Who Will Produce the First Production 2.3 Liter Motorcycle
Date: Thursday, August 21 @ 17:41:04 EDT
Topic: News


Who has announced production of a 2.3 liter motorcycle? There has been a lot of speculation that Honda was going to put a 2.0 liter in the Goldwing, when they had announced that the Goldwing was getting a new motor. But it wasn't to be. They had only produced the 1800cc. Then there was hope again that just maybe a new 2.0 liter would be in the new for 2004 Valkyrie Rune. Again it wasn’t going to be. The Rune received only a 1832cc six-cylinder. Surely, nothing to complain about, except maybe the price, and only the choice of 2 different sets of Handle Bars and Chrome Wheels, or no Chrome Wheels. ALL YOURS for the MSRP of $24,499!

So who is going to put out the 2.3 liter? Well it is a three-cylinder engine, so could the Kawasaki guys be coming out with a new triple scooter? No not unless they have changed their name and moved to England. That is correct! The Triumph Company has announced the production of their new 2.3 liter motor which has a total of 2294cc. This motor provides 147 ft-lbs of torque at 2,500 RPM, which calculates out to 140HP at 5,750 RPM. The engine will be an inline-triple. Each piston will measure over 4" across. Is that crazy? Each cylinder will displace more than an entire 750cc motor!

There are many new introductions from Triumph. This scooter will have a DOHC motor, liquid-cooled and shaft driven . These are alot of new features to come out from a manufacturer that has never played in this arena before - - and putting it all into one new bike.

The bike, Triumph Rocket III, is set to go head to head with the likes of Honda's VTX and Valkyrie and is making some big speculation to come out of the box and run with the big dogs.

Well, the big Triumph claims to be lighter than the Honda Rune. Let's see… Rocket III is 704lbs (dry) and Mr Rune is 794lbs (dry). Triumph is also claiming that it will sell for less than the Valkyrie. Again, Mr. Rune is at $24,499 and Triumph has not announced anything as of yet, but it is expected to be something “under $20,000”

Again, that is making some kind of a statement, To be able to provide more HP, less weight, and a speculative price of approximately $4,500 less than the Honda.


Excerpts may have been taken from © 2003 AMA and Honda Motorcycles








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