2008 Rocket Issues

[Navigator]

A good friend of mine, a Canadian, who I've ridden many miles with is about to depart on a ride on his Triumph Explorer from his winter home in Mesa AZ to Tierra del Fuego. He's always loved my Rocket and wanted to get one. With only a few days left he saw an ad for a nicely modified 2008 Roadster with about 10K miles on it. It looks to be a screamin' good deal and he asked me if I knew of any significant issues. We had previously discussed the output shaft bearing and the "paint can rattle" issues on some 05s-early 07s. I told him I thought those had been well addressed by Triumph and were not really issues into 08?

Aside from those above I believe the Rocket to be a pretty solid bike. I had early TPS issue on my 07 but with 35K on the clock mine has been trouble free.

Do you think I am correct in telling him not to be concerned about the early engine/output shaft bearing problems with an 08? I had just never read of any so assumed Triumph had fixed it. If he buys this he'll do so tomorrow, put it in layup and then start in with tricking it out when he returns home.

 

[GPMAZ]

I can of course only speak to my experience Mike, but I got about 30K trouble free miles from my '08 R3T. I wouldn't pick it over the Explorer for a trip to Tierra del Fuego but with 10K miles I'd think any problems should have surfaced and otherwise its just getting broken in.

 

[Rocket3Pilot]

I agree with GPMAZ. While I love my 2013 Roadster and had plenty of confidence in it to go across the united states and back, Central and South America are a completely different set of circumstances. I would not attempt a trip to Tiera del Fuego on any Triumph Rocket for several reasons and the primary would be the roads. The second is maintenance reliability and durability. I think he would realize it's the wrong bike actually, before he even got through Mexico, let alone Central and South America. Can't speak for the other Triumph models as I have no first hand experience, but I would be thinking along the lines of some kind of dual sport by Honda, Kawasaki, or BMW. Also research the Iron Butt site. It's bound to reveal statistically with bikes would be more likely to survive such a trip. Sure envy the guy though! Talk about a "trip of a lifetime", WOW!

 

[Navigator]

Gord just agreed to buy it Harry and will drive north to pick it up in the morning. Gord is the friend I have told you about in the past. He's got the winter place in one of the Mesa RV villages. He presently has the TEX and two Gold Wings, one for US/Mexico riding and one for Canada.

That 09 Touring that I am trying to help a guy sell is still around. He hasn't done anything with it and it is still in play for me. The Harley will be gone in about two weeks and I'd sure like to make my Nomad gone too. It's a beautiful bike and great on the highway but stupidly top heavy and dangerous for these old knees when backing out of my shop or turning it around. I went over on my in the garage the other day. There was no damage to the bike and only minor damage to me.

The Rocket weighs about the same but to me is very easy off the kickstand and feels much lighter at rest or at low speed maneuvering. Plus it's a real cream puff.

 

[Navigator]

I agree with GPMAZ. While I love my 2013 Roadster and had plenty of confidence in it to go across the united states and back, Central and South America are a completely different set of circumstances. I would not attempt a trip to Tiera del Fuego on any Triumph Rocket for several reasons and the primary would be the roads. The second is maintenance reliability and durability. I think he would realize it's the wrong bike actually, before he even got through Mexico, let alone Central and South America. Can't speak for the other Triumph models as I have no first hand experience, but I would be thinking along the lines of some kind of dual sport by Honda, Kawasaki, or BMW. Also research the Iron Butt site. It's bound to reveal statistically with bikes would be more likely to survive such a trip. Sure envy the guy though! Talk about a "trip of a lifetime", WOW!

I wouldn't attempt it with anything other than an mid-range dual sport such as my DL650, GS800 etc. but that's just me. One has to ship the bike via sea or air around the Darian Gap, a very dangerous place. I attended the Horizons Unlimited Adventure riding gathering in Nakusp BC with Gord and we attended a couple of seminars on this ride. He also spoke at length with those who have done it. I test rode the Honda Africa Twin (great bike) and the new FJR-1200 which was more roadworthy but way over powered for me, like the TEX.

He is taking his Triumph TEX on his impending ride which to me will also be a challenge because it is pretty heavy for a dual sport style bike. He rode to the Arctic Circle on it with me in 2015 (I on my Strom) and then did an 8,000 mile ride this summer to Alaska, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, into Alberta and home to Castlegar with much of it off road. He is only about 5'-7" but tough as nails, having survived being kidnapped by bandits in Venezuela several years ago. At the Arctic Circle, I turned back south to Dawson City and Gord continued up to Inuvik on the Dempster haul road.

Gord speaks excellent Spanish and has ridden extensively throughout Mexico on Harleys and on his Gold Wing. He totaled his Electra Glide in southern Mexico back in about 2006. Mexican roads are generally pretty good but they start to get a bit rough in Guatemala to Panama. Once around the Darian Gap they are also generally pretty good but there are stretches where only a Dual Sport will make it.

He rode a Touring at Daytona Bike Week several years ago and met with the factory rep because the rep was very interested to get the view of someone with hundreds of thousands of touring miles.

He is stoked about this purchase and when he arrives home I'll ride up to see him as he starts the upgrades to his new Rocket.

 

[Big Gun]

Hi Mike, My 08 had what they called the Damper bearing installed backwards and couldn’t get oil. I was 350 miles from home but it made it back.
If I remember it had about 13K miles.

Probably very rare issue. Triumph covered all the cost except fluids.

 

[warp9.9]

You should check the vin number to see if it was produced after the update the cutt off was during 2008 production.

 

[GPMAZ]

Hey Mike, ask your friend Gord if he knew Tom from Victory BMW. I heard he passed away recently. The guy had some incredible stories. Was in the French Foreign Legion. Rode his R80GS across Europe, shipped it to the southernmost point and rode north until he landed in Phoenix and ran out of money. Took a job at Victory and stayed.

 

[Mittzy]

"a nicely modified 2008 Roadster" you say...
It wont be a Roadster if it is a 2008 build, to double check look for ABS as ONLY the roadster models have been fitted with this feature since the start of the R3R production (All Roadsters) - the Touring was fitted with ABS later.
I would be wanting to know what mods and if it has been professionally dyno tuned to suit these mods.
Good Luck

ABS ring shown

 

[Navigator]

Mittzy, I referred to it as a Roadster because of the mid-controls and a vague recollection as to when that model was introduced. I thought it was in 2008. This is a bit of an odd web site on which it was advertised but take a look. The price asked is Canadian $$. He isn't paying that much for it. Isn't that a Roadster?

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Harry, I'll ask Gord but the guys who probably knew/heard of Tom are the guys on advrider.com forum. Gord probably never got over to that shop.