Be Careful With Your Triumph Scrambler 400s: A Single Drop Could Cost You A Fortune! [Video]
The Triumph 400 twins- Scrambler 400 and Speed 400- have both risen to acceptance in the Indian market. Many of us prefer the Scrambler over the Speed, due to its dual-sport nature. Now, a video has been shared online, showing a rather bizarre experience of a Scrambler 400X owner. In the video shared on the channel TDubsKid, we see him detailing the unfortunate incident.
The YouTuber was out on an off-road joyride with his 2024 Triumph Scrambler 400X when he encountered a minor crash. It fell towards the side, hitting some of its body panels against the soil. The impact gave it some damage. Many panels had scratches and dents. More importantly, the motorcycle would refuse to start when tried to crank post-crash.
Upon closer inspection, the owner found out that the bike was unable to start as the keyhole was damaged in the fall. The Scrambler 400X comes with a built-in immobiliser system that uses a tiny digital transponder mounted on the key to ensure proper authorisation of the vehicle at all times and avoid vehicle thefts. Since the entire mechanism and its assembly got damaged, it was impossible to start the bike using hacks.
Now the only thing that the owner could do was to get it to the nearest service center. The YouTuber says that the dealer he approached, said that it was impossible to change just the damaged component. The entire assembly had to be replaced, doing which would allegedly cost about $1298 (including labour, which cost more than $800). He was even given an invoice for the same. This was insane!
The aforementioned money would get the ignition, keys, immobiliser module and gas cap replaced. The cost of these parts added up to $473.97. This was clearly on the expensive side of things. In the ideal case, the cost of the damaged part should have been around $50!
It remains to be seen if this was a one-off instance of dealer malpractice or a generic issue with the brand's new-age product lineup. If it somehow turns out to be true, owning the Scrambler X can be more expensive that we think it is! Let me tell you why...
Abroad, the motorcycle has its price in the ballpark of $5000. This means roughly Rs 4.25 lakh, considering 1USD= Rs 85.17. The price in India, is lower, at Rs 3.45 lakh. The India-price is roughly 18% less than the one abroad.
If we are to draw a vague assumption, the assembly that costs around $470 ( Rs 40,030) abroad, could cost around Rs 32,825 here! Labour would apply on top of this, which might not be as high as what's being charged abroad. Combined, a similar spill during off-road stints such as these, could cost you well around Rs 50,000 to get bike running again!
We'd now like to reiterate that these are mere assumptions and we have had no clear case of owners posting similar cases or experiences, yet. If such cases arise, the only way out could probably be by introducing child parts, so that owners are saved from having to replace large assemblies.
Investing in a good insurance policy can be of great use in cases such as these. Even this owner did, and got the replacements covered. If you are to buy motorcycles from premium and aspirational brands, make sure to choose policies that offer the maximum coverage. This will help you in keeping the financial balance intact, even in case of unexpected expenses such as these.