I had a lot of hopes for this after watching all the reviews and I come from a Pulsar 150 having ridden my brother’s RC390 a lot.

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I was one of the first 10k customers to book the bike after FOMOing on the hype they created. I knew the showroom would be flooded with all kinds of customers and so I have held back taking the test drive up until now. For the past 2 weeks, I have been getting calls from the Triumph showroom at random times during the day and I have told them explicitly that with the flood of customers, the initial days have I won’t be able to take a proper decision and the test drive will be rushed, but the woman on the call insisted that I come to take a test drive and told me that the initial rush of customers has died down we’ll be able to attend to you, so I went to the showroom on Friday evening at 5 ish, leaving the office early that day. Upon entering the showroom, no salesperson attended to me, I went on to look at the bikes on display, in total there were around 15 bikes on the showroom floor out of which 10-11 were speed 400. And when I asked the guy cleaning the bikes(because only he was the person who wasn’t talking to anybody else) he said that deliveries have started and some of these bikes are being delivered today. I find a way and talk to one of the salespeople and immediately he cuts me off and asks if I wanted a TD, and then pointed me to a guy who then asked me fill out a form and took a photo of my DL. Now I was asked to go outside and take a test drive, there was a long queue of customers waiting for the test drive and I had to wait around 30 mins. The test drive was very very very short and I can’t believe how they expect us to make a decision with and I quote “take the second U-turn and on the way back take the first U-turn”. The total ride would not even be more than a kilometre. The test drive process was a mess, to be honest.

The bike

I had a lot of hopes for this after watching all the reviews and I come from a Pulsar 150 having ridden my brother’s RC390 a lot, my driving style is frequent gear changes and always keeping the revs in the peak power zone, and the pulsar and the RC390 tuned me that way. This bike does not need 60% of the gear changes I make, it always picks up in any gear at any speed, it is a very forgiving bike and lets you make mistakes, this is where I found this to be more beginner-friendly rather than being a challenge for a more experienced rider which the RC390 is. Speed 400 feels like a bike someone would buy as their first bike and work their way up while the rc390 feels like a bike someone would buy after working their way up. And in India, the RC makes more sense.

The speed 400 looks glamorous in every angle and the mirrors are by far the best ones I have come across. The suspension eats up everything in its way and doesn’t jerk you in your seat, it simply swallows the bumps. The handlebar was wider than my liking and the width of it asks you to sit forward. The grips on it were really good (grippy and soft rubber, can’t really describe it) but felt like they would need a replacement sooner than most. The brakes were a surprise, really, I didn’t expect it to brake that hard; they are more than sufficient for the bike for everything it offers. The tachometer and speedometer console is pure garbage no doubt about it, I can already imagine some customers shying away from this bike just because of that console.

Now coming to the engine, it is very forgiving and tractable, clearly focused on new riders, doesn’t need a lot of gear changes, doesn’t need to be revved hard, and doesn’t need to be kept at that happy zone of the engine. If you are someone who is experienced and your wrist works as an auto-blipper every time you downshift, then the bike isn’t for you. The engine doesn’t feel exhilarating but has plenty of power. The engine character has a more city bike vibe, but the power can tame our Indian highways; it’s like the power is restricted by the engine’s character. I went in with thick jeans and leather boots and still felt a lot of heat (probably because the bikes were ridden hard all day long). I will give this aspect the benefit of the doubt and move on to the footpegs, which are very close to the pillion foot pegs and whenever I put the foot in its right position, it hits the pillion foot pegs.

This bike is beginner friendly than most in this segment, and I would not jump the gun on this. When asked about this, his response sounded like, “It is what it is”. It is up to you guys what you make of it.

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