These off-road mods add £3154 to the price of a Scrambler 400 X and they're worth every penny!

My last few updates have centred around the Triumph Scrambler 400 X’s viability as a genuine off-road option, and this is the end of that journey. Having taken the stock bike greenlaning I felt compelled to swap the road-biased OE tyres for knobblies and that made a big difference to dirt performance, but I still thought there was more improvement to be made.

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• Update one: Is the Triumph Scrambler 400 X powerful enough for a bigger rider
• Update two: Triumph Scrambler 400 X vs Speed 400
• Update three: Power and speed testing the Scrambler 400 X
• Update four: Taking the Scrambler 400 X off-road
• Update five: Fitting knobbly tyres to the Scrambler

Enter Rally Raid Products. If you’re not aware of them, they’re a British aftermarket firm that specialise in suspension modification or replacement components, hard parts, luggage racks, navigation, tools… the list goes on. If you’ve got an idea that would make your bike better off (or on) road they’ve probably already thought of it and CNC’d a prototype.

Rather than having a host of parts fitted to our long-term test bike, I headed down to Rally Raid’s Northamptonshire base to have a go on their fully decked out machine. RR’s Scrambler has been treated to heavy-duty spoked wheels, a new and adjustable shock, new and adjustable fork internals, a pillion seat replacement luggage rack and a Fat Bar riser with Renthal 1-1/8in handlebars.

Not over-egging it

Visually, the Rally Raid bike looks fairly unchanged. The wheels (£1530) are the most obvious upgrade and give it a post-apocalyptic machismo that I really enjoy. Then you spot the adjusters on the tops of the fork stanchions and the extra girth of the handlebars.

The wheels are made up using Rally Raid’s own aluminium hubs, lashed to gold EXCEL rims in the original sizes. They use Bartubeless kits and the bike I rode was fitted with chunky Anlas Capra X rubber.

Although the 150mm suspension travel isn’t extended by the upgrades (£520 shock, £720 fork internals), the ride is vastly improved. Potholes my test bike clatters and jolts through are beautifully ironed out.

When I give this feedback to John, Rally Raid’s founder, he tells me that prospective customers who test ride the bike are often impressed by how quiet it seems off-road compared to their own models because so much less of the machine is shaken around. There are two spring options depending on your weight and luggage, and the shock also comes in a lower version (£580) if the stock seat height is a problem.

The new ’bars (£216) give you a slightly roomier riding position, especially when standing, which would be a help for tall riders (at just shy of 6ft I find the stock setup is only just spacious enough).

The luggage rack (£168) is a work of genius, in my opinion. It’s light, can be fitted or removed in an instant using the bike’s existing hardware, and makes no impact whatsoever on the overall dimensions or looks. Top work.

Who’s it for?

What’s that kit?

• Helmet: Bell MX9 ADV
• Jacket: Roadskin Easyrider II hoodie
• Trousers: Alpinestars Venture XT
• Boots: Alpinestars Tech 7 Enduro

Before I tried the RR Scrambler I didn’t really get it. If you fit the lot you’ll be looking at a bill of £3154 – or to put it another way, 54% of what the bike cost in the first place. Assuming you buy your Triumph at full price, that puts the total cost of the bike plus mods at £8949.

That’s more than a KTM 690 Enduro R and a 790 Adventure. You can pick up virtually new Ténéré 700s for much less or a genuine enduro bike with twice the suspension travel.

But even thinking this just proved that I’d missed the point. Many of the riders who are attracted to a Scrambler aren’t looking at the price, they’re looking at the unintimidating 835mm seat height. The 40bhp power figure is far less important than the 183kg weight.

In short, the customer who is weighing up a 500 EXC, a Ténéré or a Scrambler 400 just doesn’t exist and nor really does the one who both fancies the Triumph because it’s so cheap but also has the free time and money to tackle long sections of the TET in Europe. 

If you want something you can easily swing your leg over, pick up if you drop it, clamber over rocks, plod through mud AND thoroughly enjoy looking at when you park up, then a Rally Raided-up Scrambler makes perfect sense.