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Hi there……

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Master Chief

Master Chief

New member
Joined
Nov 23, 2022
Messages
5
Location
Isham, Kettering UK
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Bike
R18 Transcontinental
Hi All,

Just wanted to introduce myself and say hi, I have just bought a 22 plate BMW R18 Transcontinental, and absolutely love it, I swapped my Triumph Rocket 3 GT for it, which is a great bike but this is better……😎
 

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Welcome, congratulations nice bike thanks for the pictures.
 
Hi and welcome from another new member! What made you do the swap? I'm very interested in hearing why, cause I've been lusting for the Rocket 3 since it came out 2020. My goal was to make it work as a touring bike, which would have meant adding a rear fender and a bigger windshield at the least. When I test rode it I had a lot of fun, I just loved the torque and power - but I just didn't like the bike itself as much as I would've thought. I don't really know why, perhaps because of the looks or the riding position or the ridiculous decel pop. So what was your reason to drop this remarkable bike for the R18?
 
Master Chief said:
Hi All,

Just wanted to introduce myself and say hi, I have just bought a 22 plate BMW R18 Transcontinental, and absolutely love it, I swapped my Triumph Rocket 3 GT for it, which is a great bike but this is better……😎
Click to expand...
I have found the R18TC rides even better after break-in miles.
 
insomnia said:
Hi and welcome from another new member! What made you do the swap? I'm very interested in hearing why, cause I've been lusting for the Rocket 3 since it came out 2020. My goal was to make it work as a touring bike, which would have meant adding a rear fender and a bigger windshield at the least. When I test rode it I had a lot of fun, I just loved the torque and power - but I just didn't like the bike itself as much as I would've thought. I don't really know why, perhaps because of the looks or the riding position or the ridiculous decel pop. So what was your reason to drop this remarkable bike for the R18?
Click to expand...
The Rocket 3 seems like an ideal bike as a touring model but for some reason Triumph doesn't do that build.
 
Thanks, glad to be here…..👍🏻
insomnia said:
Hi and welcome from another new member! What made you do the swap? I'm very interested in hearing why, cause I've been lusting for the Rocket 3 since it came out 2020. My goal was to make it work as a touring bike, which would have meant adding a rear fender and a bigger windshield at the least. When I test rode it I had a lot of fun, I just loved the torque and power - but I just didn't like the bike itself as much as I would've thought. I don't really know why, perhaps because of the looks or the riding position or the ridiculous decel pop. So what was your reason to drop this remarkable bike for the R18?
Click to expand...
R12C-R18TC said:
The Rocket 3 seems like an ideal bike as a touring model but for some reason Triumph doesn't do that build.
Click to expand...
Hi Insomnia,

I swapped it for one basic reason, I am 5'4" with short and not that strong legs, so walking it backwards was an issue, especially on rough and uneven terrain also the wide tyres don't help,
I bought the Rocket 3 brand new and threw the accessory cannon at it, Panniers, Gear shift assist, scrolling indicators, connectivity module, rear rack, I bought the GT model and put the R foot pegs on it which made it a lot more comfortable to ride for me....
So long story short the reverse gear swung it for me as I was always worrying about dropping it and how to turn it around on slopes, uneven ground etc, also for touring the panniers are an odd shape and do fit a great amount in there, so the R18's top box and larger panniers are better, admittedly I am really going to miss the raw torque of the Rocket 3.
The spec on the R18 is really good with the wide dash and adaptive cruise control which is amazing, I will also miss the shift assist......

also the R18 looks great too, I think it looks stunning in this shape with a brutal flat twin.

I hope this helps understand why I moved to the R18.....
Anything else let me know...
 
Master Chief said:
Thanks, glad to be here…..👍🏻


Hi Insomnia,

I swapped it for one basic reason, I am 5'4" with short and not that strong legs, so walking it backwards was an issue, especially on rough and uneven terrain also the wide tyres don't help,
I bought the Rocket 3 brand new and threw the accessory cannon at it, Panniers, Gear shift assist, scrolling indicators, connectivity module, rear rack, I bought the GT model and put the R foot pegs on it which made it a lot more comfortable to ride for me....
So long story short the reverse gear swung it for me as I was always worrying about dropping it and how to turn it around on slopes, uneven ground etc, also for touring the panniers are an odd shape and do fit a great amount in there, so the R18's top box and larger panniers are better, admittedly I am really going to miss the raw torque of the Rocket 3.
The spec on the R18 is really good with the wide dash and adaptive cruise control which is amazing, I will also miss the shift assist......

also the R18 looks great too, I think it looks stunning in this shape with a brutal flat twin.

I hope this helps understand why I moved to the R18.....
Anything else let me know...
Click to expand...
Im 5'2" so I can relate on the height issue..
 
Master Chief said:
I bought the GT model and put the R foot pegs on it
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing your story. I test rode the R but would have had the GT with R pegs if I had bought it. I think the riding position on my test ride wasn't ideal so perhaps that contributed to me not bonding with the bike. Anyway I think I have moved on to R18 now since it too has plenty of torque and is a stunner.
 
R12C-R18TC said:
The Rocket 3 seems like an ideal bike as a touring model but for some reason Triumph doesn't do that build.
Click to expand...
Triumph shaved 40 kg off for the new Rocket 3 compared to the old Rocket III so perhaps they didn't want to add that weight back for a cruiser model. Or perhaps the old Rocket III Touring didn't sell well enough, who knows. But I think there is a demand, this seems to be a topic in motorcycle forums.
 
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