Triumph Rocket 3 Storm 2024 Review | First Ride

There is absolutely no need for the Triumph Rocket 3 Storm to exist. But the world is a more fun and interesting place for it doing so, this absolute monster of a bike reborn for 2024 with a new ‘Storm’ moniker, sinister blacked-out look and an arguably unnecessary but nonetheless welcome power boost.

First launched 20 years ago as the Rocket III, the original motivation was to create a big-cube cruiser to crack the American market. Reasoning local brands like Harley-Davidson owned the whole big-twin thing Triumph went with a triple, the decision to mount it longitudinally meaning traditional constraints on capacity could be ignored. With the shackles off the engineers eventually came up with a 2,294cc engine, this expanded to 2,458cc with 2019’s reborn Rocket 3.

A new aluminium frame, 40kg off the overall weight and much sharper handling meant the Rocket was now more than just a big engine with handlebars and forms the basis for this updated Storm version with its extra power, meaner look and various other detail upgrades.

At its heart the Storm is fundamentally per the Rocket 3’s 2019 rebirth, meaning the same aluminium frame with the fat 240-section rear tyre hanging off the back of it on a single-sided swingarm carrying the shaft drive. Chunky upside-down Showa forks strike a balance between laid-back cruiser vibes and a more aggressive, drag bike look harking back to longitudinally-engined monsters of an earlier motorcycling age. If that’s to your taste you’ll be wanting the R version with its slightly lower bars, higher seat and more conventional peg position.

Going the other way if you want a cruiser the GT has a more easy-going nature (all things relative) with higher bars, a lower seat and feet-forward riding position. Foot position can be adjusted on both models or, if you really want, swapped around so you can have R pegs on a GT or vice versa.

In concept and execution the design is, quite simply, spectacular, the cartoonish proportions like nothing else in the market and set off nicely by the black anodised finish on the frame and matching black engine, exhausts and other parts. The combination of custom bike looks with production bike fit and finish is just delicious, neat touches like the fold-out pillion pegs meaning a ‘clean’ appearance when riding solo but the extra practicality when required.

If you are going to carry a passenger we’d probably recommend the GT’s backrest to hold them in place the first time you twist the throttle. If a little less elegant than the R’s unadorned look it’s probably better than leaving your pillion skidding along the road on their backside while you disappear off into the sunset…

There’s plenty of performance and handling prowess, it turns out. Star of the show is, inevitably, that absolute monster of an engine. Tweaks to hit the latest Euro 5b emissions rules have been taken as an opportunity to unleash yet more grunt, the previous 167PS (123kW) now 182PS (134kW) while torque has also gone up a smidge to a peak of 225Nm (166lb ft). Which, for context, is nearly 100Nm (74lb ft) more than a Ducati Diavel and over 50Nm (37lb ft) more than the big V-twin chuggers in bikes like the Harley-Davidson Breakout 117. Silly as it is, the engineering behind it is utterly serious and considered to the last detail, a thunderous overrun rumble and bit of mirror fizzing vibration all deliberately included so as to reinforce your intimate relationship with the powerhouse motor.

From the first time you release the clutch the Rocket leaps forward on a wave of torque, even 1,000rpm in first gear requiring urgent feathering with your left hand so as not to pile into whatever’s in front of you. This makes town speeds a little stressful at first, though you get the hang of it.

Once up and running the Rocket just hauls in any gear at any speed, second gear is fierce enough to have you clenching in your leathers, third covers nearly all bases with pick-up from town speeds to national speed limit the blink of an eye. From a lazier cruise overtakes can be dismissed with a flick of the wrist in fourth, the deep, gargling growl quickly becoming a fiercer bellow as the scenery gets all blurry.

Thankfully the Rocket’s abilities stretch to more than straight-line heroics as well, and while it's obviously no sports bike in the corners it turns in, holds its line and then explodes out of even tight turns with far more vim than your average cruiser. It’s a suitably physical riding experience but, even in feet forward GT trim, more fun on a twisty road than you’d ever credit to look at it.

While it weighs well over 300kg the bulk of that weight is low in the bike thanks to the longitudinal engine, so the Rocket 3 Storm doesn’t feel as intimidating in low-speed situations as you’d imagine. The GT’s 750mm seat height is low without the tail-dragging vibes of an American cruiser or BMW R18 and permits sufficient suspension travel to prevent pile-driving thuds up your spine over bumps.

Even on the GT the bar position makes you feel like you’re hugging the tank, the man-spreading peg position taking some getting used to but comfy once you get used to it. There’s so much bike in front of you that even with little more than a flyscreen you feel a degree of shelter from the wind at higher speeds as well, and if not a full-on tourer you feel you could do long days on the bike without too much discomfort.

The racier riding position on the R is a little taller in the seat and more stretched out, and perhaps more suited to Sunday blasts and tea stop posing than longer days in the saddle but the ratio of (lots of) sprung weight to now reduced unsprung weight in the new, lighter wheels means lumps and bumps in the road are either swallowed or simply pummelled into submission to the extent you don’t notice them.

If you feel the need to fiddle the forks are fully adjustable and there’s remote hydraulic preload at the back if required but, even out the box, it feels like it would be a lot more comfortable than, say, a Harley Breakout or Indian Chief.

Much of the Triumph range may trade on traditional looks and heritage but it isn’t shy of including the latest tech like rider modes or cornering ABS and traction control included here. This is more background than in techier alternatives like that Ducati Diavel and, frankly, we never felt the need to explore things like the Sport mode given the response in the stock setting!

We were, however, grateful of the hill-hold feature, nice-to-haves like cruise control and heated grips also standard. A pity the switchgear feels a bit cheap, though, the indicator lacking the positive engagement you’d want and often requiring more than one stab to wake while the little joystick for controlling the screen seemed a little fragile.

While framed in a retro circular casing and connectable to your phone for navigation via the Triumph app the display is also a little old-fashioned in this day and age, the fiddly graphics too small to read at a glance.

In price, performance and looks there’s no escaping the Rocket 3 Storm is a committed choice, and not for those wanting to ride under the radar. Not everyone will subscribe to the Top Trumps ethos of simply having the biggest numbers on the spec sheet, either. Nor did it need any more power, even if that’s what Triumph has given it. But that’s fine, on the basis there are plenty of more usable, sensible and affordable motorcycles around, be they in the Triumph range or beyond. And as an experience the Rocket 3 more than delivers on the incredible stats, with a character all of its own, even in the muscle bike class.

Compared with others in this loosely defined category it’s also surprisingly usable as well, with a much broader range of ability than you might have ever credited from the look of it. As we said at the start, nobody needs a Triumph Rocket 3 Storm. But if you go as far as committing to a test ride it might be an idea to have space in your garage for one, on the basis that once sampled nothing else will quite deliver the same hit.