LDESTRUKTO
.020 Over
Welcome to the forum
I purchased a brand new R3R in May of this year and I LOVE it!!!! I am in an MC and all the Harley guys look at it funny till they ride it. None of them has yet to come back without bugs in their teeth grinning like crazy. They brag to other guys in other chapters about my bike, so I dont have to.
Everyone is right, it doesnt handle like a sport bike, but for my opinion it is just as responsive on the throttle, and the brakes are amazing for a big bike. It is of course limited on the low speed turns and you feel the bulk in parking lots going slow, but never out on the road.
You will find as you work on it, or customize it, the design is intuitive and straitforward. Even before reading a lot of tips and tricks posts here, things made sense the way they are done on the bike. They are not engeneered like HD's that almost require a certified HD mech to wrench on them. Unless you are looking at taking the engine physically apart to try and change internals, you are not likely going to be unable to do most things yourself should you choose. I have never had anything fuel injected (motorcycle wise) before, but have had no problems changing the exhaust, removing the bear claw type plenem boxes and changing it to K&N filters, or installing the Power Commander V with the Auto Tune. If you take your time, and do a little reading ahead of time, they are very user friendly, even when you go to change things. Everything is not piled in on top of everything else like on most sport bikes (especially older hondas were systems are packed on top of each other, and it seems you almost have to take off the rear tire to change a headlight)
Triumph here in the states may not be the predominant brand, but it is also not unreachable. Frankly that appealed to me because I dont want to be just another rider on a chromed out gloss black bike (usually HD) that looks just like the bike next to it. I have found that in my area (between St Louis MO, and Memphis) there are about 8 dealerships within a 3 or 4 hour drive each way, and probably double that if I up it to a 6 hr drive each way to include Chicago and other places farter out. Parts will not be a problem between dealers, and especially this forum. People are always offering up parts they may have around if they are backordered, and usually at a significant discount. Unless you have a huge hangup about wanting to get something factory direct, it will be no worse, and likely be much much better.
You are looking at a bike that is nearly 150 HP stock. Its not built in china with 5th rate parts. Its built to exceede "normal" customer needs, and "most" upgrades without stress. My dealer, MotoEuropa in St Louis, MO, was amazing. They didnt try to "SELL" me a bike. No pressure at all. Took my name and information and had me on the "open crate list" for dealer bikes that have never been titled, but may have been used as demos. I hung out on the list for 4 months waiting, but nothing opened up, so I bit the financing bullet and went the new route. They were still no pressure and just worked with me to get me what I wanted, but never tried to push the hard sell. No matter what you do, get it from someone you are comfortable with. When I asked about an extended warranty (cause Im paranoid like that) they said there really wasnt anything available from Triumph. The owner expanded his own opinion on that and said that basically the bike was over built, and usually if anything is going to fail, it will fail within the warranty period, or will have a recall order if they find out it is a design flaw later. They get very few back for repairs that are not user caused. There may be aftermarket programs available, but with a new one you get the 2 year unlimited milage warranty anyway, so not a lot to worry about there.
Be very careful about subtle changes from year to year if you look at a used one. It may not be the same as a showroom new one. For instance in recent years the Roadster has had the foot controls moved down an inch or two and back and inch or two. For sport bike riders used to sitting on your knees, you will never note a difference, for cruiser riders or guys that like floorboards and heel levers, its painful. If you are over 6' frankly its going to need to be addressed. I am 6'7" and found that fabricating a simple bracket and getting a set of forward controls for a HD sportster gives me a great set of road pegs to stretch out on long rides. I havent yet put the time into adapting it for dual controls with the set up, and plan on doing that this winter when I am not loosing riding time in exchange for fabrication time. There are alternative fixes on here from cutting the controls off and re welding them forward, to swapping out with earlier models, to road pegs on crash bars.
If you are looking to stay around 9k, you probably want to get with a dealer and ask about the uncrated bike listing, or think about getting one used. I dont know the complete answer to this, and I am sure others that are more knowledgeable on older models can aswer this, but I suspect you can get an 09 model with the controls farter forward (that was rated with lower HP than the new "Roadster" when it was released) and put a computer in it to unlock that power, and do some exhaust mods and intake mods (which you will need the computer for) and get the same or very similar, screaming performance out of a "standard" as you can by spending a lot of extra money on a current "Roadster".
Im not trying to talk you out of it whatsoever, I love my Roadster and wanted something that was "Brand new", but if price is more important in the long run, I would do your research here for a few months on mods to older models. It can also give you insight to the things that have gone bad, that Triumph has since changed and addressed, and things to watch out for just incase. That of course would also make looking one over in person a lot better for you on a test drive. You cant factor tire changes or brake changes or oil changes into your decision, in my opinion. That is the cost of operating any bike. You get what you pay for in the materials that those consumables are made from. If you want more milage, dont buy cheap tires, if you want better brakes, dont by cheap brakes, etc etc.
Sorry its a bit of a rant, but thats my .25 worth.
I purchased a brand new R3R in May of this year and I LOVE it!!!! I am in an MC and all the Harley guys look at it funny till they ride it. None of them has yet to come back without bugs in their teeth grinning like crazy. They brag to other guys in other chapters about my bike, so I dont have to.
Everyone is right, it doesnt handle like a sport bike, but for my opinion it is just as responsive on the throttle, and the brakes are amazing for a big bike. It is of course limited on the low speed turns and you feel the bulk in parking lots going slow, but never out on the road.
You will find as you work on it, or customize it, the design is intuitive and straitforward. Even before reading a lot of tips and tricks posts here, things made sense the way they are done on the bike. They are not engeneered like HD's that almost require a certified HD mech to wrench on them. Unless you are looking at taking the engine physically apart to try and change internals, you are not likely going to be unable to do most things yourself should you choose. I have never had anything fuel injected (motorcycle wise) before, but have had no problems changing the exhaust, removing the bear claw type plenem boxes and changing it to K&N filters, or installing the Power Commander V with the Auto Tune. If you take your time, and do a little reading ahead of time, they are very user friendly, even when you go to change things. Everything is not piled in on top of everything else like on most sport bikes (especially older hondas were systems are packed on top of each other, and it seems you almost have to take off the rear tire to change a headlight)
Triumph here in the states may not be the predominant brand, but it is also not unreachable. Frankly that appealed to me because I dont want to be just another rider on a chromed out gloss black bike (usually HD) that looks just like the bike next to it. I have found that in my area (between St Louis MO, and Memphis) there are about 8 dealerships within a 3 or 4 hour drive each way, and probably double that if I up it to a 6 hr drive each way to include Chicago and other places farter out. Parts will not be a problem between dealers, and especially this forum. People are always offering up parts they may have around if they are backordered, and usually at a significant discount. Unless you have a huge hangup about wanting to get something factory direct, it will be no worse, and likely be much much better.
You are looking at a bike that is nearly 150 HP stock. Its not built in china with 5th rate parts. Its built to exceede "normal" customer needs, and "most" upgrades without stress. My dealer, MotoEuropa in St Louis, MO, was amazing. They didnt try to "SELL" me a bike. No pressure at all. Took my name and information and had me on the "open crate list" for dealer bikes that have never been titled, but may have been used as demos. I hung out on the list for 4 months waiting, but nothing opened up, so I bit the financing bullet and went the new route. They were still no pressure and just worked with me to get me what I wanted, but never tried to push the hard sell. No matter what you do, get it from someone you are comfortable with. When I asked about an extended warranty (cause Im paranoid like that) they said there really wasnt anything available from Triumph. The owner expanded his own opinion on that and said that basically the bike was over built, and usually if anything is going to fail, it will fail within the warranty period, or will have a recall order if they find out it is a design flaw later. They get very few back for repairs that are not user caused. There may be aftermarket programs available, but with a new one you get the 2 year unlimited milage warranty anyway, so not a lot to worry about there.
Be very careful about subtle changes from year to year if you look at a used one. It may not be the same as a showroom new one. For instance in recent years the Roadster has had the foot controls moved down an inch or two and back and inch or two. For sport bike riders used to sitting on your knees, you will never note a difference, for cruiser riders or guys that like floorboards and heel levers, its painful. If you are over 6' frankly its going to need to be addressed. I am 6'7" and found that fabricating a simple bracket and getting a set of forward controls for a HD sportster gives me a great set of road pegs to stretch out on long rides. I havent yet put the time into adapting it for dual controls with the set up, and plan on doing that this winter when I am not loosing riding time in exchange for fabrication time. There are alternative fixes on here from cutting the controls off and re welding them forward, to swapping out with earlier models, to road pegs on crash bars.
If you are looking to stay around 9k, you probably want to get with a dealer and ask about the uncrated bike listing, or think about getting one used. I dont know the complete answer to this, and I am sure others that are more knowledgeable on older models can aswer this, but I suspect you can get an 09 model with the controls farter forward (that was rated with lower HP than the new "Roadster" when it was released) and put a computer in it to unlock that power, and do some exhaust mods and intake mods (which you will need the computer for) and get the same or very similar, screaming performance out of a "standard" as you can by spending a lot of extra money on a current "Roadster".
Im not trying to talk you out of it whatsoever, I love my Roadster and wanted something that was "Brand new", but if price is more important in the long run, I would do your research here for a few months on mods to older models. It can also give you insight to the things that have gone bad, that Triumph has since changed and addressed, and things to watch out for just incase. That of course would also make looking one over in person a lot better for you on a test drive. You cant factor tire changes or brake changes or oil changes into your decision, in my opinion. That is the cost of operating any bike. You get what you pay for in the materials that those consumables are made from. If you want more milage, dont buy cheap tires, if you want better brakes, dont by cheap brakes, etc etc.
Sorry its a bit of a rant, but thats my .25 worth.
Welcome Bucko' from Perth W.A. 
