SuperBike Magazine June 2020

32
TRIUMPH ROCKET III R & GT
all of a sudden it’s open road
likability for me was falling a
bit short, I was in conflict with
myself.
We swapped bikes, and I’m
not a touring bike kind of a rider,
but all of a sudden the GT felt
more age appropriate for me. I
had a good chuckle to myself in
my helmet, you have all of the
gusto of the R, but just in a more
sedate kind of riding style, the
changes are small. The bars are
a little higher and closer to you;
the footpads more forward and
the seat height a little higher
which alter the triangle quite
significantly and make the ride
quite a bit more comfortable.
Even the smallish screen, not a
lot bigger than the small one on
the R make you feel more hidden
from the elements, subtle
changes which produce quite a
different feeling bike.
Both have the same Showa
fully adjustable suspension
but either the test units were
set up differently, but the GT
changed my preconceived idea
totally on this ride. It was still
agile but a lot more plush, the R
was set up a lot more sporty. So
much so that if you had asked
me after the ride on which one I
would buy, I would of surprised
everybody and opted for the
GT. Handling wise, the two hide
their weight quite well, even
though at just below 300kgs
dry, they are still on the heavy
side. I can liken them to biggish
girls who can dance properly
in the cha-cha, it’s all about
how you use your weight and
spin it around. The big back tyre
(240mm) should penalise it
more I thought but surprisingly
not, I thought it would battle to
turn in but again I was wrong,
the rake and trail being just
right for a bike of this weight.
The braking, which is done
by Brembo Stylma Monobloc
calipers up front which have
cornering ABS is right at the
cutting edge. Obviously TC is
a standard feature but heated
handlebars only on the GT which
I thought to be a bit odd.
There are a few stand
out features of the bike that
impressed me a lot. I absolutely
love where Triumph is position-