Two new lighter and more powerful Rocket 3s are on their way

2024 Triumph Rocket III

To celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the unmatched Rocket3, it’s possible a whole bunch of people got drunk at Hinckley and started yelling.

At the end of the yelling, it was resolved that the only proper way to make the Rocket 3 even more awesome than it is, is to give it more power and torque, and reduce the unsprung weight.

Triumph has called this new iteration of the world’s most powerful mass-produced motorcycle the “Storm”.

Like before, there are two variants – the R and the GT. The R is all about mid-mounted controls – which can be adjusted vertically 15mm – and more aggressive ride ergos, and the GT is the cruiser – all feet-forward and handlebars back.  The GT offers the rider three horizontal position settings for his feet.

The seat heights also vary. The rider and pillion seat on the R sit at 773mm, while the GT comes with a more sculpted, touring seat for the rider, and there’s more padding and a back-rest for the pillion, and it sits at 750mm for the rider.

Both come in three distinctive and imposing two-tone colour schemes – Carnival Red with Sapphire Black, Pacific Blue with Matte Sapphire Black, and Sapphire Black with Granite. It’s a good-money bet there will be a Triple Black with Extra Ultra Black option down the track a bit as well. There pretty much has to be, right?

Unsprung weight has been reduced with the advent of new ten-spoke cast-aluminium wheels. The Rocket 3 already handles with more agility than its size would indicate, but reducing the unsprung weight in this way will give that agility a bit of a polish.

There is also a real power and torque increase, in case you’d felt the already impressive numbers weren’t impressive enough. Torque has been increased by 4 Nm, and now peaks at 225 at 4000 rpm. So, you’re being hosed with maximum torque all through the mid-range, allowing you to overtake 1000 cars in one hit…theoretically. And BHP has also been flavoured-up some, punching out a fraction under 180 horsepower at 7000rpm.

The new Storms will come with their name painted on the tanks, just in case you didn’t have enough bragging rights. You can now just point at it, and hope people can read.

Like before, the new Rockets come with top-shelf, fully adjustable Showa shocks and forks, Brembo Stylema brakes with twin 320mm rotors up front, and a massive 300mm rotor on the rear being squeezed by a Brembo M4.32 four-piston caliper – which is a more powerful set up on the rear hoop than many bikes can boast as their front brake.

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The full suite of electronic rider aids – cornering ABS, traction control, switchable rider modes, intuitive cruise control, and a two-option display on the TFT dash – is all there and easily controllable via a back-lit joystick on the left-hand switch-block.

There’s actually very little that doesn’t come standard, but Triumph also allows you to customise your Rocket 3. You can interchange the foot-controls between the R and the GT, choose pillion-oriented seats, or even tailor the rider’s seat for more comfort. And there’s a load of bling you can get, as well as Rocket 3-specific luggage options.

The bikes should begin arriving in dealerships in April., and both the Storm GT and the Storm R will cost from $38,890 ride away.