Page 117 - Motoring World (January 2020)

route winding around the island of gearbox in the old Rocket III was
If you fancy Tenerife underlined the effectiveness already one too many. More cubes,
of this new strategy. Whereas the old
more power and more torque do not
chilling out, Rocket III engine’s torque fell away dictate an extra gear ratio!
Despite their meaty weight, the
quite sharply above 3000 revs, this
just leave it in new cubed-up version is so much Rocket 3 duo will — well, not exactly
rocket forwards, but they’ll certainly
punchier all the way through the rev
a higher gear range that you can ride it any way build momentum in a very decisive
you like. If you fancy chilling out,
yet controllable way. There’s an
and surf that just leave it in a higher gear and optional two-way powershifter in
the Triumph catalogue, and I’d say
surf that massive wave of grunt — it
massive wave will literally pull from the 1500-rpm this’d be a must-have fitment to
complete the ease with which the
idle speed in top gear all the way
of grunt to the revlimiter with zero Rocket 3 can be ridden. But that
transmission snatch.
huge hit of torque — which makes
But if you fancy being a little a Harley LiveWire’s 12 kgm seem
sportier, use the sweet-action practically wimpish — is brilliantly
gearshift to flick through the six- controlled in any of the RBW
speed gearbox, though if you rev it throttle’s four different riding modes:
out beyond 5000 rpm you must use Road, Sport, Rain (with a 100-bhp
the clutch to make clean upwards power cap) and Rider-configurated.
shifts — below that, it’s fine, though. The Keihin ECU restricts output in
However, adding an extra ratio to the lower gears in all modes, and the
the new transmission is completely bike is speed-limited electronically
unnecessary, and only done for to 222 kph.
High-quality Triumph parts are inevitable. Phew
marketing reasons — the 5-speed This means that opening the

JANUARY 2020 | MOTORING WORLD 117