Did I design the new Rocket III Roadster

Here’s a small extract from an article I wrote for the OD-Racing website 3 years ago. As you can see I saw Triumph’s new Rocket III Roadster coming, although I called it the Super Rocket III.

As I predicted this bike so well, do you think Triumph would let me have a Rocket III Roadster as my design consultancy ‘fee’, to see if their version lives up to my expectations? Future Bikes IV – Power Cruisers By DD 10-9-06 Back in the ‘80’s, there was a trend for ‘drag race’ style custom bikes such as the Yamaha V-max and Honda V65magna.

Kawasaki joined in a little later with the ZL1000, but since then, not a lot more has happened. The V-max stayed in production, largely unchanged, until very recently, and is rumoured to be coming back very soon. So what could we possibly see in the future? Triumph would be first to launch a bike, based very closely on the standard Rocket III, but severely lightened and with improved performance.

To lose weight, the large, chrome, forward mounted footrests are gone and replaced with lightweight footrests and levers, with the tank cover, side panels and mudguards made from lightweight carbon fibre.

Much of the chromed steel has gone, to be replaced with lighter polished aluminium. The front forks and brakes are derived from the speed triple, but uprated for this application, with the lightweight wheels carrying 150/60-17 and 260/50-17 tyres, specially developed for this bike.

The engine would be tuned for more top end power, with the aim of making it the fastest bike to cover the standing quarter mile, and exhaust gases exiting through two lightweight aluminium silencers.