| Author | Message | ||
     Electraglider_1997 |
My wife, son, and I rode over to Marne, Iowa to their 30th annual open house with the Triumph Demo truck in attendance. Quite a few riders showed up on adventure bikes including KTM, and BMW bikes. Lot's of harleys and other makes were there also. I also saw a Buell lightning in attendance but not the owner. Someone had parked a Laverda triple that showed less than 200 miles on the odometer and it looked brand spanking new. I demo'd the 2300cc Triumph Rocket III and can't really understand why anyone would buy that bike. Felt like a good bike to kill oneself on. In top two gears there is no usable engine braking when you let off the throttle and that is a bit scary around corners. When I let off the throttle I expect to start slowing down like what I'm used to on the ULY. On the Rocket you had better start grabbing brakes. One thing though is that engine has lots and lots of power no matter what gear you are in. I would be way more interested in a scaled down version of that bike with about 1200cc's and 200 or more pounds less weight. 2300cc's maybe ok for those who love to brag but it is way too much for practical use. I had the opportunity to ride the 800cc Tiger but would have had to make my wife and son wait another hour so it was not to be. Really nice looking bike though. The demo semi driver was this little mexican guy and quite a character. He'd help park the bikes after the demo runs and in some cases he'd stand next to the bike and lean over the seat and then lean the bike over on it's side stand until both wheels were off the ground and spin the bike completely around to get it in the direction he wanted it to be. Never seen that done before. While I was out on my demo ride, my wife said that got on one of the demo bikes and on this short straight away got that bike up to supposedly 120 mph in front of the next group of waiting demo riders. Guy couldn't of been over 5'4" but wasn't afraid to ride any of those bikes. I like the way Harley conducts demo's much better. They just let you go out on a route by yourself and you follow these arrows at intersections and you can put the bike through its paces without any demo leader bothering you. Baxter sells parts and restored antique triumphs, BSA, and Nortons. They also sell new Triumphs and 500cc Royal Enfields. I really liked the looks of the Enfields and they are now fuel injected and only 5 to 7 grand new depending on the exact model. The military olive drab one was only 5 grand new. Baxters restores and sells the old Triumph, BSA, and Norton bikes. One building is chocked full of these restored bikes, and there had to be more than hundred of them for sale and all of them just gorgeous. In the rafters overhead there were 100's of old gas tanks and seats. Then just off that building is a very long room full of bikes waiting to be restored or parted out, and I'm talking another 75 to 100 bikes, many looking like they had been sitting outside for 50 years. And on top of that, you walk through a warehouse of probably 100's of thousands of parts from old triumph, bsa, and nortons that Baxters ships all over the world. Without Baxters I'm sure these old bikes would just disappear. If you ever find yourself passing through western Iowa then do yourself a favor and visit this 1 horse town of Marne, Iowa and stop in at Baxter Cycle, you won't regret it. Check out their website http://www.baxtercycle.com/default.asp | ||
| Tootal |
Hey EG, I feel the same way about the 2.3 liter engine. That thing has 150 ft. lbs. of torque at like 2300 rpm or something. I love triples and was looking at this bike but what do you call enough? You could take it down to a 1.6 liter and still have 100 ft. lbs. of torque. The gas mileage was in the 20's in town and only 40 or so highway. Smaller engine, more mileage and put a trunk on it and it would be a nice touring machine. All they have to do is ask me and I'll fix it for them!  | ||
| 7873jake |
Triumph Rocket III debauchery: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rla9KU0m808 Have dealt with Baxter on old bike projects in the past and each time I speak with them, I'm always left with the sense that I'd have been better off just flying out to see what they have because they simply have sooooo much. They always have my order but I wish I had the chance to just go peruse their rafters, corners and nooks for more stuff. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Jake, You'd not believe how much old stuff they have accumulated and I notice they have ads in our local paper searching for more. Those old bikes are beautiful once restored. I noticed that the old Rocket 3's were BSA not Triumph and they have a few of those(BSA Rockets) for sale there also. | ||
| Argentcorvid |
Hey I was there too on Sunday on the Uly. you're right about the shop. I'd add that if you're going through Omaha, it might be worth the detour into Iowa to see the it. It was worth the 3 hour ride through Iowa from home just to look at the old bikes. I rode down there with a guy from work that collects old Triumphs because he had to pick up some parts. All the triples were full up until 3:00pm when we signed up at 10:00AM for the demo rides. I got to try out the Scrambler. It reminded me a lot of my '98 Sportster, but with a smoother engine. The aftermarket mufflers they had on there sounded awesome though. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Kyle, Too bad we couldn't of met up there. There is always next year. |
