Page 118 - Motoring World (January 2020)

throttle at practically any revs is telephone-number torque and power
the gateway to an almost irresistible figures, this is a true gentle giant Despite its
and seemingly implausible level of of the two-wheeled marketplace,
acceleration for such a hefty piece delivering those extreme engine stats
of hardware — yet this is delivered in a controllable yet exciting way telephone-
in an almost understated way. It’s that’s both reassuring and thrilling
totally effortless, with just a nice at the same time. You don’t need number
little burble from the 3-1-3 exhaust, to be Scott Redding to ride this
which features two stylised slash- motorcycle hard. torque and
cut exits in front of the rear wheel You also don’t need to be a
on the right, and a single one on Schwarzenegger — remember him?! power figures,
the left. But then when you back off — to hustle the Rocket 3 through
the throttle to slow for a turn, the the twists and turns of the Tenerife this is a true
exhausts pop back gently on the lava fields. One reason is that at
overrun, which adds a bit 291 kg dry for the R-model, the gentle giant...
of character to such a smooth- new bike is a massive 40 kg lighter
running motor. than the old one. With that massive
And smooth it is, indeed — there’s engine playing its part as a fully
absolutely no vibration even if you
rev it out to the hard-action limiter,
so those new counterbalancers do
their job perfectly. Cruising along at
160 kph on the GT with the engine
turning over at just 3800 rpm was
practically relaxing! Despite its

118 MOTORING WORLD | JANUARY 2020