Home CAR & BIKES Riding my new Triumph Speed 400 in peak traffic: My first impressions

Riding my new Triumph Speed 400 in peak traffic: My first impressions

The motorcycle didn’t heat as much as I expected it would. It was quite manageable.

BHPian antz.bin recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My bike was delivered last evening. Have done nothing but bring it home. Will be going to the temple now.

First impressions from the 18km ride from the showroom to my home in peak 6:30-7:30 PM traffic:

Didn’t heat as much as I expected it to. I expected much worse. Quite manageable actually. Can’t talk about the KTMs in comparison. I have seen worse in the 650s that I have ridden in the past. The fan is not perennially on, it does its job and turns off. The sound is present but not overly loud, at least not under the helmet. This was almost as bad as my air-cooled Pulsar 220 in terms of feel on the legs on its 1st day in a similar situation.

The front brake has a lot of free play before it starts biting. This behaviour was not present in the TR bike. I guess my bike needs a front brake bleed. That should make it better.

I also felt that the DTE was a bit whacky. I couldn’t do a tankful so don’t know exactly but the DTE went from 220 when I filled up to 150 immediately when I hit traffic to 170 to 190 then back to 150 a bunch of times and again to 200 by the time I reached home. The DTE was always ending in a 0. Is this behaviour seen on the other bikes as well? This is much better implemented on my car.

I guess I should do a proper tankful and try that again.

Here’s what BHPian davelok had to say about the matter:

Congratulations on your new ride! I think you should allow the fuel consumption average figure to settle down. Drive the bike around after you fill it up and give it a few days. Don’t reset the counter immediately. DTE figures are usually rounded off (downwards?) to the nearest multiple of ten.

Anyway, fuel consumption would be high and readouts erratic when the run-in period has not been completed. It should get better after the first free service.

Here’s what BHPian lazyrev had to say about the matter:

Congrats!! I will be getting mine this weekend too, hopefully. Just so excited.

I have been scouring for any and all info and these are some anecdotal references I have for you:

  • The front brake not having bite was mentioned by someone on YouTube and they said the service center topped up the reservoir and it helped.
  • The DTE/fuel level thing has been mentioned in a couple of videos and they mentioned that service centers had the firmware updated when they went for the first service, and apparently, it solved the issue of erroneous fuel bars and inaccurate DTE. Seems to be a software issue. Only one report of this, but one guy had his bike shut down even though there was fuel and the service center said they replaced the pump to solve it.

These are all anecdotal and only 1-2 reports compared to the many hundreds that are fine with theirs, so please take them with a bucket of salt. Some of the people reporting this don’t know what they are talking about. I even saw one complaining that the bike wasn’t starting but he was on the side-stand. Only sharing for info, in case people have no idea what is happening.

Here’s what BHPian Cyborg had to say about the matter:

Congratulations and all the best antz.bin.

Allow the bike to settle in, at least ~500-700 kms or first service before thinking of doing anything to it. Everything needs to bed in properly before showing their true colours, tyres, brakes, engine etc. The showroom bike was used and abused by God knows how many people before you, hence the feeling of difference.

The DTE (distance to empty) will vary depending upon riding conditions like traffic and open roads. It’s showing you the DTE in present conditions, that’s why it keeps changing.

Nothing is required at the moment, just enjoy your ride.

Cheers

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