pro's an con's?

[steveo29]

can some one help me with the pro's and cons of two 400's?
what is the average top end and 0 - 60 plus whats the handling/road holding like and breaking?

the two bikes are the
1992 HONDA CBR 400 RR NC29
and the
1991 KAWASAKI ZXR 400.
and to end. which is the better bike overall?

[dibblecorse]

Honestly, find the extra few quid for an VFR400 NC30, huge improvement on the NC29, ZXR400, unless you now an expert to look over it almost all the good ones went to the club racing scene and have been thrashed to within an inch of their lives .....

I loved my NC30 ....

[steveo29]

oh an forgot to add im only 5'7" so if either is smaller an lighter it would be good.

[dibblecorse]

virtually identical in seat height and weight, I'm 5'8" and easily get feet flat on the floor on either.

[Brite spark]

1992 HONDA CBR 400 RR NC29- gull arm (babyblade)
1991 KAWASAKI ZXR 400, neither are as good at handling as the vfr/rvf, but still good bikes, if you can stretch to one then the vfr/rvf is are the ones to have (vfr seems to be more collectable)


vfr/rvf400
ss 1/4 mile in 12.9 sec @110mph
110 top speed unless restrictor is bypassed (jap regs)
handling and road holding are superb, though they might not be ideal for the taller person and seat is a little uncomfortable on long journeys.
http://members.aol.com/sbirring/rvf400.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_RVF400
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_VFR400

also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBR400RR
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawasaki_ZXR400_%28L_...

[steveo29]

hummmm.... now looking at the RVF400 i might be getting that instead of a zxr400. one other thing is other than an air filter change, new exhaust system, and a rebore what other things can you do to tune the engine in a bike? i've heard of a revo tune but what does that mean? is it like a ecu tuning on a car?

Edited by steveo29 on Monday 28th July 23:23

[Rick448]

Dont waste massive money on rebores etc.. surely at 5'7" you could ride a 600? My brother is around that and has had allsorts of bikes including R1's, and the majority of racers are not over that. Unless i missed something, go for a bigger bike which is not always going to be much higher on seat height.

[EvoBarry]

VFR/RVF is the gear driven cams remember, those motors are quite fiddly to work on compared to the standard IL4 of the others. The CBR was always rated well for its size IIRC, baby blade and all that, and the ZXR400 needs caning to really give is all (they all do to be fair), but I seem to recall the Kwak being less tractable than the Honda models.

I'd go for the CBR if I could find a decent one..

[steveo29]

tbh i wanted a smallish bike which had a nice amount of power. i've seen a zx6r an it looks a bit wide for my liking. i didnt want a hugely powerful bike just something to get around on and mabey do the odd track day on it. plus i am still in the process of getting my test, just doing my reserch before hand so on the day i pass (hopefully first time) i will be able to go out an get the bike i want

[Brite spark]

EvoBarry said:

VFR/RVF is the gear driven cams remember, those motors are quite fiddly to work on compared to the standard IL4 of the others.

The cam driven engine is very reliable though, other than buckets and shims there shouldn't be much to do to the engine if anything- the common thing to fail is the rectifier.

steveo29 said:

hummmm.... now looking at the RVF400 i might be getting that instead of a zxr400. one other thing is other than an air filter change, new exhaust system, and a rebore what other things can you do to tune the engine in a bike? i've heard of a revo tune but what does that mean? is it like a ecu tuning on a car?

The whole exhaust system is stainless steel as standard, would you just be looking at an end can?

The engine is already in a reasonable state of Tuning, how much more are you looking to get out of it?

Edited by Brite spark on Tuesday 29th July 06:31

[steveo29]

well i was looking for around 10 foot pounds more torque if poss.

[steveo29]

can anyone help??

[Rick448]

Get a 600! Honestly tuning a 400 which is already as peaky as hell is a non starter for the road.

[steveo29]

the reason i was trying to keep with the 400 is because i have been reading quite a lot of articals on the net an the general consensus is that the rvf 400 handle better than bigger bikes an can carry more speed round corners. thats why i was trying to find out if you can get more power out of a bike other then air filter exaust and rebore.

[black-k1]

steveo29 said:

the reason i was trying to keep with the 400 is because i have been reading quite a lot of articals on the net an the general consensus is that the rvf 400 handle better than bigger bikes an can carry more speed round corners. thats why i was trying to find out if you can get more power out of a bike other then air filter exaust and rebore.

I see from your other posts that you still have not passed your test. I would suggest that the capabilities of a rider who has only just passed their test will not be anywhere near enough to exploit the difference in cornering abilities of a 400 vs. a 600. Additionally, on the public road there will literally be 1 or 2 corners where, even if you were good enough, you would actually be able to use this extra cornering speed in any degree of safety. In contrast, the extra "oomph" of the 600 will be usable in considerably more situations.

Pass your test then try a few 400’s and 600’s and see which you like best.

[alfa daley]

Get a Honda Hornet 600, feet can be flat on the floor, down gear it and get ready to keep up with the older 600s up to about a ton, brilliant fun and definitely way faster than the 400s in a straight line and with good tyres they don't corner too bad. The only downside is it doesn't look very sporty.