Riding the Triumph Speed T4 from Pune to the India Bike Week, Goa

India Bike Week is not just a motorcycle festival, but it brings the essence of that biking brotherhood from around the country. The motorcycle fest attracts bikers from all around India who come together to celebrate motorcycles and the freedom of motorcycling. This time, the whole ZigWheels and BikeDekho team planned to ride down to Goa for the IBW. 

I got the recently launched Speed T4 from Triumph for my Pune to Goa ride, and I was pretty excited about that. At the same time, I was also worried if the Triumph Speed T4, having a slightly less powerful engine as compared to the Triumph Speed 400, would be able to keep up with the other powerful bikes which my colleagues were riding. But, my preconceived notions were proven wrong, and the Speed T4 performed exceptionally well.

I rode the Triumph Speed T4 on the open highways, around the ghats, in the city and even on the bad and broken roads in between, but the bike took it all head-on. 

A Good Highway Tourer

I enjoyed riding the Speed T4 on the Pune-Goa highway. The bike accelerated effortlessly to 110km-120km, after which it picked up speed a bit slower. However, I was still able to ride comfortably with the group. While the T4’s performance is slightly lower than the Speed 400, the Speed T4 was able to tour effortlessly at a similar speed as its more powerful sibling, resulting in a similar highway performance. The T4 can do high-speed overtakes nicely as well. It has an upright riding posture that kept me comfortable, without any aches or pains.

While on our way to Goa, we took the Anuskura Ghat route which had some good corners as well as some slow hairpin bends. As beautiful as the ghats were, the roads were also smooth and nice. The Speed T4 has sharp handling and takes on the corners nicely, even at high speeds. The bike is forgiving as well and lets you make mid-corner line corrections without much of an effort. Even the tight hairpin bends weren’t a problem as the T4 could easily take on the tight turns in 2nd and 3rd gears. However, the absence of radial tyres could be felt while riding around the corners at high speeds, as the bike sometimes became slightly unstable. But, this is something that can be solved with a change of tyres. 

Riding around the Streets of Goa

I didn’t only ride the bike to Goa, but I used it extensively riding around the streets of Goa for three days. And man, the Speed T4 is effortless to ride around the city, thanks to the impressive low and mid-end torque. During IBW, the streets of Goa are packed with traffic and the Speed T4 was easy to glide through that traffic thanks to its well-balanced weight distribution. Even with the 398.15cc engine, the bike doesn’t heat up very much, keeping it bearable. 

We also encountered some bad roads on our way to Goa and back, the Speed T4 also encountered a lot of speed bumps around the streets of Goa. However, the suspension setup works efficiently to absorb all the bumps and undulations coming your way. 

Conclusion

I rode the Triumph Speed T4 for almost 1,000km and came back impressed. Even with a slightly detuned engine (as compared to the Speed 400), the bike didn’t feel underpowered and kept up with the other more powerful bikes which my colleagues were riding. I loved the low-end torque and the power delivery of the Speed T4. It was fun to ride around ghats and easy to ride around the city, bringing a wide smile to my face inside the helmet. The non-radial tyres are a bit of an issue, if you like to push your bike around the corners, but it isn’t a deal breaker and you can always change to better tyres later. Overall, the Speed T4 is a well-balanced bike and makes a lot of sense for someone who wants to upgrade from a 150-250cc bike, and intends to ride it around the city and tour for long distances on the highways.