380 km ride with my Triump Speed 400: Opinion on performance & heating

Overall, I would rate the bike a solid 8.5 out of 10.

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2-days 377 km ride from Thane to Pune

A bit long post since it will have a few of my observations regarding my S400 in general after doing a weekend trip from Thane to Pune and back with a few of my friends.

So till Friday, the whole running on the bike was in city with office commutes of about 16km per day and a few trips to show the bike to a few friends and acquaintances.

Managed to convince my friends for a trip to Pune over the weekend so that even I can start putting in some miles in the bike and get the first service done ASAP so that the bike can be gradually opened up to reach mid and high revs.

We started from Thane at about 6 a.m. Absolutely no hiccup while starting the bike and cranked in the first go itself. And I can say that the exhaust note has a really nice ring to it when heard in isolation and in a quiet morning. Sounds quite similar to the Dominor but has a bit more low end to it. Another point to highlight that was observed in the relatively dark-ish morning was the headlight. It is very efficient and strong even with the low beam. The high beam is equally impressive which I was able to use it to a good effect while riding from Pune to Sinhagad where the roads are quite twisty, isolated and narrow.

Coming to the bike itself, it is an absolute gem of a machine.

It is extremely easy to flick in to corners and is able to follow every command with relative ease.

Ask it to ride on a highway, it will do it very well. Since I was still in the run-in period, I was asked by the sales con during delivery to keep it under 5K till the first servicing. Regardless, the roads from Mumbai to Pune have never been smooth and have a lot of undulations and potholes filled with paver blocks.

With these few things in mind, I was at a constant 80 km/hr in 6th gear with the engine at 3500 to 4000 rpm. And that is when I realized that this is the sweetest spot for the whole bike in general. It just easily glides over the roads as smooth as butter tackling every bump and small pot-holes without breaking any sweat. The suspension is so well balanced in its stock setting that you are very comfortable over such uneven roads. There was a bit of windblast that came in at this speed but nothing to complain about at all. Even an oncoming fast vehicle will hardly make you un-nervy.

Another point worth highlighting is the braking performance which was excellent throughout. Robust in coming from 80 to 20 without any fuss. A higher pressure on the front and then a gradual rear brake progression works very well in bringing the bike from high to low speeds.

Heating is a thing!

Now, riding the bike in the relatively cool morning did not make the engine run the fan at all. It barely turned on 4-5 times when we entered the traffic prone area in Pune at around 9:30 or so but even then, it was only for a few seconds or so.

However, while riding in the evening at about 5 p.m. or so in Pune's dense traffic on Satara road towards Sinhagad, I had a hard time. The fan was almost ON the whole way and though the heat was never unbearable, it will definitely make you warm. And again on the return ride yesterday, which began at about 11:30 or so from Pune, the heating was an issue till we cleared Pune's traffic. After that, it did not turn ON till we reached another traffic area near Navi Mumbai. Still not unbearable, but only warm.

Now I expect that some of it is definitely due to the very high ambient temps (36-37 degree Celsius) and also the fact that the bike is still on mineral oil. Synthetic oil will definitely reduce some of the heating is my wishful thinking.

Regarding fuel economy, since I had filled up the tank last week, during delivery, my mileage figure on the onwards journey was never calculated accurately, but basis on my calculations, I seemed to have got about 26-28 km/L.

I did fuel up the bike when I reached Pune and I expect the figure to be around similar or probably around 33-35 km/L more. (Planning on using an app called Drivvo to track the bike expenses to understand its overall TCO.)

Overall, I would rate the bike a solid 8.5 out of 10.

Perks of owning a Triumph

Now, I am pretty sure, I am one of those rare bunch of people in Mumbai/Thane who own a Speed 400 and I am mighty proud of her. Was able to keep up with a group of Triumph big bike owners near Navi Mumbai who waved and saluted to me and the same was returned with equal (probably more) enthusiasm by yours truly.  And in fact, had a small chat with a 1200 Tiger owner on a relatively small distance of the ride.

Hoping to meet a few new friends and acquaintances over this period of ownership to go on rides and connect with more fellow owners.

Sharing a few pics for your consumption:

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