End of Touring

[1olbull]

With all due respect to the Thunderbird LT, it's no R3T. But it's possible of course, no bike has an unlimited lifespan in the lineup. The R3T was made to crack the US cruiser market but it hasn't really taken the world by storm, I guess; it's a better bike than any Harley, but it's not a V-twin made in the US, and there's a lot more competition in the class now - Polaris is putting out some awesome v-twins on the US market with Victory and now Indian both.

Yesiree, I remember saying something like this when Kawasaki killed the V2K then came out with the puny-assed Vacquero.

Can you hear Dandy Don Meredith?

 

[ksquared]

Yesiree, I remember saying something like this when Kawasaki killed the V2K then came out with the puny-assed Vacquero.

Can you hear Dandy Don Meredith?

Just in case you can't (begins at 2:40):

 

[CanberraR3]

No one's botched it quite like Honda did when they dumped the VTX 1800.

 

[1olbull]

Just in case you can't (begins at 2:40):

Thanks for the video!
He was indeed a Dandy!

Oh, and Canberra - I agree completely about the VTX1800.
Why these dummies kill a good motor the replace with a smaller one is crazy.
EVERYBODY knows bigger is better in most things!

 

[rayjay]

I like the look of the new Commander almost mini Rocket

RJ

 

[peter k]

Too much fairing, seems a shame to cover up that motor. I put a tour pack on mine, still sitting on the fence about a batwing, I guess I still want it to look like a bike.

I reckon it looks to much like a gold wing , sorry just my opinion

 

[cr0ft]

I like the look of the new Commander almost mini Rocket

The Thunderbird LT too - if you ignore the whitewall tires and squint a little so the engine is blurred, I can see my R3T all over it. Many parts are in fact 100% identical, apparently, so that makes sense.

Found these videos after visiting Avon's Facebook page (was looking for info on the new whitewall tires they cooked up - perfect dimensions for my R3T too, and they're radials which none of the other whitewalls I've found that might fit are) and though it may be the wrong subforum for these particular bikes, the videos are still interesting. I think the LT makes it quite likely that the R3T is on its last year... aside from the nice though inferior engine, it's in the exact same niche in the model lineup.

Anyway, they're great videos in their own right, especially for those of us in the frozen north who haven't gotten to ride in ages. Just make sure it's set to full HD and go to full screen mode.

2014 Thunderbird LT

2014 Thunderbird LT & Commander Press event

 

[dobro]

And get rid of that buffeting over the screen.

I'm 6'2" and if I still smoked I could smoke a cigarette at 100 mph on my R3T with the oem long windshield. There is no real cruiser that is a match for this one and if there is a failure to sell enough units it's because Triumph is incompetent at marketing the bike and dealers are few and far between. Only a moron would revamp the seat to fit shorter guys when your trying to bust into the HD market--you want the big badasses riding into the bar parking lots on your R3T--the guys who don't get lip for not riding the cookie-cutter bikes--the guys who other guys fall into line behind. You want to sell a bike that fits big guys to entice them to buy it since HD's are sizing down.

 

[cr0ft]

I'm 6'2" and if I still smoked I could smoke a cigarette at 100 mph on my R3T with the oem long windshield.

A Clearview screen that's 19 inches with a recurve is superb for me. Redirects almost all turbulence over my head and it's almost too effective when the weather gets warm. Good thing the shield lifts off in a second flat.

 

[Chris]

I spoke to Triumph at Hinckley over here in the UK and I was told that the last of the R3 Touring had left the factory and a friend of mine has just taken delivery of the last but one off the production line