A Sheep In Wolf's Clothing or Vice Versa?

[IMFASTTOO]

Art the v8 bikes aren't evil handling unless you think a Harley Road King is evil handling. In my experience they handle surprisingly well, about the same as a RoadKing. Its true that it requires more muscle to lean it from turn to turn but it doesn't drag pegs until you are far enough over that you wouldn't want to go much further anyway. It has no surprises in store for you its just a heavy bike. Keep in mind that many average Harley riders spend a fortune trying to get more power. Harley now has more powerful engines available than they ever had and they are selling. I know you will say that they still don't have any power regardless of the option and I'm not arguing that, or that they pay a fortune for a relative slug. I am saying that most don't know that there is another bike with pretty much old time look that they like and still a big bike although not quite as heavy as theirs with more power and torque than any Harley for one half to two thirds the price. They just don't even know about that and most have never seen one. Even I never see one on the road, they are as rare as a Boss Hoss. When I ride with a group hardly any give it a second glance, when I ride the V8 bikes everyone looks and remembers it and usually even me. TRIUMPH needs to change that by marketing or I'm afraid there is a strong possibility they might discontinue our Rockets. I say possibility because maybe I'm all wrong and they sell enough to make a profit along with the prestige of knowing they make the biggest production bike on the market and thats enough for the time being, maybe they will finally get around to upgrading and pushing the Rocket on their own time instead of mine.

OF all the newer bikes Ive tested The BOSS HOSS is the worst handing and the HARLEYS handle better and there are far more ROCKETS on the road than the BOSS HOSS OFTEN Ill ask the HARLEY owners why dont you buy a ROCKET and a lot only want a HARLEY for the name and others have said the ROCKETS to powerful they make me laugh as they will spend $20,000 modifying the engines trying to make 100 HP. ROCKET sales are growing but It was never designed or expected to sell like a one bike fits all 50 HP cruiser that new riders and women would buy its a bike for the experienced rider thats looking for maximum cruising power handing and braking

 

[LAS VEGAS DAVE]

I know you are a good rider and your opinion is a valid opinion. I am also a good rider with over 59 years on Harleys and other bikes and 8 years on the Boss Hoss. The Boss Hoss is not a bad handling bike in my opinion and I can stay with the large Harleys safely although I have to work harder on the mountain roads and my brakes will fade way quicker than theres. I have an automatic trans which of course hardly even slows you when letting off the throttle compared to a geared type trans that uses the engines compression to help slow you. Their high card is not mountain riding if you are looking to see how fast you can go. They are not unsafe unless to you everything is unsafe if it is under a sport bikes specs. I know there are more Rockets on the road than Boss Hoss bikes but there are more Grizzly bears in the United States than mountain lions however I never see either one of them. No bike made by the way was designed as one bike fits all. The ROCKET RT3 is a good touring bike and you don't need any more experience to ride it than a Harley Sportster. The Carpenter bikes, the V8 bikes, the Hyabusa bikes, none require any more experience to ride than a Harley. They require lots of experience to ride them at their full potential but then again so do most bikes.

 

[IMFASTTOO]

I know you are a good rider and your opinion is a valid opinion. I am also a good rider with over 59 years on Harleys and other bikes and 8 years on the Boss Hoss. The Boss Hoss is not a bad handling bike in my opinion and I can stay with the large Harleys safely although I have to work harder on the mountain roads and my brakes will fade way quicker than theres. I have an automatic trans which of course hardly even slows you when letting off the throttle compared to a geared type trans that uses the engines compression to help slow you. Their high card is not mountain riding if you are looking to see how fast you can go. They are not unsafe unless to you everything is unsafe if it is under a sport bikes specs. I know there are more Rockets on the road than Boss Hoss bikes but there are more Grizzly bears in the United States than mountain lions however I never see either one of them. No bike made by the way was designed as one bike fits all. The ROCKET RT3 is a good touring bike and you don't need any more experience to ride it than a Harley Sportster. The Carpenter bikes, the V8 bikes, the Hyabusa bikes, none require any more experience to ride than a Harley. They require lots of experience to ride them at their full potential but then again so do most bikes.

THE HD SPORTSTER is a much smaller lighter and less powerful bike than a ROCKET I would not expect a new rider weighing 110 lbs and a female to be capable of jumping on a ROCKET and ride it safely I taught hundreds of new bike owners to ride and I would never pick a ROCKET for their first ride we always start them out on a small light dirtbike its much easier and safer

 

[LAS VEGAS DAVE]

THE HD SPORTSTER is a much smaller lighter and less powerful bike than a ROCKET I would not expect a new rider weighing 110 lbs and a female to be capable of jumping on a ROCKET and ride it safely I taught hundreds of new bike owners to ride and I would never pick a ROCKET for their first ride we always start them out on a small light dirtbike its much easier and safer

AFTER either a man or women have ridden a Sportster for a while they can ride a Rocket. I don't think anyone would pick a Rocket or a Sportster for the first ride for a new rider. I don't care even if they weigh 170 pounds if its a first ride a small light bike is the way to go. My point is that once you can ride a motorcycle to where its easy then you can ride a Rocket or a V8. Sure they are heavy but you aren't supposed to hold them at a 45 degree angle while sitting at a light. Once moving they are all CLOSE to the same. if you are picking one up from the ground you did something wrong or you wouldn't be doing that. If that is a concern I would suggest driving a car.

 

[IMFASTTOO]

AFTER either a man or women have ridden a Sportster for a while they can ride a Rocket. I don't think anyone would pick a Rocket or a Sportster for the first ride for a new rider. I don't care even if they weigh 170 pounds if its a first ride a small light bike is the way to go. My point is that once you can ride a motorcycle to where its easy then you can ride a Rocket or a V8. Sure they are heavy but you aren't supposed to hold them at a 45 degree angle while sitting at a light. Once moving they are all CLOSE to the same. if you are picking one up from the ground you did something wrong or you wouldn't be doing that. If that is a concern I would suggest driving a car.

OH my DAVE you havnt seen some of the disasters I have Ive been selling bikes all my life and believe me people can do the craziest things things I cant begin to tell you what Ive experienced Ive seen plenty of riders loose control of heavy powerful motorcycles and get badly hurt and even killed so no its not a good idea for new riders to get on any of those big powerful heavy bad handling beasts with poor brakes thats a fact

 

[LAS VEGAS DAVE]

OH my DAVE you havnt seen some of the disasters I have Ive been selling bikes all my life and believe me people can do the craziest things things I cant begin to tell you what Ive experienced Ive seen plenty of riders loose control of heavy powerful motorcycles and get badly hurt and even killed so no its not a good idea for new riders to get on any of those big powerful heavy bad handling beasts with poor brakes thats a fact

i've seen many disasters, I've been with two people at different times that died while I was there with them, they were both riding over their head. I've been with some that were badly hurt. Riders just don't lose control for no reason. I was fourteen years old and I had only ridden Cushmans, Whizzers, and a Mustang. I had just turned 15 and a guy at a gas station had a 47 Harley Knucklehead for sale for 150 dollars. I worked in a car wash and sold my Mustang to get the money. It had a tank shift, it was an old stock Harley with the big spring seat. I gave him the money and finally got it started and just got on it and rode it home. Big Bike, skinny kid but with motor scooter experience of about a year and a half. Once you can ride its just matter of getting more and more experience. If you ride a big bike and then get on a smaller lighter one you feel like Mike Hailwood, gif you go the other way it just takes getting used to. I ride the biggest heaviest bike there is, I'll be 74 this month, its not hard its just intimidating.

 

[joey fletcher]

Just my 2 cents again.

Where HD is still kicking all other M/C Butts in sales is their ability to come out with a new bike and have an accessory parts book 1 inch thick at the same time.
When my son bought the 2005 Orange SE V-rod in 2004 it came with a new parts accessories catalogue just for that SE V-rod. I know I spent over a $1000 on little chrome buttons that go into the allen head bolts on that thing plus about $ 130 just for chrome covers to go on the valve stems. That is one way how HD holds the market in sales.

When I bought my 2005 Rocket III new there were only 2 or 3 accessories total for the Rocket, it was about the same for the next 3 or 4 years. Very few options for the Rocket III then.

I saw how hard it was to ride a Boss Hoss in 2005 and 2010 at Biketober fest. I still would give my right N*t to ride a Boss Hoss. When I saw dozens of 100 to 125 Lb. ladies in Bikinis and Chaps ridding and backing them into tight spots on the main drag at Daytona. I knew that it can not be that hard to ride. I saw at least 1/2 dozen ladies with the 502 ci.

I saw this one young lady about 25 and wearing this very small yellow bikini and chaps I thought I was going to............... Oh Never mind

 

[IMFASTTOO]

i've seen many disasters, I've been with two people at different times that died while I was there with them, they were both riding over their head. I've been with some that were badly hurt. Riders just don't lose control for no reason. I was fourteen years old and I had only ridden Cushmans, Whizzers, and a Mustang. I had just turned 15 and a guy at a gas station had a 47 Harley Knucklehead for sale for 150 dollars. I worked in a car wash and sold my Mustang to get the money. It had a tank shift, it was an old stock Harley with the big spring seat. I gave him the money and finally got it started and just got on it and rode it home. Big Bike, skinny kid but with motor scooter experience of about a year and a half. Once you can ride its just matter of getting more and more experience. If you ride a big bike and then get on a smaller lighter one you feel like Mike Hailwood, gif you go the other way it just takes getting used to. I ride the biggest heaviest bike there is, I'll be 74 this month, its not hard its just intimidating.

Ive seena lot more than that die and its always an accident caused by making a mistake on the part of the rider or you never know what you might encounter out there so riding anything you cant handle in an emergency situation is a very bad idea I watched my friends wife crash 5 times in one season and get hurt each time then she quit riding I told him not to get her a sportster and not to put her on the road without taking lessons and to ride a small dirt bike first to get some experience and learn how to ride in all situations AND I have to say that any of the big heavy bikes with poor handling and poor brakes are dangerous and I consider them death traps and I tell all that own them to get rid of them before you hurt or kill yourself on that POS

 

[joey fletcher]

If you want to have the most fun you can have with your clothes on, just make sure you do not have to Pee.

Go to a large boat ramp right after the first boat show of the year............Get a good view of the ramps and hang on.........

That is a FUN thing to watch

PS............No one gets killed or seriously hurt at these events......so far

 

[IMFASTTOO]

If you want to have the most fun you can have with your clothes on, just make sure you do not have to Pee.

Go to a large boat ramp right after the first boat show of the year............Get a good view of the ramps and hang on.........

That is a FUN thing to watch

PS............No one gets killed or seriously hurt at these events......so far

YOU ARE SO RIGHT ABOUT THAT its crazy watching those idiots backing the boats down the ramps