Kawasaki Ninja ZX-4R
Discussion
PeterGadsby said:
Revving now to it's peak power around 14,000rpm is AMAZING, however you are defo not going mega-fast.... It is like having a Caterham, you are having a laugh zooming around bends, but not at all going mega-fast.
I think this is the point of this bike, fun but not mega speed
- Pete
I rode a ZXR400 for years, and it’s true… the thing is screaming it’s nuts off, and you are only going double the speed limit, rather than four times it as you would be on a modern superbike.I think this is the point of this bike, fun but not mega speed
- Pete
PeterGadsby said:
Revving now to it's peak power around 14,000rpm is AMAZING, however you are defo not going mega-fast.... It is like having a Caterham, you are having a laugh zooming around bends, but not at all going mega-fast.
I think this is the point of this bike, fun but not mega speed
- Pete
It sounds like a great bike but I'm struggling to see the value proposition when you can get an equivalent ZX 6R for £1k more and that bike also comes with updated styling as wellI think this is the point of this bike, fun but not mega speed
- Pete
Yeah I rode it on Saturday, that was my first demo day, the route was a little prescriptive and but I think I got a good feel of it. I've never ridden a 400 before or even a 4 cylinder 600 but my svartpilen has 75 bhp so was interestee to see the differences. The riding position is nice and comfortable, pegs and bars are very civilised. It tips in to corners nice and quick and feels agile but not like it's an insignificant thing weight wise. We set off in procession and a car got in front of me at a roundabout so I went to overtake in 3rd and was taken back a bit by the lack of response, I was probably at around 4k revs. An intro in to screamers! Getting up the revs it sounds brilliant, just what I'd want from this type of bike, at the top of second gear you're doing about 70 and the performance is JUST enough to get your attention. Full throttle in first and revving it out to 16k revs in to second it feels quick but everywhere else the lack of torque is very apparent. I did really like how smooth the engine is though and it will let you be in high gears at low revs and not complain so it's nice that it has two personalities in a way. It feels really well made and like you could hit the rev limiter as much as you want and it would keep on doing it for years. The quick shifter is good and the blipper was lovely. Being in a group ride with a leader setting the pace wasn't the best way to experience it because I'd be full throttle for bursts then have to release it once I got too close to the guys in front so by the end of the ride I was a bit frustrated, on your own you could obviously keep it on the boil more but I wonder how overtakes would be on it. When I got off my immediate thought was it's fun but not fast enough to justify the price but since the ride I've been thinking about it more than the zx6r I rode after and I'd definitely like to try it again on my own. The dealer was saying it will be another month before they get demo bikes in
PinkHouse said:
PeterGadsby said:
Revving now to it's peak power around 14,000rpm is AMAZING, however you are defo not going mega-fast.... It is like having a Caterham, you are having a laugh zooming around bends, but not at all going mega-fast.
I think this is the point of this bike, fun but not mega speed
- Pete
It sounds like a great bike but I'm struggling to see the value proposition when you can get an equivalent ZX 6R for £1k more and that bike also comes with updated styling as wellI think this is the point of this bike, fun but not mega speed
- Pete
Skyman said:
y2blade said:
What did you think of the ZX4RR?
I rode it along with the ZX10 and the 1000SX. Plenty of free slots as despite it being a prebook event there were a lot of no shows yesterday
So what did you think? The suspense is killing me.I rode it along with the ZX10 and the 1000SX. Plenty of free slots as despite it being a prebook event there were a lot of no shows yesterday
I didn’t like the flimsy plastic switchgear especially the indicator switches that felt numb and hard to tell if you’d moved them enough to activate indicators without looking on the dash.
I liked the exhaust/induction noise on the ZX10
I liked the ergonomics on the 1000SX
As for the 4RR it just looked (up close) and felt all a bit fisher price, the performance was as expected just felt super hollow.
The main take away for me was that All three felt soulless, I genuinely enjoyed my ride home afterwards more than riding the demo bikes.
Safe to say there won’t be any team green additions to my collection.
As said at the start. Was left feeling deflated as I’d been very keen to try a few bikes with the intention of adding to the garage. Sorry for coming across as a complete Kawasaki downer.
I’m out on another Harley next weekend so will see how that goes.
Edit to add: are all modern bikes super “woolly/fluffy” at the bottom of the Rev range, and snatchy coming off and on the throttle making pulling away interesting? I mentioned it to the salesman and he said it was something that has changed with Euro 5+
Edited by y2blade on Monday 22 April 13:31
y2blade said:
Edit to add: are all modern bikes super “woolly/fluffy” at the bottom of the Rev range, and snatchy coming off and on the throttle making pulling away interesting? I mentioned it to the salesman and he said it was something that has changed with Euro 5+
Yes it’s pretty common. Some bikes are worse than others. A lot of that can be mapped out and you kind of get used to it too.Edited by y2blade on Monday 22 April 13:31
Some of it is down to throttle by wire and the slack some manufacturers build in. You can get spacers to remover the gap in some cases.
y2blade said:
Edit to add: are all modern bikes super “woolly/fluffy” at the bottom of the Rev range, and snatchy coming off and on the throttle making pulling away interesting? I mentioned it to the salesman and he said it was something that has changed with Euro 5+
My buddy's CB650R was very snatchy on/off throttle, compared to my Speed Twin. Bearing in mind that I fitted a throttle spacer on my bike to cure the same. But I'm sure his was worse than mine even before the fix.Edited by y2blade on Monday 22 April 13:31
trickywoo said:
y2blade said:
Edit to add: are all modern bikes super “woolly/fluffy” at the bottom of the Rev range, and snatchy coming off and on the throttle making pulling away interesting? I mentioned it to the salesman and he said it was something that has changed with Euro 5+
Yes it’s pretty common. Some bikes are worse than others. A lot of that can be mapped out and you kind of get used to it too.Edited by y2blade on Monday 22 April 13:31
Some of it is down to throttle by wire and the slack some manufacturers build in. You can get spacers to remover the gap in some cases.
Caddyshack said:
PinkHouse said:
PeterGadsby said:
Revving now to it's peak power around 14,000rpm is AMAZING, however you are defo not going mega-fast.... It is like having a Caterham, you are having a laugh zooming around bends, but not at all going mega-fast.
I think this is the point of this bike, fun but not mega speed
- Pete
It sounds like a great bike but I'm struggling to see the value proposition when you can get an equivalent ZX 6R for £1k more and that bike also comes with updated styling as wellI think this is the point of this bike, fun but not mega speed
- Pete
I am lucky to also have a Triumph 765 Street Triple R for out and out speed which is more than fast enough for me.
- Pete
Edited by PeterGadsby on Monday 22 April 19:30
PeterGadsby said:
Caddyshack said:
PinkHouse said:
PeterGadsby said:
Revving now to it's peak power around 14,000rpm is AMAZING, however you are defo not going mega-fast.... It is like having a Caterham, you are having a laugh zooming around bends, but not at all going mega-fast.
I think this is the point of this bike, fun but not mega speed
- Pete
It sounds like a great bike but I'm struggling to see the value proposition when you can get an equivalent ZX 6R for £1k more and that bike also comes with updated styling as wellI think this is the point of this bike, fun but not mega speed
- Pete
I am lucky to also have a Triumph 765 Street Triple R for out and out speed which is more than fast enough for me.
- Pete
Edited by PeterGadsby on Monday 22 April 19:30
I took out my local dealers demonstrator at the weekend, it made much more sense on roads I knew, not sticking religiously to speed limits and following someone trying a versys for the first time. Had a great time tbh, the quickshifter wasn't on which was annoying and I couldn't figure out how to turn it on, the dealer said I could have 30 minutes with discretion but I was out for more like an hour. It's great to be able to hit those high revs so often and I got much more of a feeling for handling and brakes this time. I think the biggest issue is you're so tempted to ride at the limit all the time and could end up riding like a bell end. It's got the power for easy enough overtakes but I wonder what people are thinking when you scream past them at 16k revs. I think I'll definitely end up owning one but it's just a matter of figuring out if I buy now or sort my garage out first (I'd be up to 4 bikes).
GreaseNipple said:
I took out my local dealers demonstrator at the weekend, it made much more sense on roads I knew, not sticking religiously to speed limits and following someone trying a versys for the first time. Had a great time tbh, the quickshifter wasn't on which was annoying and I couldn't figure out how to turn it on, the dealer said I could have 30 minutes with discretion but I was out for more like an hour. It's great to be able to hit those high revs so often and I got much more of a feeling for handling and brakes this time. I think the biggest issue is you're so tempted to ride at the limit all the time and could end up riding like a bell end. It's got the power for easy enough overtakes but I wonder what people are thinking when you scream past them at 16k revs. I think I'll definitely end up owning one but it's just a matter of figuring out if I buy now or sort my garage out first (I'd be up to 4 bikes).
Yes, the public perception could be an issue, I find that with my GSXR600, it sounds like you are trying harder than you are sometimes.Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff