Triumph Rocket III review, test ride

We ride Triumph’s flagship cruiser, the Rocket III, the largest production motorcycle money can buy, to find out how capable it is in India?

Published on Dec 28, 2014 07:00:00 AM

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Talking about corners, long to medium sweeping ones are easy to get in and get out of. However, slightly tighter corners are another story altogether. The motorcycle tips in easily, carries itself well through the corner, but pulling out of the corner on a Rocket III is another tale. The burly Triumph needs too much of a push on the handlebars and a complete shift of weight, and even after all that you will struggle through.

Twin 320mm floating discs with Nissin four-piston calipers on the front and a single 316mm disc with Brembo floating calipers at the back perform braking duties. The brakes work well, no reason to grumble here. There’s a good solid bite, and nice feedback at the control levers, with ABS as standard. The Rocket III is not a forgiving motorcycle, and you need to get your head around its weight and large proportions before you throw a leg over and pin the throttle to the stop. It might be a bit intimidating for some, but some time spent with it and you do get used to the big machine. This is a mega sized power cruiser, and demands that you treat it with some respect. The engine acquits itself with massive grunt and adequate refinement, well suited to a cruiser like the Rocket III.

At a little over Rs 20 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), the Rocket III is not a cheap bike. It might be a legend in itself, and one of the most powerful production motorcycles you can buy, but were I to advise someone to buy it in India, I would say no. Don’t get me wrong, for we have come away from our ride quite impressed with how refined the Rocket III is, and its road presence with its sheer size and power. However, the same factors do quite make it a shade too impractical, especially on our roads. The Rocket III is oversized, extremely heavy and guzzles fuel like the tank has a leak. There is, however, one solid reason we’d say you could look at buying the Rocket III, making it even a decent proposition, in that you were absolutely hell bent on buying yourself a distinctive bike, with immense presence and a formidable reputation that ranks this amongst the biggest, baddest motorcycles that money can buy.

Arpit Phillips