The expansion of Triumph’s extremely popular 400cc range has continued with an ‘all-new’ Thruxton 400 derivative, although for now it’s only on sale in India.
British buyers have fallen in love with the inexpensive TR series bikes, which went on sale globally early last year, with the Speed 400 being Britain’s best-selling motorcycle over 125cc and the Scrambler 400X not far behind in popularity. Those two launch models were recently joined by an upspecced Scrambler 400XC, with a café racer styled Thruxton variant also just announced, albeit only for the Indian market.
Although ambitiously dubbed an ‘all-new’ model by the manufacturer, the Thruxton shares most of main components with the Speed 400, including the 398cc, single-cylinder engine, frame and main cycle parts. The Thruxton 400 does have quite a few modifications though, with a new exhaust, airbox and cam timing resulting in what Triumph claim to be a higher revving engine with a near 2bhp performance hike.
Quoted maximum power is 41.4bhp at 9,000rpm, compared to the Speed 400’s 39.5bhp at 8,000rpm, with the redline increased to 10,200rpm. Gearing has also been changed, with a two tooth drop on the rear sprocket likely to mean the Thruxton should feel a little more relaxed at speed than its unfaired sibling.
Visually, the main difference is the bodywork, with a neo-retro half-fairing reminiscent of the one found on the now defunct Speed Triple 1200RR. Lower bars, a different seat unit, restyled fuel tank, rearset footpegs and a cool round LED headlamp unit complete the café racer look. With a seat height of 795mm and a claimed weight of 183kg, it’s a little taller and heavier than the naked Speed 400, but is still a hugely accessible and classy machine which should further broaden its appeal to European riders.
Named after the fast race track in Hampshire, the modern day Triumph introduced the Thruxton 900 as a sportier variant of the Bonneville in 2003. Sometimes seen as a bit too extreme and uncomfortable for the generally older buying base, the model has been in and out of the range ever since.
The Thruxton 1200 was phased out a few years ago, in favour of a sportier version of the Speed Twin, while the more retro Speed Triple 1200RR (which was also dropped from the Triumph range) gave a similar vibe with near superbike levels of performance.
Triumph has generally launched its 400cc products in India first, before making them available globally a few months later, and we expect this to be the case with the Thruxton too. The TR series of bikes are assembled in India as a joint venture with Bajaj, which looks after distribution in its home country, and the recently announced Scrambler 400XC debuted in India just over a month before it was released here.
We fully expect the Thruxton to line-up in Triumph’s 2026 model year with a price around the £6500 mark, putting it in line with the Scrambler 400XC as one of the halo models in the TR range.
