Triumph Rocket 3 R & GT Specs: Everything You Need To Know

We've known about the factory custom version of Triumph's new Rocket 3 for some time now but finally last week Triumph announced two production variants of this awesome looking machine. So here's absolutely every detail I could find about the 2019 Rocket 3 R and GT. The motor is based upon the massive triple cylinder unit from the previous generation although the capacity has increased from 2.3 litres to 2.5. As a result peak power is up by 11% with the new bike delivering 167ps at 6000rpm. To put that into context of the market it's 8hp more than the Ducati Diavel although that's a much lighter bike so will have a better power to weight ratio. The 167ps of the Rocket 3 R and GT is also 15 down on the 182ps of the factory This could be explained by the Arrow 3x1x3 exhaust system on the TFC and unfortunately for potential R and GT owners it's not listed as an optional extra in the Triumph press release. That said I can't imagine it'll be long before Arrow and other exhaust manufacturers make some freer flowing cans for the new Rockets available. But all this talk of power is somewhat moot because this bike is entirely built for pure torque where no other production motorcycle will come close. The specs quote a peak of 221Nm at 4000rpm and Triumph promises a flat torque curve which will give it great pulling power across the rev range. Although this peak torque figure sounds huge it's worth keeping in mind that it's pretty much the same as the old bike. A major challenge for such a beefy bike could be the reliability of the clutch and gearbox So the new bike uses a torque assist clutch which means that it has ramps to pull the clutch pack together whilst the bike is accelerating. This means that lighter clutch springs can be used which in turn means that combined with the hydraulic lever it should feel pretty light despite having to be so robust. In addition the 6 speed gearbox uses helical cut teeth which means that they're cut at an More teeth meshing at any given time should help to cope with the massive torque figures. All of this is delivered to the rear wheel through a shaft final drive. The 2019 Rocket specs reveal an 18 litre fuel tank which sounds decent on the face of it but there are no fuel consumption figures quoted to give us an idea of range. There's a fuel tracking app called Fuelie which lets you search their website for make figures and the old Rocket seems to average around 33 miles per gallon so if the new bike is similar you'll get about 130 miles off a tank. Last up for the motor the first major service interval is 10,000 miles which Triumph claims to be high but if my research serves me correctly this is the same as the old Rocket so no real gains there. It is however a touch higher than a Diavel which needs a service every 9,000 miles. The 2019 Rockets do away with the traditional frame of the old bike in favour of an all new aluminium unit which uses the motor as a stress member. You can also see forward facing air intakes moulded into the frame. Overall the bike saves 40kg or 13% on the previous generation. 18kg come from the motor with changes that include a new lighter crank case assembly, lubrication system and balancer shafts. Presumably the remaining 22kg come from this improved frame and perhaps some other components. It's still a huge bike at just over 290kg dry but the weight savings leave it with an awesome class leading torque to weight ratio which Triumph claim to be 25% higher than the closest competition. It'll take some decent brakes to haul such a big bike to a stop so Triumph have opted for two 320mm discs at the front with Brembo Stylema four piston radially mounted monoblock calipers and a 4-pot Brembo on a single 300mm disc at the rear. Suspension comes in the form of 47mm Showa upside down forks with rebound and compression adjustment and a 43mm fully adjustable piggyback monoshock at the rear. So the brakes and suspension sound pretty good but one thing that occurred to me is that they look to be the same as those found on the TFC which is over 5 grand more expensive. The high performance componentry made the TFC look special at launch but maybe it'll be a disappointment to see the same equipment on the production version for those who have already ordered their TFC all 750 of which are sold out according to the Triumph website. The Rocket rolls on Avon Cobra chrome tyres which are unsurprisingly massive. There's a 150mm wide front and a 240mm wide rear which are the same size as the previous Rocket. If you've never seen one in the flesh, 240mm is huge. It's the same width as a Harley breakout which is the benchmark for a wide rear and it's wider than most car tyres. The electronics package on this bike looks pretty exhaustive. Of course it includes the latest angle adjustable TFT display from Triumph in order to manage everything that lies beneath. An IMU or inertial measurement unit is constantly measuring roll, pitch, yaw, lean angle and acceleration rates so that the bike can use this data to deliver cornering ABS and traction control. The Rocket has a ride-by-wire throttle which enables four riding modes of road, rain, sport and rider configurable and I can't help but feel that these will be a great help to some riders with so much torque on tap especially in more challenging riding conditions. Cruise control is included which seems like a must if the GT is to be a genuine touring bike and hill start control is a nice addition too. It uses the rear brake to keep the bike steady as you move off on an incline which will be an asset to smaller riders who might find the 291kg weight a bit of a handful. The electronics package is rounded out with keyless ignition, heated grips as standard on the GT, USB charging under the saddle and LED lighting with a daytime running light. To me it's a bit of a nuisance to have the USB charger under the saddle. There's rarely space for a phone under there so it's only really of use if you're parked up and in fact when I do need to charge my phone it's usually mounted to the bars so a headstock or dash located USB port is preferable as I've found on a couple of the bikes I've tested lately. Arguably there's a bit more cover from rain under the saddle but you'll have to run a cable under the tank to the bars if you want to make use of it on the go. In Triumph's defence though, the Rocket isn't really a bike intended to have a phone mounted to the bars. The TFT screen can connect to your phone and make use of the MyTriumph app and Google sat nav as well as being able to control your music and phone from the bars. You can even control a GoPro if you so wish. As we've already mentioned there are two models of the production Rocket available. The more sporty R which I presume stands for Roadster and then the touring focus GT which I guess is Grand Tourer. But in reality there are only a handful of changes to differentiate these two bikes. Firstly the handlebars. The R has got Roadster bars which give a lower sportier position than the up swept touring bars of the GT. Both versions have their cables routed internally which keeps things looking neat up front. As predicted from the TFC release where we could see two foot peg mounting positions. The pegs are mid mounted on the R and in a forward position on the GT. Both have some vertical adjustability with the mid pegs going down 15 millimeters whereas the forward pegs can go either up or down by 25. The seat of the R is a fairly accessible 773 millimeters but the GT is lower at 750 and combined with the forward foot pegs the higher bars it should give a much more comfortable position over long distances if compromising cornering ability a little. Other than that the GT includes a backrest for the pillion and perhaps as a result is quoted as a couple of kilos heavier. Both models are available in black but there's a red option for the R and what Triumph calls silver ice and storm grey with the kerosene red pinstripe decal for the GT. But given that the bars backrest and foot peg positions are all interchangeable between the two models and available as accessories you could conceivably buy for example a red R and convert it to the GT spec if you really wanted to. You might consider the TFC to be the third model option but as I've already said the limited run of 750 bikes is already sold out so you'll have to set up some alerts on eBay if you want one of those. As with any new bike nowadays there's a whole slew of accessories and options from the manufacturer. Triumph's shift assist quick shifter allows for clutchless up and down shifts which will be very tempting for some riders. I recently tried out a speed triple with shift assist installed and it worked great. There are also plenty of luggage options for the bike which will be popular on the GT model I assume. 20 litre panniers, a 12 litre tank bag and a rack for the backrest should give it fairly decent touring capacity. There are also some comfort seats for both rider and pillion, a tyre pressure monitoring system and some security options including a Thatcham approved alarm and tracker although good luck to anyone hoping to lift it into the back of a van. Some of the accessories including the luggage quick shifter and TFT connectivity system have been combined into a kit called the highway inspiration kit which I assume gives you a bit of discount versus buying them individually. We've had plenty of imagery of the bike flashing up here but I just wanted to round up by talking about how good I think the new Rocket looks. There's plenty of brushed aluminium on display which gives it a real quality premium look that reminds me of some of the touches on the 1200 Scrambler and the Speed Twin. The single-sided swingarm and cast wheels look awesome to me and there are some nice other touches like the twin LED headlights, Monza style fuel cap and a pillion seat infill to give a single seat look. In many ways I prefer how this model looks to the TFC especially in the red paint job. So that's everything we know about this bike. I'm dying to take one out, no doubt it will be a handful. I recently rode a Harley Fat Bob which is of a similar weight and it certainly required a bit of forward planning on the road but with way more power and torque the Rocket should be something else. Let me know what you think of the Rocket R and GT in the comments below and do you agree that it actually looks better than the TFC or do you prefer the carbon bling of the factory custom? Let me know your thoughts and if you're new here and you want to see more videos like this hit subscribe and I'll see you next time.