Early Triumph Speed Fours may be prone to accelerated chain guide wear. They were fitted with a 14 tooth front sprocket, and a 42 rear tooth rear sprocket. The remedy was to change the 14 tooth to a 15 tooth front sprocket, and the 42 tooth to a 45 tooth rear sprocket, giving the chain more clearance and minimizing wear. Some Speed Four owners were able to get the sprockets and chain guide replaced under warranty.

Some Speed Fours experienced problems with premature clutch cable wear. The cable would rub on the radiator bracket, fraying the sleeve and allowing the clutch cable to wear. Some owners have zip-tied tubing or wrapped electrical tape to the outside of the cable to serve as a sacrificial wear point. Others have re-routed the clutch cable between the frame and the tank. Still others have had new clutch cables manufactured that lack the "elbow" at the top end.

From lcjohnny at the TriumphRat.net forums:

My S4 clutch was realling getting to me. The cable sagged when hot & flexed all the time, eating up clutch lift and ruining hte low2 & medium speed gearchange.

So I had a new cable made up 15mm longer than standard and with no "elbow" at the top end. [means the outer with adjuster is now 935mm long - but the inner is obviously the same amount longer as before!]

It runs over the headlight support then down & through the rubber boot that guides wires over the radiator. When it comes out of there it is facing straight at the operating arm. It does not go through the cable loop and looks much neater so no rubbing & wearing away.

Now the low & medium speed gearchange is as sweet and predictable as it always was at high speed. In addition I can engage gear from neutral with only a gentle "thunk" noise instead of an almighty bang!!!

This clutch cable does not flex when the clutch is pulled unless I am on hard left lock and the clearance stays the same when it is hot (or very hot).

I got the cable made up by "Venhill" for 26 including post & packing. http://www.venhill.co.uk/ The specification is "polished marine quality stainless wire inner & heavy duty non compressible outer"

Hope this is helpful

and another post from lcjohnny:

Hope you don't mind measurements in MM (inches are to big, thou are too small and I don't do 1/32 s for anybody!). Barnett look a bit Harley so they get upset if it is not a Harley part but they do use mm

What about "Motion Pro"? I like the look of their Terminator Range!

The critical changes to the cable are:

• to lose the 60 80 degree bend at the top, so it runs over the fairing/light support then down.
  
• It now needs to be 15 to 20mm longer.

It then goes through the cable boot over the rad & straight to the operating arm (I am getting some pictures posted on the workshop album pages).

All the rest is as original so the cable still needs:

• an 8mm diameter by 10mm barrel nipple at the top end
  
• a "top hat" nipple at the bottom end with a 6mm (that is 1/4" I remember) diameter large section 5mm long and a 3.8mm diameter small section also 5mm long.
  
• at the bottom end a thread adjuster ferrule (7mm thread) with 52mm of free adjustment
  
• Important bit 80mm of free inner cable between the outer and the start of the barrel nipple with NO free cable at the other end.

Another TriumphRat.net member (green) posted his experience with the company that made lcjohnny's cable:

I received the clutch cable from Venhill with the help of lcjohny this as been quite easy to have the cable delivered to my door in Canada within two weeks, the cable is installed and I'm just waiting the rain to stop so I can go ride.

Lisa at Venhill has been really helpfull and professional, they even gave this lcjohncy part a name and a part number.

PN: T01-3-113F
Venhill Engineering Ltd.
+44(0)1306 885111

The name of the part is Triumph Clutch Cable Special for Speed Four 2004 and it comes with the instructions pasted from johnny posting

What can I say, these guys rocks. And the price is more then reasonable so I ordered two cables to have a spare one and to justify the shipping cost.

and some pictures from lcjohnny's gallery at TriumphRat.net:

The rear shock top mounting bolt is too long and may contact wires on the right side. Some owners replaced the bolt with a shorter one, some reversed the bolt, and some put a rubber cap over the bolt.

Here's a little information from HDGP:

The top bolt is put in from the shifter side, nut is on the brake side. What happens is the exposed threads of the bolt can rub throught the wiring harnes that is run that way. What the dealers does is simply pull it out and reverse it threads/bolt on shifter side.I just cut a spark plug boot and covered the threads will be ok untill I have time to take it in to give them a second try to stop the oil leaking out of the shifter shaft.

and a follow-up from lcjohnny:

HDGP Is dead right! :)

The top mount bolt for the shock leaves a lot of exposed thread on the right side. The main wiring loom ascends about 2-3mm away from the bolt end. a bit sloppy really.

Ideally use a smaller Allen bolt or cut & smooth the bolt end. [Reversing the same long bolt is no help as the main earth wire is close to the other end of the bolt.

I put a plastic sleeve on the exposed threads (made from a gear oil contiainer spout) and made sure the plastic pull-ties securing the wiring loom had no slack to let it drop into contact with the bolt.

After the guarantee runs out I will put a shorter bolt in.

Trispeed from TriumphRat.net posted this regarding poor clutch performance:

Finally, My clutch has been repaired! If you experience chain snatching and pulsing when moving slowly with a dis-engaged clutch or poor shifting, then get to your dealer for the following; new clutch push rod tip (referred to as a 'bullet'), new clutch actuation lever (at the engine end of the cable) and careful re-assembly by a good mechanic. The clutch works perfectly, shifting is vastly improved and dis-engagement is clean and complete. It's all warranty covered and mine was installed along with the fuel connector and shock bolt recall items in about 3 hours time. For those lucky enough to live in Los Angeles, Adrian at LA Cycle Sports is fantastic!

and a little bit more information from sangsters:

Clutch update --

Apparently inside the clutch on the '03 S4 (mechanical novice so no flaming for bad terminology) there is something called "a bullet" that moves when the clutch is engaged. That bullet can, it seems, have trouble keeping centered.

Under warranty, they replaced that "bullet" with, essentially, a plate. On the quick (man was I late) ride to work this afternoon all seemed fine.

Still a bit of low speed surging but I think I saw a thread on that somewhere on the board...

Some Triumph Speed Four owners have reported low speed surging or a jumpy throttle, at around 3,000 rpms. The typical work-around is to avoid that range in the throttle by changing gears. Some have reported success with a retuned engine map. I consider it a minor problem, as it only affects smoothness at low speeds, but it is something to be aware of.