Triumph’s New Rocket 3 TFC Makes More Torque Than A Suzuki Swift

Think about 170PS on tap, fully adjustable suspension components, single-sided swingarm, Brembo Stylema calipers and cornering ABS -- what is the first bike that comes to mind? An exotic Italian superbike? A manic European naked? Never in your wildest dreams would you have guessed a British power cruiser, but it is! Triumph has revealed almost everything there is to know about the new Rocket 3 TFC. And it is wild in every sense.

What makes the beast wild? How about an engine with more than double the cubic capacity, one cylinder less and nearly twice as much torque as the Maruti Suzuki Swift’s gasoline-powered motor. Yeah, there is a 2500cc (200cc more than the outgoing model) inline-three cylinder, water-cooled motor which makes 170PS and 221Nm of torque, all of which is transferred to the rear wheel only! Plus, there are all the electronic aids in the world to keep you right side up. Ride-by-wire, four riding modes (rain, road, sport and rider), Triumph Shift Assist (quickshifter), traction control and cornering ABS.

This motor is housed in an all-new aluminium frame which uses the mammoth engine as a stressed member, obviously. You get an aluminium single-sided swingarm which is capable enough to handle all of the gut-wrenching torque from the engine. At either ends, the Rocket 3 TFC gets fully-adjustable Showa components. As you might have read it earlier, it does get Brembo Stylemas for the front wheel. What I missed out was that on the rear wheel, there is a massive Brembo M4.32 four-piston monobloc for added stopping power. A four-piston monobloc caliper for the rear wheel?! That is unheard of.

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Not only does it boast of top-spec components, the Rocket 3 TFC also looks like a stealthy beast. This feeling is evoked as it is draped all over with carbon fibre. LEDs are used for lighting up the road ahead as well as for other lighting systems. The design is completed with the second-gen Triumph TFT dash which was first seen on the Scrambler 1200. While Triumph is not divulging the exact figure, the company claims the TFC is lighter than the old Rocket 3 by nearly 40kg, putting it roughly in the 320kg region.

In the UK, the Rocket 3 TFC is priced at £25,000 on the road. That is Rs 22.54 lakh, excluding Indian taxes and duties. Is it India bound? No word on that yet. What we are sure is that the stock Rocket 3 is coming soon. Perhaps at EICMA 2019 with a launch in India for 2020.