Since its launch in 2005, Triumph’s Rocket 3 has been a popular choice for customers of Watsonian’s British-built sidecars, and the Cotswolds-based manufacturer has now developed a fitting kit for the 2.5-litre models, (2020-on).
Designed to cope with up to 163lbft of torque pumped out by the 165 bhp motor, the kit features a tailor-made subframe, which creates mounting points for the lower attachment arms from the sidecar. These must be precisely positioned for triangulation when connecting the sidecar, to ensure everything stays firmly in place.
The subframe also allows the fitters to set up the sidecar outfit with the recommended amount of axle lead – the distance the sidecar wheel spindle sits in front of the motorcycle’s rear wheel axle – to ensure optimum handling.
Manufactured by Watsonian in their Cotswold factory, the tubular steel subframe is powder coated for durability and supplied with bespoke heavy-duty clamps and fixings and it is suitable for their current range of sidecars using the perimeter frame chassis.
The Rocket 3 is shown here with a Watsonian GP700 wide-body sidecar, in Stealth specification, with bobber mudguard, ultra-low profile tinted screen, black sidecar trim, nose badge, rims and hub cap.