400 Ninja

[stan wagenaar]

I am looking forward to this new bike. One of the best bikes I ever had was a 1988 Honda CB450S, and this new Ninja looks to be more of the same, only better. The price is a little steep, but it really offers a lot for the money; liquid cooling, 8 valves, FI, good handling chassis, and cool sport bodywork (here's hoping the ER-4N naked comes to Canada, at an even lower price).Sure, you can get the 650 for just $1200 more, but many riders don't need or want that much HP ( the first 600 Ninja in the '80's had similar HP to the current 650 twin, and it was considered a serious sport bike for advanced riders back then). This new 400 offers plenty of power, and should be able to hit 160-180 kph, plenty fast enough for any rational rider. My only issue is the tight leg room. I am just going by the photos posted here on the website, and I don't know how big the rider is, but it looks a little tight for me @ 5'10". An hour of riding on my Ascot and my right knee starts to ache a bit. and the Ascot is not a sport bike. I may have to look at some sort of physio-therapy to become more limber, just for a chance to own a sweet ride like this. If not, maybe a cruiser is in my future. For some strange reason, I have always admired the Kawasaki 500 Vulcan as a possible all-round cruiser to give my knee a break. Anyway, we need more of these sub-600cc bikes to fill the gap for a great all-round bike for the all-round rider.

[Kootenanny]

I too like what I've seen so far of the 400R, but please don't get going about the ergos being "tight" for you tall guys. We aren't all 6-footers, and us shorties have to put up with many, many bikes being designed for tall folks...so what if some of the smaller bikes are actually designed to fit us?

(Although, I do have to laugh when I see some guy complaining about a sportbike being "too tall" when he's 5'7"...c'mon, I'm 3" shorter than that and I ride pretty much any bike with few issues...my comments above on the 400R are about the seated ergos on the bike, not seat height.)

[motrhead]

I agree it looks like an interesting bike, but I think they went the wrong way; downsizing the engine in the 650 chassis, rather than upsizing the engine in a 250 chassis.
I found my Ascot very cramped and uncomfortable...one of the reasons I sold it, yet my RZ350 although being a smaller and lighter bike, is much more comfortable (I'm 5'-8 1/2").
I haven't heard any complaints about the 650 being cramped, so the 400 should be great.

[stan wagenaar]

I guess I had forgotten just how small the Ascot really is. Maybe the 400 Ninja is a better fit for me than I first thought. I am not small, but I have found that smaller bikes, i.e. 650cc and under, really appeal to me. I have owned bigger bikes, but have always swung back to a smaller machine for good handling and all round fun. I have a lot more fun going fast on a slow bike, than the other way around. The masochist(?) in me also likes the Suzuki S40 Boulevard/Savage. Light, bare bones, 650cc thumper with no HP and lots of torque pulling me out of a tight corner at around 800 rpm... great fun at ultra-low speed !

[Kootenanny]

I agree it looks like an interesting bike, but I think they went the wrong way; downsizing the engine in the 650 chassis, rather than upsizing the engine in a 250 chassis.
I dunno...I think the thing that most needed updating on the 250 was the chassis. The 650 chassis is supposedly quite good; hopefully, it'll work well for the 400 (if downsized and tightened up a bit...).

I think the 400 will be a good fit in Kawi's lineup. The 500 was always a bit too close to the 650 in displacement, I think the 400 fills the gap between 250 and 650 a bit better (plus, it is placed nicely for insurance classes here in BC, where one of the displacement breaks is between 400 - 401 cc; the 250 and 400 liability rates will be identical).

[motrhead]

I know what you are saying about the 250, but from what I here they just downsized the 650 engine, and as a result it is a full 650 sized bike, with the full 650 weight. I agree with you about the need for the 400cc bike. I still plan to add an FZ400 to the fleet, but would love a twin with modern hp levels, and the light weight that should mean.

@Stan...I completely understand the attraction of a big thumper...but a twin can be quite comparable, with less vibes, depending on how it is tuned. I like the small bikes too.

[KZDon]

I've ridden the 650 in its fully-faired form. The ergonomics are quite loose and rangy, as I found out by riding a race prepped ZX6 a few minutes later. On the 650 I was able to flat foot with very bent knees.

If the 400 is in the same frame as the 650, I don't think short folks have anything to worry about. The up side to that is most of the aftermarket and race parts developed for the 650 should slot right on to the 400. It looks like it would make a great budget track day bike.

[Ivor biggin]

I've ridden the 650 in its fully-faired form. The ergonomics are quite loose and rangy, as I found out by riding a race prepped ZX6 a few minutes later.

O.K., name one bike that KZDon hasn`t ridden.:rolleyes:
I.B.

[motrhead]

O.K., name one bike that KZDon hasn`t ridden.:rolleyes:
I.B.

Spagthorpe Rottweiler ;)

I still think the weight of the not-so-little Ninja is inexcusable. It should be 100 pounds lighter! It definitely needs to be under 400 pounds...