go fast sport bikes... short range and somewhat uncomfortable... check out their own forums. Kind of a narrow focus deal.. your Duc is a better bet than that, I would think...

The Yam and the Victory are also rans... Have you ridden a Rocket?? :-D :-D

With just a few mods Rockets can be very scary. With just a few other mods you can ride across the country with the best of the Iron Butts. And for a heavy crusier... can they handle!!!

I love this bike. Every time I get on it I am amazed. I never get bored.

Tomo

Redux · 09-05-2005, 12:29 AM

I test rode a Rocket. I bought a Warrior. There are several qualifiers (for me). My cruiser was to be a "second" bike. My primary bike is a Yamaha FZ1. It fills the "need for speed". I considered the Rocket 3 but several factors made me choose the V-twin....

First, as I just said, my need for speed was already handled. Second, Price. The R3 was a good bit more cash. Both had pretty heavy discounts but the RSW was $9800+++. Next was the v-twin engine. I know that alot of folks want something "different".... unique...... I don't blame you guys. That's cool. *I* have never owned a Big Twin. The "wannabe" word, I just don't get. The Big 4 offer the engine configuration I want, in a better product, at a better price.. Wannabe? Not to me.

Bottom line and a brief comparo....

The Warrior is really a well put together cycle. The styling, IMO is much better. Subjective, to be sure. The "heft" is about the ONLY performance area where the Warrior is better. It will handle a really tight, technical road about a "half a rider, skill notch", better than the Rocket. Meaning, not much. The FEEL, to me at least is more athletic. The Warrior weighs in at about 650 lbs. The R3? At least 100, if not 150lbs more. It feels it, to me. Also, the Warrior offers the kicked back V-Twin thump and sound I was looking for. The slip-on sound is to die for...

The Rocket? My test ride was brief, but here goes. Power? No comparison. Even with the weight difference. The R3 destroys the Warrior. Handling was pretty dawgone good. Reminded me of my old Valkyrie. The "feeling" of mass...of size and weight, never left tho. Sound? I haven't heard a Rocket with aftermarket pipes. I'm told it's pretty cool....

Bottom line for me was.... A two bike garage. If I had only one bike? And a cruiser at that (I wouldn't BTW, it'd be a performance Standard), I'd pick the Rocket. It does most things as well or better than the Warrior. I don't have a one bike garage and, I didn't choose the R3. Not yet anyway. Who knows what the next year may bring....

BTW, I'm not trying to dis the R3. I really do respect and admire the bike. Given a little different circumstances, and I may have picked one up. I may do so in the future as well. An awesome ride :-D

Aussiebikerdave · 09-05-2005, 01:26 AM

Hey Redux, when it's all boiled down, what you are really saying is "I am just a tight ass skin flint who couldn't afford a Rocket so I bought something else". I saw this from the first few sentences so the rest of your palava was rather meaningless and not to be credited with too much weight.

While you point out the obvious (R3's superior power etc) you go to some length to tell us that the the Rocket doesnt handle the twisties as good as the japper then further on you tell us your Rocket test ride was brief? Interesting.

In your OPINION the other bike has better styling?... of course you would think that! BTW an opinion at the end of the day is only an opinion and most of 'em stink and yours smells worse than rotting fish in the neighbours dumpster :-D

So now that you've made your choice, you've got to justify it to the hilt... I've meet your type before!

Davo

[ This message was edited by: Aussiebikerdave on 2005-09-05 01:50 ]

Jamie · 09-05-2005, 04:29 AM

Justification ? To me, Redux' post reads as a --rather touching-- remorse avoidance effort. Which might have called for a bit of gentleness

[ This message was edited by: Jamie on 2005-09-05 05:35 ]

sbljr · 09-05-2005, 08:53 AM

I tested a stage1 Victory demo *after* I bought my Rocket just cuz I was passing by the Honda/Victory store and they were giving free demo rides so I said *** it's a bike I've never ridden so let's see what it's like...

Told salesman I was a Harley owner (didn't mention the Rocket) and he said wow are you going to be impressed by the power and all that baloney. Ok, it was a real nice cruiser I couldn't fault a whole lot on a short ride. Now, if you're into nirvana V-twin exhaust notes it can't hold a candle to aircooled Harleys (in Victory's favor, that means Polaris engineers were not saddled with a motor mantra of "give us a single-pin that does a perfect potato" so it would seem they were given free reign to do what they considered a better aircooled V-twin, not just a Harley clone). Bottom line, Victory has built a real nice V-twin genericruiser that *feels* far superior in most ways you can think of to the majority of metric V-twins (which was certainly a major design goal and, with Ness' aesthetic assistance, they've now succeeded).

Needless to say I was NOT impressed at all with the power, which was better than my also stage1 TC88 Road King, but not really enough to write home about. Both are completely adequate for what they were intended to do, but neither is even remotely in the same ballpark with a bone-stock Rocket.

Aussiebikerdave · 09-05-2005, 08:58 AM

Sorry Jamie. Are you saying that I used a circus-tent stake mallet to squash a housefly? Perhaps I was a bit blunt but fairgo, if there'd been any lick of common sense involved, he woulda sold the FZ1, forgot the Warrior and just made do with the Rocket.

The question is, why stuff around with two half baked compromises when the Rocket would have done it all. On top of that its a better looking bike with far more style and cred than the other two put together! I'm probably biased and I do speak 'tongue in check' but the guy obviously likes Yamahas which makes his "comparison" all the more sus.

Davo

PS On the other hand, might by myself one soon, I been thinking about an old RD350LC to tinker with :-D

ThatBoy · 09-05-2005, 09:11 AM

Come on fellows, a varying opinion does not warrant a verbal attack. The guy likes what he did and that is okay. There was a post that asked for an opinion, and that is what he provided. Just because everyone does not own nor do they believe they should own a Triumph Rocket does not make them unwise. I am glad to have one but do not think that those who choose differently made a mistake. Now, I will have another cup of coffee.

[ This message was edited by: ThatBoy on 2005-09-05 07:13 ]

Redux · 09-05-2005, 11:45 AM

Quote:

On 2005-09-05 06:58, Aussiebikerdave wrote:
The question is, why stuff around with two half baked compromises when the Rocket would have done it all.
.
.
I'm probably biased and I do speak 'tongue in check' but the guy obviously likes Yamahas which makes his "comparison" all the more sus.

Why? Because the Rocket wasn't what I wanted. As I said. ALL bikes are compromises. For me, having the R3, as an ONLY bike, would NOT give me the feeling I want. It's much too heavy and does not have enough handling for my primary bike. The thing weighs 800 lbs for goodness sake.. :wink:

You? "Probably biased" :-D ? As to the Yamaha thing, these are my first 2. I've owned bikes from all the big 4, plus BMW. I'm not into brand loyalty.

The original poster requested reviews of some different bikes. I knew that, this being a R3 forum, he'd get the typical "R3 has no competetion" stuff. Most forums are like that. That's cool. I also knew my post would be slammed as well. Thats cool too. Since I'm really the visitor here, I tried to keep it polite. Enjoy your Rockets guys!