Please Introduce Yourself Here!!!

[Xhonda/harleyman]

Hello,

My name is Greg and I live in West KY and my 08 Rocket 3 touring will be here tomorrow. It is black and white with about $2k in accessories. I am glad someone took up the slack after the Valkyrie went away. I have been without for three years now. THis bike is great and I have the need to blister the road over 100mph like to some the other 240 rear riders. This touring seat is hands down as comfortable as any Corbin, and for you bigger longer guys it rides great. I was gone for 45 minutes on the test ride. The bad thing is, each dealer gets 5 and then they are gone till 09 so that makes them bring MSRP. However my dealer added the accessories and I saved about 27% because I am from out of state. He also put them on for almost nothing and is delivering the bike tomorrow free of charge because 3 parts still aren't in. I hope Triumph does something as fun as Zanesville as that was a blast when riding the Valks.

[mick-f]

I just started to check out this forum, it is a great source of info. I have been on the Sprint forum for a while.
Last week I made the (mistake? good move?) of sitting on a new Rocket 3 tour. I really liked the balance, but I have never ridden a cruiser. In a few weeks Great Bay Cycles will have the Demo fleet at thier store and I plan to ride one. I need something different to ride two-up long distance.
How is this machine in slow parking lot turns, in the mountains etc? I am sure it is great on the super slab.
Pave the Planet!

Mick F.

[Xhonda/harleyman]

Originally Posted by mick-f

I just started to check out this forum, it is a great source of info. I have been on the Sprint forum for a while.
Last week I made the (mistake? good move?) of sitting on a new Rocket 3 tour. I really liked the balance, but I have never ridden a cruiser. In a few weeks Great Bay Cycles will have the Demo fleet at thier store and I plan to ride one. I need something different to ride two-up long distance.
How is this machine in slow parking lot turns, in the mountains etc? I am sure it is great on the super slab.
Pave the Planet!

Mick F.

Mick, I put 78 miles on it today and it seemed fine. Most of these were close to town and it is still inthe 40's here. I had no trouble. Iam concerned aobut he fuel use as I filled it up and it is showing below 1/2 tank. It has plenty of power and is very comfortable.

[Firemedic737]

I am the PROUD owner of a 2006 RIII Classic (Red/Black-the fastest of both ways)
I am a frequent user of R3owners.com, which I recomend to ANYONE with a Rocket III or are considering getting one.
I live in West central Georgia and would love to find other people to ride with.

I am a Firefighter/Paramedic but am always open for other offers.

37

[Bozarth]

Hey Guys!

I signed up a year ago and got the scoop from this site on the new touring R3... Thank you, thank you, thank you! I picked up my 2008 R3T (Blk/Blk) two weeks ago and already have 1200 miles on it. I have ran a number of shake down cruises from sea level to 6500 ft in preparation for a 10 day ride from SoCal to Dallas and back starting next week. So far, the bike has run well although a bit warm between the legs!

This is my first cruiser. I bought it in preparation for another run to Sturgis this year and was looking for anything but a Harley. I've come from a long line of Beemers, most recently a K1200RS, so I'm a bit spoiled. The bike has plenty of hunt for a cruiser and I love the quick release faring, back rest/luggage rack & panniers.

The bike needs a tach, a sixth gear & some pipes. I put on the Triumph aftermarket pipes and they helped a little, but the touring version does not have the Cat-bypass yet, so the jury is still out with me. I'm now getting a back-fire (can feel the pop from the air-intake under the seat) when I blip the throttle during down shifting - but the dealer said that's to be expected??!?? Slowing the down shift throttle blip avoids the back-firing, but a little disappointing for a "high performance engine/exhaust." Telling myself its a cruiser - and to lighten up a little... Still waiting on adjustable foot pegs from Triumph!!!

Anyway, its great to finally be here and looking for any suggestions on how to maximize the fun on this big girl. Any feedback on exhaust, tachs, heat, etc. are welcome!

See you on the road,
Boz

[GPMAZ]

Hey Boz, welcome.

I too used to have a K1200RS. That preceded the R1200GS that I traded in on my R3T. The Tourer is quite a switch from the BMW line, but I'm really enjoying mine. I haven't swapped the pipes, figured I'd wait a bit for the after market to develop some other options.

Did the dealer install a different tune for the accessory pipes? I understand there's one available and it may address your back-fire issue.

I agree on the lack of a tach, there are a couple of options that work off of the OBDII connector but nothing from Triumph yet. I don't really see the need for a 6th gear. I've seen 110 a few times in 5th and the bike developed a bit of a weave twice. I've seen a couple reports that Triumph speed limited the Tourer to 120 due to the smaller rear tire and noted instability above 120 with the windshield and bags. She seems to cruise very comfortably at 75-80.

As for heat, Thunderbike offers a set of louvers that they claim redirect the radiator heat. They haven't tried the fit on the Tourer but they expect to do soon.

[Bozarth]

Harry -

Thanks for the welcome.

The dealer did run the program to re-tune - which is why I decided to go with the Triumph option... your approach may prove to be the wiser one... we'll see.

I haven't seen much over 80 yet as I have been good about breaking the bike in - but without a tach, I'm only guessing the bike will run easier at higher speeds with a sixth gear... suppose the point is mute.

Back to exhaust... I was recently told that the Cats are in the last segment of the pipes which I recently swapped out, therefore I have rid myself of them?!? I'm still a bit puzzled on the pipes... because while the new pipes deepened the tone a bit, it didn't appear to really make a huge difference in volume - and the bike stills feels/sounds like it could breathe a lot more...

The pipes on the touring model are different than the original R3 - they go from 3 to 1 to 2. The 1 to 2 transition looks to me like there are Cats in stream as they go out to the final pipe??

Looking for help here!?!?

[GPMAZ]

Not having seen the insides of the stock pipes I certainly can't be sure. But, that big lump of a splitter sitting just under the front of the passenger floorboard between the headers and mufflers sure looks like a cat to me.

I'm actually thinking of yanking it off and taking it to a custom auto exhaust shop to see if they couldn't weld up a y-pipe to replace the thing.

As far as break in goes, I hit 100 miles at 100 miles an hour. I don't really believe in babying a bike during break in. I don't run it up to the rev limiter, do burnouts, or abuse the brakes while they're seating, but I do exercise the engine. Not that I know what's best, but its always seemed to work pretty well for me.

[Marcus.Haner]

My name is Marcus Haner and I live in Lawton, OK. I just got my Rocket on Saturday. I've been wanting one since they first hit the streets. The time was finally right and here I am a proud new owner.

I have 2007 Classic Tourer. First additions are the dresser bars. I will change the mirrors and add some more crome. I plan to go to the Jardine rumblers next.

I get to go on my first run in May with the rest of the Soldier/Riders here at Ft. Sill. Hope to have my mods done by then.

Hope to see ya on the road...

[krothnbrg]

Hi everyone! I'm Karl Valentine-Rothenberg. I'm from LA County in sunny Southern California. Probably the only place where I can ride all year round! I'm not really new to the forum. I signed up about a year or so ago and asked a couple questions about how people felt with their R3's. Since then all I've done was watch the forum and read through many threads.

Well I am now the proud owner of a 2008 Rocket III. I actually got rid of a 20 year old Honda VT1100. And what a HUGE difference! I'm now on a REAL bike! As I write this I have 145 miles on the beast! I haven't done any mods yet but I did order a bike cover. Does that count? All I've done is tool around and ride to and from work. I'm looking forward to a ride up to San Jose to visit with my daughter.

Other interests include wood working, remodeling the house, our WHite German Shepherd named Soda and all things techy. Looking forward to many happy miles on my Rocket!