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New Triumph 400 bikes: good looking learner legals
16 January 2026
New Triumph 400 bikes: good looking learner legals
The UK’s biggest and, arguably, most revered motorcycle manufacturer has added a café racer and raw, stripped-back flat track style bike to its 400cc class line-up.
Each has its virtues, both look great.
Paul Browne casts an appreciative eye over the new Triumph Tracker and Thruxton 400s.
Triumph has launched two new 400cc machines.
Rather wonderfully they’re learner legal while still looking good.
They both sit on the same chassis and are powered by the same engine – a 41.4 bhp single with 37.5 Nm – but they’ve managed to be very different from each other.
Fit Tracker
First up is the Tracker.
With a name like this it could only be inspired by the old American flat track racing bikes. What you see is what you get.
A classically simple bike with an excellent paint scheme and bars that fall to the riders hands, it offers a slightly higher ergonomic make-up thanks to the higher and wider bars as well as the higher foot pegs.
Even the mirrors are conventional mounted adding to the bike’s rawer look.
A single brake disc on the rear is complemented by the same on the front where a radially mounted calliper does the stopping.
It comes with fixed ABS as standard, but no traction control.
Weight watcher
While unlikely to set the road ablaze, the Tracker weighs in at only 173 kilos, and that’s with a full tank of fuel. So, the power to weight ratio isn’t all that bad.
These numbers are complimented by a seat height of 805mm, making it a very unintimidating motorcycle.
The fact that the engine is painted either gloss black or matt black just adds to both bikes’ retro appeal.
The final drive is a chain, yet it sits on the ‘wrong side’ of the wheel.
Speaking of wheels, both roll on cast ones.
Silver machine (or black or yellow)
The tech that’s available in the rest of the range is easy to transfer to the smaller machines in the Triumph range.
LED indicators, a digital compliment to the analogue speedo, as well as upside down forks and a lightweight swingarm, all add a quality that makes for a very nice machine.
The Triumph Tracker is available in a choice of three colours, black and yellow being complimented by a silver one.
For me, the latter is the only one to have, with the yellow coming in a distant second.
The black one hides too many of the bike’s features, including that really cool number board on the side.
Equal but different
Equally wonderful is the Thruxton café racer.
Whilst weighing in wet with an extra 10 kilos, this one sits on the same chassis with the same engine as the Tracker, but it looks completely different.
Differences such as the clip on handlebars and the half fairing dip into the company’s racing heritage.
The pillion seat cover on both bikes looks the part. Having a detachable set of rear footpegs and their hangers could create a quieter riding experience!
Once again, there’s a choice of colours. The only one to choose here is the red model. That’s because, as everyone knows, red bikes are faster!
Bar end mirrors and a faux cross stitched saddle confirm it’s hipster-ready styling.
The only thing that I could fault it for is the criminally ugly exhaust. If ever something was made to be replaced with something better…
Both bikes are available from Dublin Triumph. Talk to Declan on 01464 2211 about prices and delivery times.
