Best Comment from Non-Rocket Owner?

[Einar]

Like others, I got the "is that a V6" question.

 

[lotus]

Gregger.....your comment about cornering ability hits me because when I test drove a Storm, power was impressive, as expected, but the cornering ability
totally surprised me and there was turning back after that. One of the big reasons I ride is the thrill of going around corners. For me, going 170mph doesn't
attract me. You're just sitting there hanging on hoping a bird or deer doesn't send you into orbit. Speed IS good for bragging rights.
Looks....torque...cornering....uniqueness...... I'm in love

 

[Fozzie]

Of my three bikes, the Rocket gets the most interest and the most comments - from other riders and non-riders alike. Non-riders ask the daftest questions, but I don't mind, in fact it's kind of nice. It's a bit like having a very big and very friendly dog: everyone wants to come and talk to you.

Non-riders can't believe they've just clocked a motorcycle with a bigger engine than their car (taking pics of the 2500cc panel on the intake cover is very common). Riders are just intrigued to know what it's like to ride - how fast is it, isn't it really heavy, does it go round corners, how do you hang on to it etc. Rocket 3 demo bikes are not that common so very few people other than owners and journalists have ever ridden one.
I have been parked at a bike meet wandering up and down with a coffee and overheard a couple of riders looking at my bike and saying "it's basically just a car engine". Sometimes I like to engage and have that conversation and explain that it really isn't just a two-wheeled car.

In fact, I've had some thought-provoking conversations thanks to the Rocket that have made me wonder about a few things myself, such as why don't more manufacturers mount in-line engines longitudinally? To me it's a winning format. A 1000 cc in-line triple would be incredibly slim with a low centre of gravity and if the engine is a stressed member it would be extremely easy to work on. LIkewise, when I had my Harley I thought why don't more manufacturers use belt drive? These are the conversations I like having with attention-drawing bikes.

I've never encountered any snobbery. Famously aloof Harley riders are generally interested, especially when I tell them that I traded a Harley to buy my Rocket. The only type of rider who rarely make conversation are the weekend squeaky leather sports bike riders. But they won't speak to anyone who isn't wearing knee sliders anyway. There is a sub-set of sports bike riders who think if it hasn't got 200 bhp it isn't a proper bike and if you haven't got such a bike it means you can't ride one. They're the riders you overtake on the way home.

The only time I've had any disrespect was at Devils Bridge in Kirkby Lonsdale. The Rocket was parked up and I was sitting on the wall having a brew. A group of blokes clustered round the bike and started discusssing it, which was fine - happens all the time. Then they started touching it, putting their feet on the pegs and turning the bars. One of them who must have weighed twenty stone rested his forearms on the tank and leant his weight on it like it was a shopping trolley. That narked me so I put helmet on, walked up to the bike and shewed them away and rode off without speaking to tham.

**** me, anyone touching my bike without permission would be lights out, im not a tough guy, I just don't think its right

 

[Gimlet]

**** me, anyone touching my bike without permission would be lights out, im not a tough guy, I just don't think its right

I could feel the red mist descending, that's why I buggered off. I was looking forward to that ride on my new bike and that would have spoiled the rest of my day.
I don't go down to Devil's Bridge much now. The dickhead count has gone up sharply lately. It's starting to attract a lot of police attention as well. Mainly because of said dickheads.

 

[Bunny Burrell]

It wasn’t my Rocket but an old GPz1100 twin shock that I had in the early 90’s, alright it wasn’t in the greatest of condition (lacquer cracked), but this dope was standing his young son on the tank! So very politely I asked if I could walk my son on the bonnet of his pretty mini!
Twat!

 

[Bunny Burrell]

Could be interested come the spring if he's still got it. Too much going on at the moment and my lock-up is rammed. Do you know which K100 he has? Ideally looking for a 16v RS model.

Right my mate has just got back to me, he has 2 X 1985 K100, 1 is an ex-Police bike, he has loads of spares as well. He’s looking for £500 each or near offer.
I suspect he’d take a lot less for a job lot offer.

 

[bcar00]

This may not be amusing, but I was shocked by the comments I got from my Harley buddies when I showed them a pic of the bike I was getting.
Normally, Harley riders here in the US are "Harley ONLY" bikers. But both of them were like "Oh, that's super cool!" Contrast that with when I bought my Hayabusa or my Ducati Monster and they were "you're not riding that with us, are you?

 

[Gavinho]

I don’t know what it’s like in other countries, but I’ve always found that the worst for daft comments in the U.K. are the Brand snobs!
There was a time here it would be the Harley snobs not acknowledging other brands, but since HDs got more accessible, it seems to have drifted towards one model “Owners Clubs”.
The worst I’ve found tend to be Gold Winge owners, they hate it because they don’t have the biggest and exclusive machines! Good example was that arrogant twat who I mentioned in an earlier post.

Man, sadly you're right, here on brazil we have two types of fanboys, the harley ones and the BMW bigtrails old mans, they all think that their bike is the best, and all other ones are ****.

Thats one of the reasons that i stopped riding with the harley owners group.

But everywhere that i stop with my rocket, people starting looking at it and dont believe that its a 2.5L bike, and they all think that is a 6 cylinder. LMFAO

 

[Bunny Burrell]

This may not be amusing, but I was shocked by the comments I got from my Harley buddies when I showed them a pic of the bike I was getting.
Normally, Harley riders here in the US are "Harley ONLY" bikers. But both of them were like "Oh, that's super cool!" Contrast that with when I bought my Hayabusa or my Ducati Monster and they were "you're not riding that with us, are you?

I suspect that’s a carry over from the days when British bikes were dominating a lot of American racing and held a lot of respect. Unlike the Japanese and Italians who, were both enemies in WW2 of the United States. Hence the old nicknames of Rice burner and Pasta Burner.

 

[Gimlet]

Right my mate has just got back to me, he has 2 X 1985 K100, 1 is an ex-Police bike, he has loads of spares as well. He’s looking for £500 each or near offer.
I suspect he’d take a lot less for a job lot offer.

Many thanks. I'm flat out with work 6/7 days a week until the end of March. If he's not itching to get rid of them before them I could be interested. If you've got any more details, running/non-running, state of assembly, completeness, pictures etc you could PM me that would be great.