New 2.5L owner, things I hate about the motorcycle.

It is a great motorcycle, otherwise I would not have thrown ~28K USD on it. But not without its faults.

Things I strongly dislike about it:

- Inability to put on generic grips, there are so many better handlebar grips out there...
- Inability to put on floorboards, none are made for this model, GT and no floor board choices at all, shame, shame!
- Strange mix of allen/hex and torx bolts, I don't get it. How is that is superior to having a single type?
- I like the storm black, looks way better than prior silver models, but it still has too much silver displayed that cheapens it
- I truly hate the design for the BIG silver bolt heads, looks like a flower.. Silver. Same with the handlebar ends.. Not good for a sports bike or a cruiser to have such girly decoration. Who approved this ****?
- On a GT the boot heat shields are so small, they can catch laces easily. You'd want to put your leg down but the loop is stuck on the shield..
- The dash is terrible. Small font, can't see ****, too many numbers too close together, the frame of it feels cheap and too silver, again. Overengineered and over designed. You do know they have a normal rectangular display, and they put plastic dividers above to simulate, as if it is an array of smaller oddly shaped LCDs? OMG.
- The front mudflap from the rear wheel is too short, stuff always gets collected where the swing arm begins.
- I feel like the clutch is too stiff for a hydraulic one, could have been lighter
- The phone pocket under the seat is just needless. Who puts phones so far and hard to access?
- I don't get why the front turn signals are not reused to be also the running lights, like on most bikes nowadays...
- The rear brake (2025 model) is still lacking performance. Doesn't do a good job. There are heavier bikes with better rear brakes. I don't get the issue here. So many years trying to better it and it is still not optimal.
- The included tools on this bike from the side cover is just laughable. What you are going to do with it?
- The covers for coolant, oil, and gas are too plain. They made the bolts super fancy but left these covers plain as for a tractor. On a black storm the hugely silvery gas cap looks just out of place. Little thought went into most prominent feature.
- The gear shift pedal is too short. If you have a big size and riding in Harley style boots, it is troublesome to get under the shift lever, it is like you must ride in sneakers. The height is not adjustable. No other levers are for sale.

Tell us how you really feel lol

To each his own I guess. Floor boards, really? I view this bike as a muscle cruiser....if you want floor boards why not buy a Street Glide? I've had mine for a couple months now and have already put on 2000 miles. My only real complaint is that the pipes are too quiet, which for me is a safety issue because I like for cars to know when I'm around.

I agree about the instrument display. Poor ergonomics. Too fussy, info too small. Pretty dreadful but can live with it, but not able to get the best out of the information that can be displayed.

Both front and rear mudguards are poor. Front one is too short and it's flimsy. The rear one (scorpion's tail) is close to useless.

Phone pocket under the seat???? That's a new one on me.

No complaints here regarding the brakes. I think they are fine on my bike.

Foot boards. Interesting point, but I think there would be more people taking them off that those wanting them on. (Could be wrong about that but my intuition tells me i'm right). That said, I don't rate the foot peg set up on the GT. Going fast and riding on bumpy roads is not good. Mid controls work best for me.

I agree about the plastic parts in silver/grey. Looks cheap. Don't agree about the bright fixings. I think they add a feeling of quality.....until they corrode on the first ride out in the winter. Need to look after them with something like ACF50. Pity they're not polished stainless. That would be better quality.

Other points mentioned aren't much of a concern to me, so can't really comment either way.

I'll add something extra to the list and it's a biggie from my point of view: I really can't stand the keyless thing. Now that system really IS a PITA.

The pillion seat is very poor & the luggage options are also pretty poor IMHO.

Oh, yeah, and the fuel cap could be better. Just awkward to use.

....but still..... I love my Rocket because I love riding it. It's one of the most pleasurable bikes i've ever ridden......hmm....well.....i'm at a certain stage in my biking career, and it's a sweet spot for my riding preferences these days. There's nothing out there quite like it, so nothing out there tempts me away from it.

A1A Rider said:

It is a great motorcycle, otherwise I would not have thrown ~28K USD on it. But not without its faults.

Things I strongly dislike about it:

- Inability to put on generic grips, there are so many better handlebar grips out there...
- Inability to put on floorboards, none are made for this model, GT and no floor board choices at all, shame, shame!
- Strange mix of allen/hex and torx bolts, I don't get it. How is that is superior to having a single type?
- I like the storm black, looks way better than prior silver models, but it still has too much silver displayed that cheapens it
- I truly hate the design for the BIG silver bolt heads, looks like a flower.. Silver. Same with the handlebar ends.. Not good for a sports bike or a cruiser to have such girly decoration. Who approved this ****?
- On a GT the boot heat shields are so small, they can catch laces easily. You'd want to put your leg down but the loop is stuck on the shield..
- The dash is terrible. Small font, can't see ****, too many numbers too close together, the frame of it feels cheap and too silver, again. Overengineered and over designed. You do know they have a normal rectangular display, and they put plastic dividers above to simulate, as if it is an array of smaller oddly shaped LCDs? OMG.
- The front mudflap from the rear wheel is too short, stuff always gets collected where the swing arm begins.
- I feel like the clutch is too stiff for a hydraulic one, could have been lighter
- The phone pocket under the seat is just needless. Who puts phones so far and hard to access?
- I don't get why the front turn signals are not reused to be also the running lights, like on most bikes nowadays...
- The rear brake (2025 model) is still lacking performance. Doesn't do a good job. There are heavier bikes with better rear brakes. I don't get the issue here. So many years trying to better it and it is still not optimal.
- The included tools on this bike from the side cover is just laughable. What you are going to do with it?

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ban this guy please, cant talk **** about Rocket 2.5 here

Just Kidding, nice post.

BrewinProf said:

To each his own I guess. Floor boards, really? I view this bike as a muscle cruiser....if you want floor boards why not buy a Street Glide? I've had mine for a couple months now and have already put on 2000 miles. My only real complaint is that the pipes are too quiet, which for me is a safety issue because I like for cars to know when I'm around.

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Really. The Rocket III has them and no one yet complained.

Why did you buy a bike you dislike. You should have bought a Honda.

Foot boards are a European/American thing. Americans often like them, Europeans more often don't. I hate them, even on Harleys. Before I bought a Harley that had them as standard I'd need to know I could get rid of them and bin the heel and toe shifter which simply does nopt compute with my British brain. That's a purely personal thing and all down to what you're used to.
Rockets don't sell in huge numbers in the States. The main customer base is Europe which I guess is why foot boards are not an option. I feel they'd severely restrict what is remarkably good ground clearance for a bike of this type. Each to their own.

I definitely agree about all the brushed aluminium/stainless steel-effect plastics and paint finishes. And the lacquered aluminium which goes furry very easily. Triumph go overboard on this look and it's cheap, fake and industrial. Makes the bike look like a piece of office furniture. I wish they wouldn't do it. One thing I adored about my Harley Low Rider S was the finish quality. It was a league above the Rocket. Everything blacked out. No matt black rattle-can finishes, no pale grey plastics. It was either tough crinkle black on the out of the way parts or a bottomless gloss black you could see your face in on everything else and barely any plastic anywhere. It had the premium feel of a machine hewn from solid billet, not an assembly of parts, and I liked that. For people who've never owned a Harley and don't get it, that's a large part of where the pride of ownership thing comes from.

I agree about the fasteners as well. I had a 1050 Speed Triple back in 2014 and that had stainless allen head fasteners throughout. Far better. Triumph have gone on a cost cutting exercise since. Torx heads hold the water like nothing else and if they're anodised or zinc plated (which they always are) they rust before your eyes. KTM use them and have the same problem.

Yes the dash is old hat, plasticky and toy-like. A bike in this price bracket should have classy twin analogue-style clocks or a discreet full colour TFT screen. The Rocket dash was a parts bin special originally from the first 1200 Scrambler. It's adequate, I don't have any problem reading it and it's not a deal-breaker, but it does look like an afterthought.

I also agree about the rear fender arrangement. They should have given the bike a conventional rear end. They obviously wanted to show off the 240 rear tyre but that was a mistake. It creates a monumental ****-trap around the rear suspension linkage, necessitates the hateful boot-scraper numberplate hanger and it actually looks weird on the road. When you follow a Rocket it looks like someone riding a space hopper.

Ditto the bars grips. My bike only has 4500 miles on it and already the grips are noticeably scuffed and abraded to the point where the heated grips button has almost disappeared; and as the original grips are a permanent feature unless you want to replace the £280 heated grips assembly or forsake them altogether, that's not good enough.

All these things aside though, it's still a fabulous bike. I intend to put right the finish quality on mine at some stage. Black out the horrible silver/grey plastics with carbon and gloss black metallic things like the grey fork yokes.
I love my Rocket but unless I can afford to make it so with some judicious upgrading, it doesn't feel like an out-of-the-box keeper the way my Harley did. It rides way better. It's more comfortable, nimble and SO much faster but the areas of cost-cutting are very annoying.

Floor boards? Surely, you jest........

Vector said:

Why did you buy a bike you dislike. You should have bought a Honda.

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I already have a Honda. Rebel 1100 DCT. Met the nicest people on it. I was this close to getting a Goldwing. But due to a number of reasons went with the Rocket.