I've been riding my triumph explorer XC as a daily commuter and I find it works well. I just did a short 2 day trip up the Sunshine Coast and back, 1000k and I'll say this much, nice ride, works well in the twisties, great on gravel roads but that seat...it sucks big time.
Every time I passed a cruiser I thought of my rocket. As soon as I got home, I went out for a short jaunt on the roadster, that's when I knew I'd be keeping this bike for as long as I can. Like some others here I may upgrade in a couple of years or even add the R3T to the mix.
I don't find the bike all that heavy at all. I've come to realize it's just a different style of riding. I agree with a lot of posts, bikes are so different in their abilities, it's nice to have a couple of different styles in the stable.