IFTHANOS(evilspace-Goliathfromthe
Avengersfilms)rodea bike,it’dbethis:
the 2019 TriumphRocket 3 .Packinga
brand-new,bigger-bore,shorter-stroke
245 8ccengine,thistitanclaims 16 8bhp
anda gut-curdling 16 3lb·ftoftorque.
ThisistheenlargedheartofTriumph’s
newRocket3 TFCorTriumphFactory
Custom.Thismeanswhileit’sa
productionbike,it’llonlybemadein
limitednumbers(just 750 worldwide)
andcosta whopping£25,000.
Components,asyoumightexpect,are
pleasinglyposh.Brembo’sStylemafront
brakecalipersareasontheDucati
PanigaleV4.Showasuspension(fat
47mmforks,newmonoshockrear)is
fullyadjustable.TheroundTFTdash
HAS YOUR SAT NAV been behaving oddly lately? That’s because of
something called the GPS Week Number Rollover, which occurred on April 6
2019. Within every GPS time message is a number that tracks what week it
is, and being a 10-bit field it
resets to zero every 1024
weeks (or 19-and-a-bit
years). While both Garmin
and TomTom claim that the
majority of their devices are
unaffected, plenty of older
sat navs can no longer
display the correct date, time
or estimated arrival time
though navigation will still
work. In many cases, there’s
no fix: just a newer unit.
LONDON’S ULTRA-LOW Emissions Zone is
now in full force, meaning motorcycles that
don’t meet Euro3 standards for nitrogen
oxide emissions have to pay £12.50 a day to
enter central London. But there are
exceptions, so long as you can prove your
pre-2007 meets those standards. One way is
to request a certificate of conformity or
homologation from the bike’s manufacturer.
But a second option is now to get your bike
individually dyno-tested at Riverbank
Motorcycles. It costs £175 per test and
there’s a straight pass/fail depending on the
measured exhaust emissions during three
runs on a rolling road. For more information,
see http://www.nationalemissionstestcentre.com
Sat-nav silliness ULEZ loophole
Triumphreveals
itsall-new
Rocket— with
a 2.5-litre,
168bhp motor
comes from Triumph’s Scrambler 1200.
Hill-hold control, two-way quickshifter,
cruise control and lean-sensitive rider
aids are standard. And yet the Rocket’s
trademark touches are retained, with
shaft drive, twin headlights (now LED
units) and a vast 240-section rear tyre.
Wondering how much it all weighs?
Triumph only says it’s “over 40kg” lighter
than the old Rocket, thanks to its
aluminium frame and carbon-fibre
bodywork. With the Rocket 3 Roadster
weighing in around 367kg fully fuelled,
that’s a diet of more than 10%.
While the Rocket’s extreme specs
might make it seem ultra-niche, the
previous model was surprisingly
popular. Figures reveal almost 3000
Rocket 3s in Britain alone — more than
every Ducati Diavel and Yamaha V-Max
combined. It’s also one of the top 20
most searched-for used bikes on http://www.
mcnbikeforsale.com. With that in mind,
we’re confident Triumph also has a
less-extreme Rocket in the pipeline.
Torque
show
Next rollover due
in November
2038...
It’s a production
bike but in a
limited run
8 | JULY 2019
