subject: Riding The Rocket 111 [print this page] Now I've reached the slightly worrying age of fifty, I've decided that I no longer "fit" on bikes of the more sporty variety, so I had to decide recently what sort of machine I wanted to replace my Blackbird.
Aching wrists and a stomach that is too big meant that I needed something rather different. I decided what I needed was a dedicated touring machine, a BMW1200RT to be precise.
I have had a couple of BMWs in the past, and always liked the flat twin engine, albeit that it was a little slow. However, I was very unimpressed with the dealer I visited, so left the showroom empty handed.
Over the past 15 years or so I have owned a number of Triumphs, (the modern versions), so decided to pay my local dealer a visit.
And there it was, big and brash, sitting and looking at me menacingly through its twin front headlamps, the 2.3 litre Rocket.
Throwing my leg over the demonstrator outside, I have to say I felt a little intimidated by the sheer size of the thing. Reaching to the bars however, was a relief as I found I could now look over both shoulders and not have to crane my neck up to see where I'm going!
When pressed into life the engine gave that familiar Triumph sound. It was like a challenge, the bike saying "come on if you think your tough enough"!
I kept the beast on tick over as I let out the clutch, and it rolled forward.
This was a surprise to me, I was expecting the thing to leap away and try and throw me! But no, with no drama it picked up speed as I added a small amount of throttle.
The first thing I noticed as I negotiated my way around the three lines of parked bikes on the forecourt was the balance. With the high and wide bars, you have to physically turn them left or right rather than just lean at low speed.
This took some getting used to, but it doesn't take long to get the "feel" of the bike as to when to replace the steering with leaning.
Having said the power comes in gently, what I really mean is that it does if you want it to. Rather than the Hyabusa or Blackbird where the thing is constantly urging you to roll in more and more power, the Rocket has peak power very low in the rev band, so if you do want to go to warp speed you can, easily and quickly, but you don't feel that the bike demands it of you.
When you are travelling at speed the bike is comfortable and glued to the road, it also handles very well, unless you are a (genuine) sports bike rider, in which case you will have to plan your corners rather more than you may be used to.
The fat rear tyre does mean that you feel every groove in the road surface, and it does mean that the back end moves around a little, but with the burble of the engine one soon gets used to it and it gives the thing some character - something I've always missed in the ultra smooth fours of today.
The brakes are top notch and well matched to the bike.
Having thought that my biking days were over, I now find that the Rocket is giving me a new lease of motorcycling life, together with a huge grin!
