My best riding buddy had a Rune that he traded in on a Rocket 3- although at first I thought it was the ugliest bike I had ever seen, it does grow on you with time. It is the most nimble machine for its monster size and is very very fast. With both of us on it ( about 450 lbs)- it can lift the front tire off the ground and will go to 140mph in a flash.

 

I used to work for BSA when the Rocket 3 came out. Every day at lunch the boss would take the Rocket 3 up to the Honda shop and race the new Honda 750 (everyday) Every day he came back to the shop happy. He was victorious What a great shop It was called colonial cycles

[IMG]local://upfiles/23460/696F60FBB9204FFDAE7DE11A84FE930F.jpg[/IMG]

 

I like Triumphs, too.

Growing up in the 60s, the only big bikes over 305cc that I remember were the Triumphs, BSAs, Nortons and the HDs. So that made 'em kool.

I had a BSA. My dad ( before I was born ) had a Triumph Speed Twin and a Vincent Black Shadow. I think that maybe the bikes my dad had made them stick in my head and made them seem better to me. The fact that the Triumphswere the first bikes Honda tried to copy validated them for me.

 

I've had three Triumphs in the late 60's & early 70's. The best was a TT Special I bought from a local Triumph dealer that helped sponsor us. He raced it for one season and thought it was too heavy. I put lights on it and rode it while I was stationed in Kansas. The MP's told me I had to change the pipes because it was too loud (which I never did). I stored it when I went to Viet Nam. You could tell when it started to"come on the cam" at about 3800 rpm's and you had better hold on. I really like them when I had them, but don't think I would trade for a Harley. Of course my ridding activities have changed since then too.

 

I've always considered the Bonneville the most beautiful bike ever made. The new Bonnies are a bit chunkier than the 1970's models, but still gorgeous. If there were room in my budget I would definately have one or two in my stable.

 

Let me get this straight...

I ask a question about a non-Harley and ended up with three pages of posts blasting me for asking such a question by numerous Forumites, save for the two or three members who've in the least have actually ridden the bike I was posting a question about.

Meanwhile, Anvil, a brand-new guy with a grand total of two posts to his credit, posts a question about Triumphs (which I like, I got to test drive the America and I want to try the Speedmaster and the Rocket III just for kicks) and gets three pages of happy, bubbly and positive replies because many a Harley rider on this Forum have ridden them.

I guess if you're going to ride an import, it had better be a British import rather than an Asian one, huh?

[sm=bs.gif]

Whatever, man. If ignorance is bliss, I'd rather suffer.

I'm submitting a new Forum rule. From now on, if/when someone like me asks a question about any kind of import motorcycle, that is to say, not a Harley, if you haven't ridden it, I don't want to hear about it because you have nothing viable to base your opinion upon. That's just a fact. It's like someone who has never even sat on a motorcycle telling someone who actually has their butt in the saddle with the engine on ready to take off how to coordinate the clutch and the throttle. Give me a break.

For numerous reasons I'm not able to purchase a motorcycle right now, and while I appreciate Forumites not wanting their motorcycle-riding brethren to get scammed or shafted or stuck with a POS sled, how's about we leave the opinions to the guys who actually know what they're talking about? Let's not be like the Honda-Goldwing forum guys who do nothing but "blast H-D all day long," as one of our own members put it. I'm doing every ounce of research I can to end up in the saddle of something worthwhile, and I'd appreciate a little help from the folks on this Forum to make an educated decision that encompasses all options.

And no, I did not create the Anvil profile to test the waters.

[/rant]

 

A lot of this brand loyalty and acceptancegoes back to the post-war days and the guys who rode then. At that time the Japanese were not so well-liked, and when they began to export motorbikes to the U.S. there were a lot of guys who resented them. Also the quality of Japanese merchandise at that time was on a par with Chinese stuff of the present day.

I don't bash anyone's ride, but I understand the mindset of a guy in, say, 1962, not wanting to buy something made by people from a country which might have killed his buddies.

Also, Brando and Fonzie both rode Triumphs.