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Triumph tell dealers in UK R3 production has finished in UK

4K views 18 replies 13 participants last post by  steve59 
#1 ·
My local dealer phoned me about the Bobber launch and I asked about R3s and he said that at the Dealer Convention last week they were told that the only stock were those already at Dealers and the UK factory would not accept R3 orders. Given that in the UK we cannot buy R3Ts ( Triumph only make them here,GRRRRRRR), I was surprised that there has not been a factory announcement. To me it appears to be poor customer expectation management, or arrogance, but then of course I can vote with my wallet, so hey ho.just off to polish another Triumph. What does anyone else think?
 
#2 · (Edited)
I tend to think it's arrogance along with stupidity. As I mentioned in another posting it would be nice to know what the model line up is for 2017.
This link http://www.triumphmotorcycles.co.uk...derbird/2016/thunderbird/variants/thunderbird from the UK website lists the R3 along with other odd listings, such as the Sprint GT 1050, oh really.
What the heck Triumph can you at least update the website?

On a side note my dealer has twice ordered a major kit for my bike. Both times it was flubbed up. Missing parts and the wrong kit. (yes I saw he had ordered the correct part #'s) Being here in the US it takes a minimum of 3-4 weeks to get anything not stocked in the US which is a lot of major items. God forbid something gets back ordered, no timeline given. We'll ship it when we have it available.
Amazing.
 
#3 ·
Well, the "there will be no more R3s" thread is starting early this year. Usually we wait until at least June before we start predicting the demise of the R3.

For whatever reason, this has been ongoing since at least the 2014 MY. Every year. No more R3s.

And yet they keep showing up at dealerships.

There have been extended periods where Triumph would not accept orders for them. But eventually the ordering opens back up.

There is often speculation that maybe the R3 will get a face lift and some new features, like cruise control ... but none of this ever happens either.

I'd say that these threads are a waste of everyone's time.

When all the R3s have been sold and Triumph says "that was it," then the next MY I'll believe that they're done, assuming they don't open ordering again before the next MY.

The R3 is a unique bike for a niche market.

If they'd done the Touring with a few more features, like cruise control, a frame mounted fairing, and integrated audio and navigation, I think it would have been a huge seller. But they left these things off and it made it too easy for other brands to win in the showroom battles.

Sigh....
 
#4 ·
The Touring was built for the US market, and the US market is just too snowed-in on the V-twin nonsense. Triumph went back to the drawing board and now they have the Thunderbird LT that is in that niche. At least that's my assumption. Not a twin, but a more conventional two-cylinder.

There's been a lot of talk about how these bikes can't pass the EURO4 emissions regs, so they're most likely disappearing from Europe (and the UK), more's the pity. However, in Australia, Triumph has said they'll keep selling them, and probably also the US, not sure.
 
#6 ·
The Touring was built for the US market, and the US market is just too snowed-in on the V-twin nonsense. Triumph went back to the drawing board and now they have the Thunderbird LT that is in that niche. At least that's my assumption. Not a twin, but a more conventional two-cylinder.
In conventional IC Engine speak, any engine with two cylinders is a twin.

There are V twins, vertical twins, boxer twins, longitudinal twins, etc.
 
#5 ·
US emissions are having their effect on diesel engines. The issue might now be resolved, but the Cummins B engine and the Chrylser V6 diesel made by Fiat were both having trouble getting 2017 certification. I hope these horrors will not reach motorcycles or we shall also see models disappearing.
 
#8 ·
The harley riders, while some of the actual bikers may have some sentiment for triumph, won't be buying a triumph anytime soon as the brand was a stepping stone on their path to harley davidson bliss, and once in the hd crowd there's no turning back. Triumph was always the sportster alternative/poor mans harley and there's an awful lot of young people buying harleys now regardless of what other brands have to offer.
 
#13 ·
The rumour was that when the R3 was first designed there was a 2500cc version, but Triumph decided that all those cc's might be a bit of a turnoff at the time when most other bikes were around the 1500cc mark.
I could see me hanging off the bars of that one

Yeeeeeooooowwwww
 
#14 ·
Well, even the Thunderbird is losing the Commander model, which has disappeared from the MY17 model range. All that's left are the Storm and the LT. The LT riders like myself kept waiting for things like traction control, cruise, and hard saddlebags, but none of it ever materialized... and like the R3s, it seems the T-Bird's lifespan is in danger of reaching the expiration date. The T-Birds never really competed against H-Ds. The 1700cc parallel twin is a great engine--and the bike matched up as a better value than comparable V-twins. What's frustrating is that Triumph never says a word about what will happen to these models.. probably because they want to sell remaining units.
 
#15 ·
The individual on the other form who viewed the new 2500 cc bike stated that Triumph was asking questions like where he would like the foot pegs, if 170 hp was too much and some questions about a touring or naked version. He stated that the bike looked sharp. He even posted a picture they took of him with the 3D goggles on while they interviewed him. It had 2498 cc triple engine.
 
#16 ·
I talked to a nationally prominent dealer whose business is not too far from Chicago, but in another state.

Now I'm going to do a little Triumph bashing ... not too much, but a bit.

He said that they had asked Triumph about their presence at the Chicago show a few weeks before the show, and that Triumph had told him that they were not going to be there.

He said that Triumph had not told the dealers anything about an upcoming Rocket-like bike.

He said that they had ordered Tourings for 2017 and that no orders had been fulfilled. He said that usually, if an order placed in the prior year for a current year bike had not been fulfilled by this time of the current year, that it wasn't going to be filled ... and that Triumph's usual approach would be to leave the order open, and eventually fill it with the replacement model, or cancel it. They have not cancelled the orders for 2017 Tourings, but neither have they filled them. Maybe when they finally blow out all the Roadsters, they'll roll out a new Rocket style platform.

I predict that it will be ride by wire, and that Triumph will finally add factory cruise control to the Rockets. Remember, you heard it here first :)
 
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