The Triumph Rocket 3 is pure muscle. 180-ponies, 225Nm of arm stretching torque, and high-end suspension and brakes. It's a serious bike. We test the Storm R & GT versions... Photos: Dean Walters

Triumph is one of the few brands that, over the decades, has been adventurous with their models, bringing us varied bikes from classic to sportsbikes. But the Rocket 3 is something completely different to anything else. We ride the new Storm editions. All 2458cc of them!

The Rocket 3 storm editions, both the R model and the GT model, just roar! They roar like the wildest of beasts and conjure up images of enormous wild cats, bears, elephants or even dare I say, dinosaurs roaring and snarling as they rampantly tear through their terrain at full speed with a sense of unrelenting power and aggression.

“They rampantly tear through their terrain at full speed with a sense of unrelenting power and aggression.”

That is how I feel while riding the Rocket 3 Storm. It’s not like a ride on a show horse, all groomed and pampered with civility and control through training to be a beautiful elegant animal. The Rocket 3 is a wild stallion that is the strongest of its breed, with overpowering strength and will, tempting its rider to dare to let the wild stallion have its head and run wild. That is how you feel when riding the Rocket 3, at the slightest hint of throttle, this massive motorcycle with its 2458cc engine, 225Nm of torque and 182 horsepower, will deliver…

“The mind really does struggle to comprehend the real potential of this beast.”

At every revolution of the crank, the Rocket 3 gives a hint of freedom. It lets you know with instant grunts of power that propel the monster bike forward at hard to comprehend speed, with such little effort that the mind really does struggle to comprehend the real potential of this beast. It’s more than a four-cylinder car to a V8 car, the expanse of difference between the Rocket 3 and a litre bike is far greater. On paper, the power to weight may be similar, but on the bike and riding, it’s hard to compare the incredible grunt of the Rocket 3 to that of a 1000cc superbike.

What better place to unleash the Rocket 3 Storm than at The Bend, on their new drag strip. What a blast!

This generation of Rocket 3 is a vastly different bike from the first models all those years ago. The physical size of the bike has reduced significantly with a wet weight of 317kg for the R and 320kg for the GT. The wheelbase, plus rake and trail, has all remained the same from the earlier models but the bike has shrunk in physical size due to more slimline bodywork, short rear seat sections and much tidier designs in overall body styling.

The Storm looks and feels far smaller than the earlier generations of the Rocket 3. The bike is still running the 240mm rear tyre but it is a 16in and it sports a 150/80 – 17in front tyre. This means the bike turns and changes direction nicely. On the road it is very evident and where things such as roundabouts and sharp turns are an issue with change of direction with wider front tyres or smaller wheel diameters, the new Rocket 3  does these things with very little fuss. By the way, as you can see in the photos below, I forgot to put my gloves on during the shoot! Oops. Not intentional…

The bike feels natural when turning or changing direction at slower speeds. At speed on the open road the tyre sizes are not even an element that you take into consideration when hitting fast sweepers at speed or negotiating tight twisty sections of mountain roads. The Rocket 3 feels planted and stable.

“At speed on the open road the tyre sizes are not even an element that you take into consideration when hitting fast sweepers at speed”.

Part of the feel of the Rocket 3 is the well thought out and designed bodywork from the tank and its shape, to the seating and its styling and comfort. The handlebars are also unique to each model with the R having more lower and flatter ‘bars that promote a need to lean more forward when riding. The GT offers a taller ‘bar with more pull back to give a more relaxed riding position. The GT also has a seat height of 750mm compared to the R with a seat height of 773, not a great difference, but the feel and style of the seats does make a difference to the ride, the GT seat is designed for long distance travel.

“Part of the feel of the Rocket 3 is the well thought out and designed bodywork from the tank and its shape, to the seating and its styling and comfort.”

There are mid controls on the R that are very comfortable and help to give you that bit more aggressive riding position that works well with the lower flatter ‘bars on the R. The GT has forward controls that just make the ride a real comfort experience and with the taller more relaxed ‘bars you are really set up very well to cover some serious distances in a day. The GT does get a small screen on the forks to help deflect the wind a bit better.

The suspension is limited in its adjustability; The front 47mm SHOWA forks offer rebound and compression damping adjustment but no preload adjustment. The shock is fully adjustable and offers preload via a nice simple adjustment knob under the seat in front of the rear tyre. A nice touch when carrying a pillion and changing the rear preload can be a problem, the simple adjustment knob makes it an easy exercise.

Braking performance on a bike of this size with its incredible acceleration capabilities needs very good. Triumph has supplied some very high specification Brembo M4.32 Stylema four-piston monobloc units with 320mm floating discs up front. The rear brake is a massive 300mm single disc with the Brembo M4.32, four-piston Monobloc caliper. Optimised cornering ABS is also standard on both the R and the GT. The brakes are powerful and reliable at speed to slow the heavy weight, but more importantly the brakes worked perfectly when in the hills of Adelaide where multiple repeated hard braking was required, there was never a hint of brake fade or doubt with the ability to slow up the Rocket 3.

The instrument display is TFT in colour with multi-functional display; the instrument unit can be rotated in its holder to give you the best viewing angle, another nice touch for the rider to enjoy. It is easy to operate and clear to see at all times with its simple easy and clear display. The switchblocks are also very easy to operate and are clear and easy to see, a good thing for riders that sometimes need to have glasses on to read the controls.

There is the typical high standard of Triumph finish on the Rocket 3 with great paint schemes and colours that can only say “Triumph” to the onlooker. Nice touches are the rear footpegs, which when folded away blend into the sub-frame, but a simple two step fold out of the ‘pegs bring them into functionality for a pillion.

The two tone paint models in both the R and the GT are unique to that model. The colour options for the R have the colour on the top side of the tank and black under, while the GT has the opposite with the colour on the bottom of the tank and black on top. I was also very impressed with the exhaust in both its finish with the new “Storm” black colour, but I was also impressed on how compact the muffler system is on the bike with two outlets on the right and one on the left, it helps to give that lightweight appearance to the bikes.

We spent a day on the Rocket 3 models riding out of Adelaide from the Peter Stevens dealership to eventually end up at The Bend motorsport complex. We took the long way of course, to both get the necessary road pictures and video on the bikes but also to have the opportunity to ride the bikes on a variety of roads, from tight twisty sections to open country roads to suburban use. It took no time to dial in to the Rocket 3, it is big, there is no argument with that, but it performed very well in the suburbs and twisty hill roads around Adelaide.

“The power just pushes it forward with such controlled aggression that you are just grinning from ear to ear under your helmet, so much fun!”

With the ample power and trustworthy suspension and brakes it was easy to ride this bike fast and safe through these areas. On the more open roads where you can really unleash the power and massive torque, the Rocket 3, as its name suggests, just rockets away from one corner to the next. In this sort of environment the weight of the Rocket 3, I believe, helps the bike. The weight helps to keep it planted on bad roads rather than being bounced around and pitched over the road as you would get on a lighter weight bike. The power just pushes it forward with such controlled aggression that you are just grinning from ear to ear under your helmet, so much fun!

Late afternoon we arrived at The Bend to a very friendly staff that got us checked in and also got us signed up for our time on the newly completed Drag Strip! Although there was no official timing, there was plenty of competition between the journos and lots of comparing of times and reaction times off the lights. There were a few burnouts, a few slides sideways leaving the lights and a hell of a lot of fun was had. Top speeds via the speeds were around 200km/h and the Rockets sounded awesome at full noise on the drag strip. Induction noise and the good note from the exhaust was real nice, I doubt if I would change the exhaust…

It was a great way to spend a day on the two 2024 Triumph Rocket 3 Storm models. Both the R and the GT are a fantastic heavyweight Muscle Cruiser option. Well done to Triumph to build this bike all those years ago and now have such a refined and modern version of the original… For all of the info on the technical highlights, to find a dealer or download a brochure, click here.

 

2024 Triumph Rocket 3 Storm Gallery

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