Why The Triumph Rocket 3 Reigns Supreme In The Realm Of Muscle Cruisers

Summary

• Triumph Rocket 3 emerges as the winner with outstanding horsepower and torque, outclassing its rivals.
• Ducati Diavel V4 is eliminated for low torque, despite lightweight and sportbike features.
• Yamaha VMax falls short in torque against the might of the Triumph Rocket 3, the ultimate muscle cruiser.

Big, powerful cruisers come and go. They make their mark in different ways, but there’s one who has defeated a deep pool of contenders and reigns as the King of the Muscle Cruiser. For years now, this one machine has continued to set the standards for others to follow. And although this muscle cruiser stands atop a heap of contenders, some have been quite memorable. We’ll go through some of the top muscle cruiser stars and tell you why one muscle cruiser comes out as the winner.

Weapons For The Battle

To start the muscle cruiser battle, we have to know which weapons each bike is bringing to this shootout. For this comparison, let’s check out each bike’s claimed specifications.

All four muscle cruisers listed in this comparison have their own strengths and weaknesses. So, let’s take a quick look at some of the best and worst characteristics of these machines.

In order to give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from various manufacturer websites and other authoritative sources, including Ducati, Triumph, Yamaha, and Harley-Davidson.

The Best And The Worst

The first thing that many riders look at is the motorcycle’s horsepower rating. Here, the Triumph Rocket 3 is the winner, with a startling 179 horses on tap. And all that horsepower was delivered with a smooth and melodic sound.

The Harley-Davidson FXDR 114

Lying at the bottom of the horsepower ratings is the Harley-Davidson FXDR. With a mere 78.7 claimed horsepower on tap, the FXDR has nearly 100 horsepower less than its rivals.

The Triumph Rocket 3 GT

But torque is what gets you from stop light to stop light quickest, and the Triumph Rocket 3’s three cylinders blast more than 165 pound-feet of torque out of its three exhaust stacks. The rating ensures that the Rocket 3 is the leader in torque output of all mass-produced motorcycles.

The Ducati Diavel V4

Finally, lightweight is a key contributor to a bike’s overall performance. The more lard the machine has to carry, the more it affects the ability of the bike to accelerate and stop. It also affects how well a bike handles. Extra weight can get in the way of quick and smooth handling. In this group of competitors, the Ducati Diavel V4 is the clear champ, weighing in at 465 pounds, which is nearly 100 pounds lighter than its nearest competitor.

Chain vs. Shaft vs. Belt

Interestingly, these big muscle cruisers transmit their power to the asphalt in different ways. Two of our four ride with shaft drives, including the Triumph Rocket 3 and the Yamaha VMax. The upside of the shaft drive is little to no maintenance. There’s no need to clean and lubricate like a chain; it pretty much lets you turn the throttle and go.

The downside to shaft drive is a phenomenon called shaft jacking. It can interfere with the bike’s handling when significant throttle changes are made. Traditional chain drive is used on the Ducati Diavel, while the Harley-Davidson uses a Kevlar belt in place of a chain. Chain drives do require cleaning, lubrication, and tension setting. Kevlar belts are similar but do not require cleaning under normal circumstances. With these two kinds of power transmission, the bike’s handling is not affected, and shaft jacking is not an issue.

Determining a winner

And It’s Not The Harley

Muscle cruisers are supposed to be quick and powerful. These two parameters define the essence of the breed. So, when we look at our four contenders, one almost immediately falls out of the competition. The Harley-Davidson FXDR’s power performance is, for the most part, underwhelming. The Harley-Davidson FXDR comes from a well-known, 100-year-old brand. It may have the most “presence” of the four bikes here, but it is not enough to overcome the machine’s average power. Unless, of course, some serious ‘tinkering’ is undertaken.

Making things worse, weighing in at 668 pounds, the FXDR is the heaviest bike in this muscle cruiser competition. With only 78.7 horsepower on tap and coming in third in the torque standings, the FXDR might have the muscle cruiser look, but it is in tough competition here. Even if this machine had stellar handling, it could not overcome its weakness in the power category. With its extra weight and average power, the Harley-Davidson FXDR is the fat sheep in wolves’ clothing in this class. So, it’s not that surprising that the Harley-Davidson FXDR is the first to be eliminated from our list of power cruisers.

Only three standing

With the FXDR dispatched from the group, three more tightly bunched competitors remain. We’re now down to the Diavel, Rocket, and VMax. These three machines each boast well over 165 horsepower. The lowest horsepower bike in this group pounds out of 168 ready-to-run ponies. But you are going to have to put the whip to them because this bike “only” puts out 93 pound-feet of torque. It gains a significant advantage as the lightest machine in the bunch. Weighing in at a trim 465 pounds dry, it weighs 95 pounds less than its closest competitor. This bike is the Ducati Diavel.

Next up in the power war is the Yamaha Vmax. This brute force machine is no longer in production. But for its time, it was the beast in not only the muscle cruiser category, but pretty much any other category of motorcycle. Its V4 engine produced a claimed 173 horsepower and made 112 pound-feet of torque. With its V4 engine note, people were attracted to the machine, and it quickly became an icon in the power cruiser category. Weighing in at 560 pounds, it was a pretty trim machine for the time. Equipped with shaft drive and a chassis not up to the performance of its engine, the bike was all muscle cruiser and had no sporting intentions.

Another one bites the dust

It’s time to say goodbye to the Ducati Diavel. With its third-in-class lowest horsepower (168 hp) and torque (93 pound-feet), as a muscle cruiser, the Diavel can’t play in this group. Although it may be the lightest and potentially best handling machine in this group, this is a muscle cruiser contest, not a sportbike matchup. Even its svelte shape and sportbike pedigree, its good looks can’t save it this time. So it’s Ciao, Ciao, Diavel.

The winner

Only two bikes remain in this comparison. And it’s time to decide which bike is the brawniest of these four muscle cruiser machines. The two remaining competitors, the Yamaha Vmax and Triumph Rocket 3 stand face to face for the final time. With its 173 horsepower and 112.8 pound-feet of torque, you’d think that the Vmax would easily win this race. But the truth of the matter is that the Rocket 3 still has more horsepower and more torque. While the Rocket 3’s 179 horsepower is only 6 more than the Vmax’s, the Rocket 3’s torque smashes the Vmax by adding 52 pound-feet of torque.

And while the Vmax weighs significantly less, it’s still down on torque compared to the Rocket 3, and its chassis cannot handle its engine’s power. Ultimately, it’s more of a straight-line machine. The Rocket 3’s chassis is up to the task of handling its brutal power, making going from stop light to stoplight an easy affair. And for times when slipping between traffic on busy streets is needed, the Rocket 3 has the chassis to make those quick moves.