Triumph's Latest Motorbike Packs A 2.5-Litre Inline-Three

This rather serious and very substantial motorbike is the new Triumph Rocket TFC. Standing for ‘Triumph Factory Custom’, those three letters tacked onto the end of the name mean much more than a trim job.

The TFC gets a whole new engine - a 2.5-litre inline-three. The Rocket has always been powered by a big triple, but here it’s 200cc larger, usurping the honour of the biggest production bike engine from the outgoing Rocket III.

It develops 167bhp, making it Triumph’s most powerful bike ever. It’s also the torquiest production bike around, thanks to the 163lb ft of twist the 2.5 serves up. We’re probably not alone in thinking this unit isn’t terribly stressed, either.

Along with the uplift in power and torque, the TFC is also 40kg lighter than the older Rocket III. Good job too, since the old one tips the scales at a properly porky 334kg.

The weight drop is largely down to the use of a new aluminium frame and carbonfibre body panels. It looks fresher on the whole, helped by the new aluminium single-sided swingarm and twin LED headlights. It’s still unmistakably a Rocket, but a much less old-fashioned looking beast.

Standard equipment is generous, with cruise control, keyless ignition and tyre pressure monitoring, a USB charging port, and a TFT screen all fitted from the factory. Go for the full connectivity package for the latter, and you’ll have Google-provided navigation plus “the world’s first motorcycle integrated ‘GoPro’ control system”. Lovely.

It’s a lot of bike, but Triumph will also charge you quite a lot of money for it. You’ll need £25,000, in fact. And if you want one you’d better move fast: only 750 are being made.