I have a 2010 R3T, done 12000 miles in the first year, never had an reliability issues, but it definitely feels like there should be one more gear, if they came out with a 6 speed, I would trade/upgrade for sure. Don't miss the gizmos and full fairing at all.
I knew there was more owners than just me that felt this way! I'm also talking about the touring model here. Not the roadsters and such. If I bought a roadster I would not expect the smoothness I do from the touring model. I came close to a Wing, but then I woke up.
One must remember,,,,I came off of a 2005 five speed Road King Custom, a five speed 2005 Honda ST1300 and a six speed 2007 Street Glide. The 07 was my new Harley when I gave my wife the Road King. The 07 is a six speed. I put Andrews cams, bored to 107CI, head port work, fueler, exhaust, Etc. So I can say a few things about late model Harley's and reliability. I never had any issue with the 05 RK or the 07 Glide. With all of the engine work on my Glide I could almost keep up with my R3T on a hard second gear, 30 MPH roll on to 100MPH. Yep that's no bull!
Also, I used to ride it at 80-85 MPH all day long on road trips. So I can tell ya from first hand road experience,
my Glide was a much smoother ride at those speeds. Like I said, I like my R3T, but that said, it needs a six speed transmission. Yep it does!
But, I wanted a
"Big" Road King like bike that I could take the windshield off of with lot's of horse power! I liked the idea of the open front on the road vs a fixed fairing. I washed and waxed my R3 last week and rode it into town with no windshield. Took about three miles before I wanted to turn around and go get my windshield. Once you go to a windshield, your ruined.
But, what I want to do is bring out the "real" performance possibilities this bike offers. The engine is woefully under tuned for what it could be. 8:7 to 1 compression ratio???Come on. My 07 Glide was 9:7 to 1 from the factory! Air cooled no less!! Also the stock "smog" cam specs in these things is a lot like the stock 07 Street Glide cam specs. No overlap, low lift and little duration.
With the 91 octane fuel we have here the beast should be at 9:5 to 1 or better. Remember,,,,,
what we are talking about here is not static, but rather dynamic compression ratio. For the street as long as you maintain around 9:5 to 1 dynamic compression ratio you are fine with 91 octane fuel. The cam specs control the Dynamic compression ratio. That's what's important.
I would like to know where Carpenter Racing sets their Dynamic compression ratio. They say 11:0 to 1 compression ratio, but how much overlap does their reground cams have? What is the dynamic compression ratio? That will speak volumes about how the bike runs on the street.
Just think how a mildly modified engine would perk the bike up. Not a radical 240 HP Carpenter racing engine, but a reasonable build for the street. I like Carpenter Racing's header. It appears one could break it just behind the collector and then using a custom tubing fabricator, have a collector pipe built to hook the header to my D&D mufflers. They are 1 3/4" baffles and should be able to handle the exhaust flow just fine. With a build like this you would have a small amount of "Overlap" sound to the exhaust at idle and a smooth idle. Fine torque build for the street.
Next year after I finish another project I'm going to seriously look at doing a build just like this on my bike. If I'm going to ride a big old brute I want all the power it can reliably put out. And sound good too!
Tis a pity that (several) Triumph dealers have seen my bike so much; that's just unacceptable.
