Triumph Thruxton 400

At Rs 2.77 lakh, the Triumph Thruxton 400 is the sportiest and priciest bike in the family, and it looks every bit the part with its half-fairing, low bars and café racer stance. It shares the 349cc liquid-cooled single with the rest of the range but is tuned to the sharpest state anywhere in the line-up, matching the Tracker 400's 39.45 bhp at 8,750rpm and 32 Nm at 7,500rpm, while sitting on the lowest seat height of the five at 795mm and carrying the heaviest kerb weight at 190kg thanks to its fuller bodywork. The riding position is the real differentiator here. Low bars, a sportier tuck, and a seat height lower than even the standard Speed 400 mean the Thruxton asks you to lean into it rather than sit up and watch the world go by, and that changes who it suits. A rider with some experience, who wants a café racer silhouette and does not mind a slightly more committed posture in slow traffic, will get along with this far better than someone looking for an easy first big bike. The hardware supports that sportier intent: 43mm upside-down Big Piston forks with 140mm of travel, a preload-adjustable rear monoshock, a 300mm front disc with a 4-piston caliper, a 230mm rear disc, and dual-channel ABS, all tuned to work with the lower centre of gravity and the semi-fairing's slightly different weight distribution. A 13-litre tank with ARAI-claimed efficiency of around 27 kmpl gives a riding range of roughly 350km, which is respectable for a bike built with cornering speed in mind rather than long-haul touring comfort, and a semi-digital cluster with an analogue tachometer keeps the cockpit feeling appropriately old-school despite the modern electronics underneath, including ride-by-wire throttle and switchable traction control. In India this is the bike that goes up against the idea of a café racer more than any single rival model, since there is genuinely little else at this price with a half-fairing and this kind of retro-sport intent; the nearest comparisons are really the rest of its own family, the Speed 400 for someone who wants similar performance without the committed riding position, and the Tracker 400 for a rider who wants the same strong mid-range but in a more relaxed, upright body. Outside the Triumph range, buyers here are usually cross-shopping against bigger-engined options like a used or higher-spec Royal Enfield Continental GT 650, accepting the smaller displacement here in exchange for a lower price, lighter clutch action and the day-to-day usability that a single-cylinder 400cc motorcycle offers over a twin. For someone who wants their Triumph to look fast standing still and reward committed riding on a weekend ghat run, the Thruxton 400 is the one built with exactly that in mind.