My Triumph Speed 400: From booking to delivery & thoughts at 2200 kms

The seat is such that whenever you apply the brake, the pillion just skids forward.

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5th July 2023, I was eagerly waiting for this date to arrive as soon as possible since the time Triumph Speed 400 was unveiled in London. And boom, the price was finally revealed for the folks of India, and with the eye-popping pricing, I was so sure about this motorcycle that I pre-booked it the very next day. Never in my wildest dreams did I think of a RE even once. My options were the H’ness CB350, CB300R, HD X440, G310R, Jawa/Yezdi or the TS 400.

My contact was the showroom in Ahmedabad – Riya Triumph and it was an easy transition from contacting them about the motorcycle to the actual test ride, they did give me preference since I was in the top 10,000 customers (naturally).

16th August, I went to the showroom for a test ride. And boy oh boy, I saw the speed 400 for the very first time standing outside the showroom. There were all three paint configurations of the bike and trust me, the black colour in person was way better than any other paint scheme. It was amazing with the Gold USD Forks. I just had to provide my DL, fill up the test ride form and I was up on the bike within 5 minutes. Coming from RE Classic 350, for me it was quite an upgrade. Speed 400 ticked almost all the checkboxes.

• Was more towards performance in nature without having to scoop down low like in sports bikes. Just crazy how this bike pulls even at 6th gear. The seat position and ergonomics suit me well.
• At 5ft. 7in. this seat height was perfect for me.
• Had a wide handlebar, my shoulders are wider than the average person, which suited me perfectly.
• The exhaust sounded good for a bike of this caliber.

I was so happy with everything, the bike ride, the Triumph experience, that I forgot happiness doesn’t last long.

Then came the major, major obstruction, the Lease Agreement. Ahmedabad, as a city, can literally bring you down to your knees. The documents required by the RTO, pheww, even the landlord asked me about the documents, cause even he didn’t know about them. (Index Document??? Property Tax bill???). It literally took me 3 weeks to finalize the lease agreement. It was such a task.

Finally, on the 9th of September, I paid the On-Road Price of the bike. I had also been asking about the accessories for a long time. I could’ve got the bike the next day but delayed it since they received the accessories package on the 9th itself and paid for the accessories package as well. I also asked specifically if I could be allotted the bike with Apollo Tyres. Fast forward a week, it was raining cats and dogs in Ahmedabad. Delayed the delivery further to 19th. I went in the morning for the delivery and found that there were no accessories fitted on the bike and was to receive the bike as I would have a week ago and with MRF tyres. Somehow the showroom doesn’t have control over who receives what brand of tyres. Comes allotted from the factory. A week wasted for nothing.

I rode my bike back home and noticed two things. The engine was giving some sort of a metal-to-metal clanking sound at above 4K RPM. This wasn’t the engine vibration sound of some sort, nor did I find this type of sound in the test mule and the front brakes gave some squeaking sound, different from the sound which is produced when some particle (dust, dirt) comes in between the rotor and brake pad. Explained it to the service center guy and he told me bring the bike in for inspection. Rode it to the service center the very next day and the problems were dismissed as Engine characteristic and dust presence between the pad and rotor. Leaving the front brake issue, the engine noise at 4K and above just dulled the riding experience. It was always at the back of the mind, why is it producing such a noise. Henceforth, wasn’t revving the engine past 4.5K RPM.

I completed my first 1000 kms and went for the first service after 26 days. The problems were again discussed during the service with a Triumph Technician. Recordings and stuff were taken and still the same result as the previous time. No improvement in the condition at all. Although the service was good and came with a bill of 2066/-. The bike felt freer after the first service, the throttle response was more crispier and would get to the higher side of the speedometer in no time. I had also been enquiring about the accessories and still no update over it. Absolutely nothing, not even a single accessory was in stock. I was constantly contacting the service center for the accessories and finally they responded that not all but half of the accessories would be available. This was on the 21st of November, literally after 2 months. They told me to wait for 3-4 days more for all of it. The very next weekend I called them up and they said that I could bring the bike in but still not all the accessories were available. On the 25th I got some accessories installed like the bash plate, knee pad, lower engine guards but still windscreen and tank pad weren’t available. Installed a mobile mount too.

Completed 2200 kms and I was still being asked about the problems incurred by the service center. They’ve told me to bring in the bike again and they will test out what the actual problem could be with the noises. And hopefully the remaining accessories package would be fitted too. Almost 2.5 months now with the bike and it has been quite an experience with the Speed 400.

I won’t be talking of the Likings, I guess anyone interested in the Speed 400 might already know it or researched it.

For the Dislikes:

• Engine Noise
• False Neutral. This can get irritating sometimes in the initial days.
• Front Brake Noise
• Front Brake Lever Play is quite a bit
• Rear Brake isn’t that strong, must pull the Front Brake Lever too.
• The seat is such that whenever you apply the brake, the pillion just skids forward.
• MRF Steel Braces Tyres aren’t that great wrt to Apollo H1s (Skids more in the wet)
• The headlight isn’t that strong for night travel.
• Heating can be noticed when in traffic, would feel a lot of heat on the forelegs.
• Turning radius is much. Wider handlebars!
• The speedometer needle vibrates at higher RPMs.
• The engine suddenly shuts off for some strange reason, don’t know why (has happened like 3-4 times)
• Long waiting time for accessories/parts

All the more, the Triumph Speed 400 is a hell of a fun motorcycle to ride on. Love it on city rides, love it on highway rides.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.