The biggest talking point with the newly launched Triumph Speed 400 is the almost unbelievable price tag that Bajaj has managed. But looking past that, there are a number of differences between the bike that will be sold in India and the bike that Triumph will offer globally. Here are the changes.
Wheels and tyres
One of the highlights from the global unveiling event was the rather premium rubber that the Speed 400 was rolling on. Press shots showed two different tyres – the Metzeler Sportec M9RR and the Pirelli Diablo Rosso 3. In India, however, the bike comes with more cost-effective and locally made tyres. The split here is between the MRF Steel Brace and the Apollo Alpha H1 (both of which have a ‘W’ speed rating), and these will be allotted randomly – if you are buying the bike, there is no way to assure receiving either one model of tyre. This split between two tyres has been done to reduce dependency on any one supplier.
The wheels that these tyres wrap around have also been tweaked for India. Specifically, they have been made tougher to deal with our roads. There are small differences in material and construction to make the wheels stronger while still maintaining the same appearance as the global bike. Bajaj faced wheel cracking issues when it first began building and selling the 390 Duke in India, and the learnings from this experience are visible in the fact that it is now proactively strengthening wheels for our market, as seen on this Triumph.
Crash guards, saree guard, sump guard
Overall, the India-spec Speed 400 is 6kg heavier than the overseas version (176kg vs 170kg), and a large part of that is down to the additional metal bits that come fitted to the bike here. To comply with our regulations, the Speed comes equipped with a saree guard. Bajaj says that the fenders have also been made slightly wider for India. And certain bits that are optional add-ons overseas are being offered as standard fitment in our market – namely the crash guards and the sump guard. A small part of the weight increase is also down to the front number plate, which isn't present on the overseas motorcycle in most markets.
Suspension state of tune
Externally, the chunky 43mm upside-down fork and monoshock on the Indian bike look identical to what you’ll see on the global Speed 400. However, the suspension’s state of tune has been altered for India, to be better suited to our roads. Triumph’s engineering team tells us that it has used stiffer spring rates as well as stiffer damping to deal with the harsher nature of our roads. To find out what effect this has had on ride quality, stay tuned for our review of the Speed 400 coming on July 14th.
