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Second Test Ride

Date:
By Wom Battle

After riding the GS my confidence that I wasn't going to make a complete dick of myself test riding I was up for something new.  I had a look around to see if there was anything else of interest. The BMW dealership is also the Triumph Dealership and I remarked that I had never ridden a "cruiser" style bike before.  He said, "Why don't you take the Rocket for a ride?"  I didn't know what a Rocket was, so I accepted the invitation.

The dealer principle then took me to their maroon coloured, demonstration Triumph Rocket III. He said, this is quite torqy down low, take it easy.  Here's the blinkers, start it like this. This thing was a brute! Low seat, high tank, chrome everywhere and an engine like I've never seen before. He also said, these don't ride like most cruisers, they turn into corners quite nicely.  I didn't know what that meant.

OK, here we go... Clutch in, into first and away. The footpegs on the rocket are forward, my left leg fished around in mid air until I found it and on the way up I got a cramp in my thigh.  That one on, the right struggled around until it found the footpeg, no cramp.  The pain in the left subsided and I was surprised that it was comfortable and didn't feel too small.  I had always had concerns about this style of bike, at 195cm tall I didn't want to look like Magilla Gorilla on his pushy.  The Rocket was sweet to ride, much smoother than the twin GS.

The position of the footpegs, gear lever and rear brake took a little getting used to, the long legs weren't helped by the UK size 14 feet clad in my chunkiest Nike's.  I thought, "I have to take this home and show my boy!"  So I did.  Gasps of excitement (first time he'd seen me anywhere near a bike in his 13 years). While he was walking around it he said "2300cc" I asked what he meant and he showed me the side plate and I nearly (naughty word deleted) myself.  I'd been tinkering around on a bike with half a litre more engine than my missus car clueless about the potential that could probably be unleashed on this monster.

At that moment I realised for the first time that a cruiser wasn't out of the question.  This opened up a whole new world of research for me.  I took it back very very carefully, at 26k it was out of my budget.

 

Disclaimer: This non commercial website and its content is not affiliated with or associated in any way with the Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Harley-Davidson Australia, the Harley-Davidson Owners Group® or any Harley-Davidson® Dealers in Australia.  The use of the terms Harley-Davidson, and Road King® are unavoidable because that's what I own and ride.  This website,  called "My Harley Davidson" , and any opinions or comments expressed herein are purely about my Harley-Davidson Road King ownership experience, a truly great experience at that. I have no intention whatsoever to infringe on any trademarks or copyright ownership of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company or anyone else.


March 2024
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