Thruxton RS - First impression

worntorn said:

As long as you keep the riser clip ons in place the lean forward isn't that great. For me it's just enough to unload maybe 20 lbs off the spine as compared to sitting straight up on the Commando, Vincent etc.
So it's actually a much better long distance bike for me than those bikes are.
Whilr doing concrete work, I ruptured a disc in my back at age 29. I'm 68 now.
When I ride the Thruxton below 60 mph the weight starts to come on the wrists. When that is happening I have to remind myself to use my stomach muscles to unload the wrists.
After awhile that becomes automatic.

Above 60 you just float, the wind over the fairing carries you. As I recall it was similar without the fairing, except the wind blast was full height rather than just top of chest and head.

Glen

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Understood about chronic back pain. It sucks. A lot.




I first learned of the aerodynamic wrist unloading riding this. Not too much different.
Lord knows, I love to ride fast.

The ergos of that do look similar to the Thruxton 1200.

Ashman wrote
"
Thruxton's the WC models are similar in weight but the WC models feel so much lighter when riding what ever Triumph did to keep all the weight down low they hit it right on the mark.
My Norton is a light weight but the Thruxton feels like my light weight Norton when riding it, the old AC Thruxton's felt heavy."

Those old AC 865 s were very heavy. I can't recall the exact numbers but your Thruxton 1200 is quite a bit lighter than those bikes. The R is a few pounds lighter yet and Jerry's RS has had another 14 lbs removed which gets it down to 434 dry. That is pretty light for a watercooled 1200.

Glen

I found the factory weight number for the old AC Thruxton 900. It is 506 lbs ready to ride, so presumably full of fuel.
I have had my Thruxton R on the hanging scale. Full of fuel it was 474 lbs. So even though it is a watercooled 1200 with ABS and rider modes, 6 speed box and huge front brakes, it is 32 lbs lighter than the old 68 hp Thruxton 865cc. That's pretty decent progress!
Now Jerry's bike has an addition 7 bhp and is minus 14 lbs. More progress.
Triumph is building some very powerful and light bikes.
The new 180 bhp 1200 Speed Triple rr is an interesting machine.
Too much power though!

Glen

+ the old AC Thruxton's were a lot top heavier the WC Thruxtons the weight is much lower, when I had both bikes parked beside each other it was a lot more of a effort to stand the bike up off the side stand on the 900 Thruxton and the 1200 using the same effort it was so much easier with no effort at all, one my mate's jumped on the 1200 and nearly threw it over the other side when lifting off the side stand he couldn't believe how light it felt and felt similar to my light weight Norton.
But one day my 1200 Thruxton fell off the side stand when I was closing the side gate and once laying on its side it was a big effort trying to get it up right I can tell you that I was struggling to lift it with the weight down below right beside my trailer the towbar hitch went straight through the left hand side cover and punched a perfect hole in it, the Thruxton was 3 weeks old and I nearly fell over when told the replacement price $420 for a plastic side cover W T F and a 3 week wait as no replacement cover in Aus, I had no choice but to order a replacement and I came home found the broken peice and glued it back in the side cover, it now hangs on the wall of shame, they look horrible without a side cover.
For some reason the bike rolled off the side stand whether I didn't fully in gage it or the slight angle of the ground or me being rushed to close the side gate while the Thruxton was idling but make sure your side stand is fully ingaged before walking away from it as it was a very expensive mistake on my part, won't happen again.

ashman said:

+ the old AC Thruxton's were a lot top heavier the WC Thruxtons the weight is much lower, when I had both bikes parked beside each other it was a lot more of a effort to stand the bike up off the side stand on the 900 Thruxton and the 1200 using the same effort it was so much easier with no effort at all, one my mate's jumped on the 1200 and nearly threw it over the other side when lifting off the side stand he couldn't believe how light it felt and felt similar to my light weight Norton.
But one day my 1200 Thruxton fell off the side stand when I was closing the side gate and once laying on its side it was a big effort trying to get it up right I can tell you that I was struggling to lift it with the weight down below right beside my trailer the towbar hitch went straight through the left hand side cover and punched a perfect hole in it, the Thruxton was 3 weeks old and I nearly fell over when told the replacement price $420 for a plastic side cover W T F and a 3 week wait as no replacement cover in Aus, I had no choice but to order a replacement and I came home found the broken peice and glued it back in the side cover, it now hangs on the wall of shame, they look horrible without a side cover.
For some reason the bike rolled off the side stand whether I didn't fully in gage it or the slight angle of the ground or me being rushed to close the side gate while the Thruxton was idling but make sure your side stand is fully ingaged before walking away from it as it was a very expensive mistake on my part, won't happen again.

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I had a side cover BLOW OFF the Rocket... I was enjoying a "spirited" ride in the Ocala Forest.

Bonzo said:

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I think im in love....err I mean she's in love

concours said:

I had a side cover BLOW OFF the Rocket...

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Must have been one fast side cover …

I'm not in love with the all black look. Back in the 60s as a broke kid, I recall painting some really rusty chrome rims black just to try to cover up the rust, that might be my issue.
I suspect that this look is for the Millenials whereas the other two colour choices are for us old farts. Cast the net as widely as possible with just 3 colours, no doubt a wise move by Triumph.
Wow has the price ever gone up! I paid 14 k CDN in 2016. That is just over 8k GBP. The bike hasn't changed much, same 112 nm torque and all the same running gear. I guess you do get 7 more hp. I think that comes mostly from a little bit more open throttle rpm, which, after some reading last night, appears to be available on the R with a $250 ecu reconfigure.

Anyway, if I didnt already have one I would still buy the thing at the new price, they are a lovely little bike and well worth it.

Glen

Fast Eddie said:

Must have been one fast side cover …

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It was for the first few milliseconds. Pro tip: drill for zip tie safety lanyards

worntorn said:

I'm not in love with the all black look. Back in the 60s as a broke kid, I recall painting some really rusty chrome rims black just to try to cover up the rust, that might be my issue.
I suspect that this look is for the Millenials whereas the other two colour choices are for us old farts. Cast the net as widely as possible with just 3 colours, no doubt a wise move by Triumph.
Wow has the price ever gone up! I paid 14 k CDN in 2016. That is just over 8k GBP. The bike hasn't changed much, same 112 nm torque and all the same running gear. I guess you do get 7 more hp. I think that comes mostly from a little bit more open throttle rpm, which, after some reading last night, appears to be available on the R with a $250 ecu reconfigure.

Anyway, if I didnt already have one I would still buy the thing at the new price, they are a lovely little bike and well worth it.

Glen

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Not only millennials. I like the black. Just wish the forks were black too.

Am I the only one who’s TIRED of seeing gold freakin’ forks everywhere ??

Probably.
I guess they could be painted black without too much difficulty?

Here's Jerry Flat Cap Racer at the drag strip going against his friend Mr. Bill.
At this point Jerry has added an older version ecu tune I'm thinking of doing plus installed the Chinese cam I'm never doing.
Mr Bill has removed about 40 lbs from the R3 and modified the engine to gain about 20 rwhp on dyno test.

worntorn said:

Probably.
I guess they could be painted black without too much difficulty?

Here's Jerry Flat Cap Racer at the drag strip going against his friend Mr. Bill.
At this point Jerry has added an older version ecu tune I'm thinking of doing plus installed the Chinese cam I'm never doing.
Mr Bill has removed about 40 lbs from the R3 and modified the engine to gain about 20 rwhp on dyno test.

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40 lbs is a good chunk. Any details on how he shed it ?

If that Chinese cam is an official Triumph part, then I’d wager it’s from exactly the same supplier as the stock cam, and therefore just as serviceable ?

No, it's not an official Triumph part. It's from an aftermarket supplier. I've seen two so far that have visible flaws in the casting. The one that is in the bike in the video also had some scary looking very porous areas.
So you take this perfect engine that is capable of lasting maybe 200,000 miles with just maintenance then stick this unknown aftermarket cam in there for a tiny bit of extra power at top.
Doesn't seem like a good idea to me.
The lady who writes the retune will not sell the Tune to anyone with this cam installed as she has seen too many problems with it, and those are just related to variations in timing. Long term is a complete unknown.
This cam also adds load on the starter.
The stock cam allows the bike to start at about 9 to 1 cr whereas the aftermarket cam does not have the unloading feature. This means it is starting at the full 11 to 1 cr.
Some have already had starter problems as a result.

Glen

I'm not sure how Mr. Bill got that much weight off the r3. These older r3s are a pretty hefty bike to start with.
I'm not sure the Thruxton r could stay with a new Rocket 3 as they have dropped weight and added power.

Glen

worntorn said:

No, it's not an official Triumph part. It's from an aftermarket supplier. I've seen two so far that have visible flaws in the casting. The one that is in the bike in the video also had some scary looking very porous areas.
So you take this perfect engine that is capable of lasting maybe 200,000 miles with just maintenance then stick this unknown aftermarket cam in there for a tiny bit of extra power at top.
Doesn't seem like a good idea to me.
The lady who writes the retune will not sell the Tune to anyone with this cam installed as she has seen too many problems with it, and those are just related to variations in timing. Long term is a complete unknown.
This cam also adds load on the starter.
The stock cam allows the bike to start at about 9 to 1 cr whereas the aftermarket cam does not have the unloading feature. This means it is starting at the full 11 to 1 cr.
Some have already had starter problems as a result.

Glen

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Ok, understood. I’m 100% with you !

worntorn said:

I'm not sure how Mr. Bill got that much weight off the r3. These older r3s are a pretty hefty bike to start with.
I'm not sure the Thruxton r could stay with a new Rocket 3 as they have dropped weight and added power.

Glen

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I don’t think it would Glen.

The new R3 is quite a beast. Fastest 0-60 of any stock bike in the world.

And that’s before we start talking about bolting on a supercharger !!

Pretty sure the Thrux would have it in the mountain twisties tho.

I'm really surprised at the bikes Jerry has beaten with his Thruxton r.
Some of it is technique.
He pretty much always wins against the 125 hp Super sports 600cc and 675cc bikes, which on paper should win. One young fellow got so frustrated that he traded his near new Yamaha r6 in for a new R 1. Those are over 200 hp. He still lost to the Thruxton!
I can imagine that its not easy to handle 200 hp at a dragstrip.
None of the sportbikes that he has drag raced against come anywhere close to the magazine claimed 1/4 miles times.
Those numbers are usually from inputs to an et calculator rather than actual dragstrip experience.

Glen

There has been some over rated claims on how much HP increase with the Tec cam some up to 15hp extra but in reality only about 6HP gain if lucky and some of the tunes also have some wild claims so far the newer Thruxtons the ECU is locked and no one has been unable to unlock it, but give it time as it took a few years to unlock the ECU on the first WC models.
There has also been a few claims the Lady who does the tunes a few have had problems after buying the tunes and they failed to improve and she blaming other things done to the bike and not backing her tunes.
A lot also complain these new Triumphs run too lean and pay for a power booster to me it's just a snake oil product, when I first installed my x-pipe and opened up stock muffler the first ride the Thruxton did run real lean and a bit rough but after a 20 minute ride and shut down the next start up the ECU adapted to the upgrades and puts out a nice colour at the end of my mufflers and runs great from low revs to right up to the rev limiter set at 7500 RPMs without any problems at all.
I no need to put in a new tune why when my Thruxton runs quite well as it is. I am even glade I went with the Thruxton 1200 S with the stock black fronted and find the Nissin twin brakes work well as I am not a heavy user of my brakes anyway, the S model is better for long distant travels over the R model, as well it's a more simpler to work on but with Ikon shocks on the back and I ride with a few mates with the R models and really I have no problems keeping with them in the twisties.
I am not a fan of the Gold front ends, my CRF450X dirt bike has a gold front end and after a lot of years the gold has faded and worn and looks terrible but they are no longer making the S model.
I have no plans to buy another new bike and hopefully my Truxton will out last me but then I said that when I brought my new 2013 Thruxton lol.
The new Thruxton with the extra HP and a bit more lighter what else would you need, my S model is just under 100HP and to be honest it's good enough for me, with our speed limits and big fines the fun police has put a big damper on what fun we can have on our bikes.

Yes but those Showa anti dive big piston forks along with the big Brembo brakes on the R are superb. They alone are worth the extra $ .
I put the same front end on the 920 and it's a lovely setup on there too.

The DNK tune people claim that their tune combined with a decat will give +10 hp and smoother running.
The smoother running part I do not get as the thing runs perfectly smooth now?
It would be nice to see an independent dyno test showing before and after.
One fellow claimed that the DNK tune lost 8 hp on his Speed Twin, however he never showed the data and he seemed to be embroiled in a battle with them.
There are a great many others claiming many wonderful things from the tune based on seat of the pants. Some of the " much smoother running" claims are a bit hard to believe. You wonder how badly these things ran before!
I've ridden 3 Thruxton r s and they felt identical, all ran perfectly with the stock tune.
I couldn't find a single actual dyno chart showing before and after the Tune on the same Dyno.
After spending cash on one's favourite toy, seat of the pants is notoriously inaccurate.
It's almost a case of " If it still runs, it's going to be fabulous"

Glen