Triumph Speed 400: Honest perspectives from a Bajaj Pulsar 150 owner

Coming from a lighter city commute bike, handling and turning felt slightly worse.

BHPian EM-pathetic recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I want to replace my Pulsar 150 which is in great condition simply because it's old and I desire a new bike with better tech. My commute will be wholly in the city. It's been a considerable amount of time since I last purchased a bike, and now I'm looking to buy a high-quality one without significant budget limitations.

Started with checking out Dominar and various Pulsars. Dominar is very good but I felt it is heavy for city use. Pulsars - I felt are not a major upgrade.

Test rode the CB350RS and the Highness. Both felt good. I felt handling on the Highness is better, but wanted more color options.

I've been following this thread from the start, and given the consistently positive reviews, I was eager for the Speed 400. Before the Triumph showroom opened in JP Nagar, Bengaluru, I visited this. There were some Triumph representatives who mentioned that this is the same Keerthi dealer from Residency Road. You can book online for "Keerthi-Residency Road" and take the delivery here. So I went ahead and booked this on Sep 6th. They mentioned that bike will take about 2 months for allotment. After that, I headed to the showroom for a test ride once it opened, but there was a queue, so I decided to return later when the crowd subsides. Spent my time reading this thread everyday

Few days back, another dealership Khivraj called me up and mentioned that I will get the bike within 7-10 days if I transfer the booking to them and make payment. Also mentioned that I will be eligible for the 10k initial discount. This prompted me to visit Keerthi, JP Nagar. They mentioned that the booking queue is now irrelevant and the bike will be allotted to whoever makes full payment. If full payment of INR 3,05,870 is made (all inclusive), they will then get the bike from Pune. Red-model will take 20 days, Black/Blue will take 40 days. Keerthi, Residency Road called me up with similar information. It appears that the purchasing process for Triumph has undergone a significant change. Now, there's no relevance for the online booking queue; you simply pay in full and get the bike. While I'm not particularly fond of this approach, I figured it's acceptable as long as the bike lives up to its reputation. I went ahead and took the test ride.

Test-ride:

I had great expectations after reading through this thread and going through various videos. The test-bike started when the ignition button was pressed and promptly stopped. I pressed this again and now the engine was up. This happened two more times during the test-ride with alternate engine starts failing.

Gear shifts were smooth. I went in residential roads and handling was just about OK. Coming from a lighter city commute bike, handling and turning felt slightly worse. You can ride it slow in 3rd or 4th gear, which is good. Took many U-turns and the engine shut off in the 1st gear. This happened two more times later with the engine sputter-stop in the 1st gear with near full clutch. I hit false neutrals 2-3 times during the test-ride. Maximum I could touch was 80 kph since I was within city traffic. Overall acceleration is very good.

Conclusions:

The test-ride was extensive and I rode for more than 20 mins but was a bit under-whelmed. Was happy with the Triumph staff at Keerthi, JP Nagar for their prompt service. Considering the new payment method and test-ride vibes, I'd like to hold off for now, let-go the 10k discount/FOMO feeling. I have pre-booked the Scrambler using another mobile number. So I will wait for that and other releases on the Indian motor-bike scene and take a decision later.

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