New Triumph Rocket 3 R
Now, today, Triumph announced a brand new Storm Edition of their Rocket 3 mega cruiser. we’ll go through all of the details with absolutely everything that you need to know.
Rocket 3 R Engine
Now, this bike is well known for having the largest capacity engine currently on the motorcycle market, with an inline triple at just shy of two and a half liters, which I’m sure you don’t need me to point out is bigger than most car engines.
Then with all that displacement, it can make more torque than any other production motorcycle at 221 newton meters peak, which is absolutely massive.
So yeah, this was already a pretty punchy bike.
But in this new Storm Edition, they found even more power and torque with a hike of 15 PS, taking it up to over 180, as well as four more newton meters of peak torque to make 225. New Triumph Rocket 3 R
Now, they say they didn’t really need to make any changes to the physical internals of the engine, but rather this was all achieved electronically with their learnings from developing this bike over the past five years since its last major update.
Honestly, this is one of the most interesting and fun motorcycle engines.
And it’s got this outrageous amount of grunt all the way through the rev range. And yet being an inline triple, it feels like a large version of a street triple or a speed triple.
Really unusual for a cruiser, and I absolutely love that they’ve built a bike with this unique character. New Triumph Rocket 3 R
And so I can’t wait to ride this new version because it sounds more of the same, but just with that extra bit of shove on top.
Triumph Rocket 3 R Wheels
Rocket 3 As for the chassis, well, there are no major updates to the frame, and a lot of the hardware is the same, like the show a suspension, which offers plenty of adjustability.
And you’ve also got that top-notch Brembo braking setup.
But they do say they’ve tweaked the cast aluminum wheels with a new 10-spoke design, and in doing so, that’s allowed them to shed a kilogram between each.
Now, one kilogram might not sound like a great deal in the grand scheme of things, but do consider that not only is this unsprung mass, which allows the suspension to more easily do its job, but also rotating mass, which means the wheels can more easily change direction as well. New Triumph Rocket 3 R
And so despite being a relatively small proportion of the overall weight of the bike, it should actually have a little bit of a positive effect on the handling.
As for that total weight, well, they’ve obscured if there’s any change, because for the 2023 version, they quoted dry weights, whereas this year, they’ve moved over to wet weights.
Often, manufacturers seem to do this to make it a little bit more difficult to figure out if there are any slight gains.
And given that this new bike is now Euro 5 plus compliant, there might be an extra kilogram or two owing to the extra emissions reducing hardware that will have to be in the exhaust system.
But look, largely the spec is pretty similar, and so I wouldn’t expect any massive difference. New Triumph Rocket 3 R
Tyres
As for tires, well, previously this bike shipped with Aven Cobras, which are a relatively common site on cruiser-style bikes.
But on the press briefing call that we just had for this new model, they mentioned that Aven have actually shut down the factory that made those particular tires.
Thankfully, though, Triumph were able to work with Metzler to develop some new Cruisetech tires in the specific sizes required for this bike, which it has to be said, a pretty humongous. New Triumph Rocket 3 R
Up front, there’s a 150/80 17-inch, but then at the rear, there’s a 240 mill wide tire, which has to be one of the widest on the motorcycle market.
In fact, the only other bikes I can think of are the Diavel V4 from Ducati or even maybe the Harley breakout, which also run on 240s.
Tech In Triumph Rocket 3 R
Now, tech appears to be pretty much the same as the previous Gen with that TFT display that manages four riding modes.
There’s an inertial measurement unit that gives you all the latest lean sensitive rider aids.
And then there’s phone connectivity through the dash as well as LED lighting all around.
And so really, this is a thoroughly modern cruiser-style bike as opposed to something more traditional and stripped back. New Triumph Rocket 3 R
Rocket 3 R Styling
There are some tweaks to the styling, though, with a very mean-looking, blacked-out appearance, pretty much black on all of the hardware, which is a little bit reminiscent of the black edition from a couple of years back.
But these ones do get a little bit of color on the tank with three options of carnival red, satin blue, and yet still the sapphire black for that more stealthy the look.
Now, the top half of the tank gets the color on the R models, whereas the bottom half on the GT.
And while it is always good to have the option of a little bit of color, I do think this bike really does suit that blacked-out look. And so I think that would have to be my pick. New Triumph Rocket 3 R
Triumph Rocket 3 R Price
Now, as I’ve said, you’ve still got the R model, which is slightly more road-focused with the lower handlebars and mid-position footpegs.
And then also the GT version with the passenger backrest, slightly more swept-back handlebars.
You’ve got a slightly taller windscreen as well, along with the forward foot controls as standard.
And the prices for these two come in at £23,195 for the R, and £23,895, so £700 more for the GT.
Look, for the Stealth Editions, you’re looking at about 1,200 quid more than the standard version of these two bikes, although you do get that extra performance from the engine and also the lighter wheels, and so I think it’ll probably be worth it for a lot of people.