Triumph Rocket 3. Golden version
The Triumph Rocket III is a three-cylinder motorcycle made by Triumph Motorcycles Ltd. At 2,294 cc (140.0 cu in) it had the largest-displacement engine of any production motorcycle until 2019 when Triumph released the Triumph Rocket 3.
The name “Rocket III” is derived from the 1968 BSA 750cc pushrod triple, the Rocket 3, which was a badge-engineered version of the original “Triumph Trident.”
The Rocket III Project started in 1998 led by Triumph Product Range Manager Ross Clifford and started with a lot of research – especially in the US, where big cruisers were selling well.
The main competitors were the Harley-Davidson Ultraglide and the Honda Gold Wing so the initial idea was to develop a 1,600 cc performance cruiser.
The in-house designer was John Mockett, designer of the Hesketh V1000, the Tiger and the new “retro” Bonneville. He started work with David Stride, Gareth Davies and Rod Scivyer working around an in-line three cylinder engine. At the start of the project an in-line four and V6 engine configurations were looked at but the longitudinally mounted triple design led to the design concept code named C15XB Series S1.
