We drove: Triumph Rocket Roadster III

• We drove: Triumph Rocket Roadster (video)

Two hundred three hundred cubes

A good hour ago at an editorial meeting, when I was asked what we motorcyclists were going to do this time around, I called this Triumph. "Two thousand three hundred ?!" Yes, 2.300. “And that's more than most test cars. How many cylinders, three? That's over 760 cubic meters per cylinder! “

He whistles and shouts

Yes, not a fly, this Englishman. All of a sudden, everything else you thought was working fades spectacularly. Like, for example, Harley, although it has one and a half liters in two cylinders. Once again - Rocket 2,3-liter engine... And this is in three cylinders located vertically next to each other in the direction of travel. If it were placed laterally, as is the case with other three-cylinder Triumphs, the bike would be too wide.

This is why the bike leans to the right, like a V8 car when refueling at idle, while making a sound unknown to the chopper world through a couple of pipes into the world. Instead of the characteristic knock of a V-shaped two-cylinder engine, the Raketa whistles and roars, and not at all so loudly that a person in the city would feel annoyingly loud. As with the smaller English three-cylinder engines, some mechanical overtones are to be expected as well.

Yes, it is heavy and large, but what did you expect?

The bike is big and heavy, no one argues. On the spot you will move with difficulty and slowly, along the (albeit paved) slope, do not bother at all. But since the seat is comfortably close to the ground and the handlebars are at a comfortable height, there is no unnecessary concern. Fear the first turn more, as the 370lb monster doesn't want to bend over. He needs to be grabbed by the horns and tilted with force, and then he will leave, and, given the size of the car itself, not bad, but still I did not leave the thought that this is more than Prekmurje, intended for the road Route 66.

Of course, there is enough power

The three-cylinder engine pulls like crazy and is rewarding, so to speak, from idle. What is not, when less than three thousandths are capable of maximum torque. Allegedly accelerates to 200 kilometers per hour ... I have not tried it, but I know that, despite all the weight, the rear tire can quickly turn into a void.

Vibration is small, almost non-existent. Another surprise is the gearbox, which does not have the long and awkward movements of a truck at all, but is fully comparable to those on "regular" motorcycles. The ABS brakes are good, and the suspension feels like it's capable of carrying a mass of steel. The two classic gauges (rpm, speed) even have their own digital screen with a fuel gauge and the currently selected gear. Both are quite small and hard to see, but this one has only them.

In a word: harsh. Five: but I would get it.

text and photo: Matevž Gribar