Been a few years....

rocketjohn said:

I likened it to a Road King….more over could do three day trips with full saddlebags and a tail bag. But the saddlebags for the 2.5? Who they kidding?

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I sort of liken the cost of saddlebags to most other equipment for most hobbies as being , as you refer, too expensive but to stay in the game one has to expect a little pain !
I have the Triumph bags with the Triumph supports for them , they function well , and thank goodness I only had to suffer the cost of the bags one time because they are good looking and very useful to stow my lady like things ! May they last forever ! ! ( they should for the price Triumph charges)

baileegirl said:

I sort of liken the cost of saddlebags to most other equipment for most hobbies as being , as you refer, too expensive but to stay in the game one has to expect a little pain !
I have the Triumph bags with the Triumph supports for them , they function well , and thank goodness I only had to suffer the cost of the bags one time because they are good looking and very useful to stow my lady like things ! May they last forever ! ! ( they should for the price Triumph charges)

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"Stow my lady things"? No details please. Seriously I carry more chit than the wife. Actually when I'm out on the Rocket for the day I use one of her bags on her Indian to stow what i need to.

I too will pay what i need to stay in the game. If I want it bad enough money won't stop me.

it appears Triumph has almost given up on the long distance market. Other than the adventure bikes and possibly the Speedmaster, what do they have? I look at other manufactures who have actively designed their cruisers and tourers for long distance and are still going forward with sales. Here are a few...

BMW with their R18 Transcontinental... Don't forget their 1600 tourer and 1200 R1200 too.

Honda with their Gold Wing line.



Yamaha with their FJR 1300... granted, it's really a sport touring but it's set up for long distance. Triumph got rid of their Trophy and Sprint...

Then we have the plethora of Harley Davidson touring bike models... Ultra Classic being one of them...

Kawasaki hasn't given up on their Vulcan Voyager 1700...

Suzuki has tried to keep up with their C50 line but to me, this would compare with the Speedmaster...

Sadly Moto Guzzi discontinued their California and MGX 21 touring rides... Maybe they were in cahoots with Triumph.

I'll stop here since it won't let me post more pics but you get the picture. I can't, for the life of me, figure out why Triumph hasn't developed another full blown touring model. It would appear there is enough interest.

Note, I purposely kept out the Explorer touring segment which is probably why Triumph hasn't focused on the cruiser line...

The thing is, if a manufacturer abandons me and won't offer me the machines I like to ride, I shall abandon that manufacturer and find one that will cater to ME!

That said...Kawasaki's Vulcan Voyager 1700 is lovely! Just lovely....shame they make about one a month and you can hardly find one!

rocketjohn said:

The thing is, if a manufacturer abandons me and won't offer me the machines I like to ride, I shall abandon that manufacturer and find one that will cater to ME!

That said...Kawasaki's Vulcan Voyager 1700 is lovely! Just lovely....shame they make about one a month and you can hardly find one!

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I have said for a long time that supply and demand " should " cure the gougers in our free market enterprise ! At present that theory does not hold water. Maybe that is why our economy is so fouled up.........I am certainly NOT a very good economist ; and would probably not be able to function in a real business environment. Guess I am about as bad as our economy !...................

In February 2023 i will be taking a trip which will be around 8 days. I have the panniers and the tailbag on my GT and that will do me fine! If i couldn't fit everything i needed in there i guess i should be taking a car!...I dont want to be loaded up to the max with luggage on a motorcyle...battling balance in strong winds on an overloaded motorcycle aint my idea of fun....i just dont get it....call me old school i guess.

Tal said:

In February 2023 i will be taking a trip which will be around 8 days. I have the panniers and the tailbag on my GT and that will do me fine! If i couldn't fit everything i needed in there i guess i should be taking a car!...I dont want to be loaded up to the max with luggage on a motorcyle...battling balance in strong winds on an overloaded motorcycle aint my idea of fun....i just dont get it....call me old school i guess.

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Exactly. The panniers and a backpack on the rack for me and I'm good. I haven't gone 8 days just 4 days and never needed to wash anything as I had enough to wear for 4 or 5 days before a wash. I didn't do the under ware front to back to inside out front to back and I'm thankful for that. You can never bring too many undies. Like mom said, if in an accident make sure your under ware are clean.

Mighty Mouse said:

Exactly. The panniers and a backpack on the rack for me and I'm good. I haven't gone 8 days just 4 days and never needed to wash anything as I had enough to wear for 4 or 5 days before a wash. I didn't do the under ware front to back to inside out front to back and I'm thankful for that. You can never bring too many undies. Like mom said, if in an accident make sure your under ware are clean.

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haha...true!...My mum used to say that but my argument was that if you have an accident chances are youre gonna shyte in them anyway!

If I'd been looking for a 1-2 up distance tourer, I would have taken a look at the BMW K1600, assuming you're going to stay in hotels.
When I was young enough to camp out for week-long trips, the BMW GS1200ADV had all the room in the top box and panniers, plus the camp gear stowed across the passenger seat and pannier tops.
Tourer can mean many things to many people. Haul a spouse and their gear, and unless they were a green beret you could find yourself with a trike and trailer!

I bought the Rocket because I'll mostly ride on weekends in fine weather. If I had to stay away for a night, I could get all I needed in a backpack.

LimeyinTX said:

If I'd been looking for a 1-2 up distance tourer, I would have taken a look at the BMW K1600, assuming you're going to stay in hotels.
When I was young enough to camp out for week-long trips, the BMW GS1200ADV had all the room in the top box and panniers, plus the camp gear stowed across the passenger seat and pannier tops.
Tourer can mean many things to many people. Haul a spouse and their gear, and unless they were a green beret you could find yourself with a trike and trailer!

I bought the Rocket because I'll mostly ride on weekends in fine weather. If I had to stay away for a night, I could get all I needed in a backpack.

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when i was in my teens we rode 'commando' and the same pair of jeans would never get washed....you could almost step into them when you went to put them on as they almost stood up on their own!...holes and all!...Travelling was light for sure!...mind you, it was only overnighters mostly. so we slept in them alot!.lol