CARL KAWASAKI NINJA 400
THIS MONTH I HAVE MOSTLY BEEN… “Happy to finally have a bike again!”
Readers, say hello to another new termer in the stable – Betsy, the Kawasaki Ninja 400. When you turn the pages and see what everyone else has got you’ll probably be thinking that I’ve pulled the short straw, but a bike is a bike at the end of the day so don’t be nasty just ‘cos it lacks in the power department.
Everything is relative after all, and in the A2 sports bike class I reckon the Ninja 400 could very well be the new king, especially just as Supersport 300 championships are taking off around the world. With all the new low capacity racing coming into fashion and more young riders jumping on bikes, the segment for entry level models is now more important than ever – and after racing the original Ninja 250 all the way back in 2012 and 2013 I was absolutely buzzing to get my mitts on one of these for some nostalgia and flat-chat fun.
Now, Kawasaki didn’t actually launch the 400 officially but even so I managed to nab a fair few laps on one at the Dunlop tyre launch (page 54), meaning my first taste was on a mini track layout in Spain where I got a pretty good feel for the 400. At first glance the little Ninja is stunning; the factory colour scheme is bold, the dash is simple yet effective and the riding position is incredibly comfortable thanks to the relatively low pegs, high bars and low seat height. When riding, the chassis is absolutely delicious and the handling is precise to the millimetre, which is an absolute must for any machine this tiddly in the power department.
While we’re on the subject of which, the engine isn’t quite as punchy and exciting as a certain orange competitor I had as a termer last year, but it is so linear and smooth that you can almost forgive the lack of aggressive, torquey goodness, meaning after cracking some mileage and getting the first service out the way, the engine will be the first port of call for some love.
With just 18 miles on the clock at the moment though, for now, I’m going to be poodling around and racking up as many miles as humanly possible, getting a feel for how the Kwak is on the roads and generally just enjoying being back on two wheels. Beyond that, a track day is definitely going to be in order to see how the Ninja 400 performs on a big-boy track, so I’ll hopefully jump on a Brands Indy day in the next month or two. Okay, it may be a bit different to the GSX-R1000R I race on the weekends, but it’s still cool nonetheless…