New to forum and on the fence rocket or bird

[dougl]

You're right. The dealer said it didn't, so I've been pressing the button. Maybe I'm too old to be driving.


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[Lee H]

the tbird is a little small for a large rider to cruise on..at least for me. I am not fond of higher strung engines for touring, either.

For a touring bike, I look for something that will be comfortable riding two up, and something with enough torque that I am not keeping the RPMs up just to make it to the top of a hill. If you have to keep on top of the power curve to ride with a load, it is not a touring bike I want. Larger displacement engines are best for me, and I am definitely not opposed to undersquare engines.

[steve59]

gotcha there lee, my stock storm has more pull under 3k rpm's than any stock harley, and even more than my "built dyna". If u can keep 161hp harley in 1 piece then I respect your mechanical ability & I get where your coming from having smoked a few vrods myself. problem is for the rest of us(non machinist mechanics)with average incomes Triumph R3 or thunderbird provide a bit of the adrenaline rush we ride for that a stock harley can't with all day cruiser comfort.

[BeastoftheMark]

Just got home from a short weekend on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The wife and I rode, two up, 60-70 lbs of Kuryakyn GranTour Bag strapped to the back rack. The beast pulls full throttle wheelies going into 2nd gear 3 different times. Do that on any other Cruiser. I love my Rocket III.

[dazco]

Since i last posted in this thread i have removed the cat, installed a custom tune then altered the intake slightly and added some fuel to the current map. To those guys who feel the Tbird is anemic, as a stock 1600 you're correct. As a 1700 w/tors, it's not bad but still pales compared to the R3. But once i did this last mod, while it's still no R3, I think any R3 owner will no longer feel it's anemic at all. the difference is quite huge and it now gives me that same rush the r3 gives and torque is improved big time. The difference between mine now and how it was as a 1700 with tors and tors map is IMO as big a difference as there is between the 1600 and the BB kit.

The R3 is still well ahead, but now the bird is no longer a slouch at all and sits firmly in the "holy cr@p" camp. It's amazing how such a small change can be so huge. I never expected more than maybe 1/2 as much as i got. I did much more involved modding to my speedmaster and it never made a huge difference like this. I feel that as it is now it would make the choice between R3 and Tbird much more about things other than power, where as before the power difference was so huge it would always be the #1 thing you'd consider.