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We collected the new R3 Touring last Friday, it is now Sunday evening so I wont pretend that two days of ownership will provide the definative picture but I can offer some initial insights for those hungry enough to want to know!
First a few gripes. The Classic style of pull back bars just don't agree with my aging wrists. The bars have the wrists on max angle which after only 30 mins of riding has me doing wrist exersizes! Not good. Answer: revert back to stock R3 bars with Rivco risers.
The windscreen produces a severe wind flutter off the top edge which translates straight back to the helmet creating a loud pulsating noise like the a shirt collar flapping against the side of the helmet. After half an hour of this I was just about ready to rip the **** screen orf and toss it to the bushes. Answer: pay big bucks and purchase the alternative genuine Triumph tall screen or use the existing screen as a template and get the local perspex guy to cut out a couple of newies. One 3" over and one say, 5" over. At 5'10', methinks the stock screen will only suit a rider of 5'8" or less.
Triumph have produced a touring bike that if it wern't for the omission of one essential touring item, would be the ducks guts (screen apart). In the fifties when you purchased a new Trumpy, you had to purchase the passenger footpegs as extras if you wanted to carry a pillion. Well folks, nothing's changed. Whose missus is going to be happy touring without a passenger backrest? Not mine that's for sure so I am forced to shell out another grand on all the parts required. That's nothing short of **** daylight robbery in my humble opinion.
Apart from the aforementioned, The R3T is very very nice to ride. It's not a "power cruiser" like it's 'old man' so it serves no purpose trying to ride it like one. I ran it out to redline in third today just to see what would happen but it felt strangulated compared to the old Rocket yet in the process, it still made 160kays without much trouble. Much better to just ride it like a tourer and use the effortless torque to get you places which it does with an unflustered urgency that makes others of the same genre look totally anemic. Overall, the R3T seems smoother and more refined than the earlier R3, has less drive line lash and goes about it's biz without fuss.
So whats the R3T really all about? In three words... comfort, handling and convenience! This baby is plush. Plush in the seat and plush in the suspension. Yet despite the overall plushness of the ride, handling does not suffer. At slow speeds around town or through tight twisties, the steering is light and the bike feels nimble. Charging around our backroads on Saturday arvo at higher speeds with a passenger also proved trouble free with a no apparent frame flexing or contortions. Just good solid predictable handling.
The easy to remove hard panniers are beautiful to behold and are a classy bit of gear in the way they open and shut. No fiddly buckles with these babies. The pannier liners from the R3 leather panniers will fit inside with about 6" of extra length to spare! I wouldn't call them humungous but at 39L of capacity I would definitly call them generous.
The overall quality, paint, fit and finish of this motorcycle is top class but only greed for profit can explain why Triumph didn't include the taller screen as standard kit and leave the short one as the optional extra! Davo
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