BRUCE IN BRIEF

The Kawasaki sounds the fastest of the 400s, that much is true. To be honest I felt a bit embarrassed when screaming the living daylights out of the motor just to get its wheels moving. Continuing this theme, and for the sake of science and to see if the ZXR’s motor had hidden depths, I did take the Kwacker up to its limiter on one occasion, which omitted a noise as high pitched as a cat that’d just had its tail trodden on. I was not a fan of that, nor the relatively close ratio gearbox which meant you had to work the living daylights out of it to get it up to speed.

To make this task more tolerable, the owner of the bike had crafted a quickshifter into the mix, which felt novel within this fleet of technophobes. As far as fuelling was concerned, there were no qualms to note, and the same could be said about the way the thing handled. It was a very tidy dancer with sure-footed feet, offering the kind of feel that exuded confidence every inch of the way. What the engine lacked, the chassis made up for.

Out in open sweepers, with the engine up to speed, the Kawasaki was brilliant fun to blast around on. It felt pretty comfy too. Aesthetically speaking, it was my favourite bike too, reflecting a golden age of grey import design. A lack of ponies was its real downfall, but I’ve heard ZX- 6 barrels and pistons can be mated easily enough. Now there’s a thought!