Kawasaki Ninja 400

Newfrom £5697 Usedfrom £2250

º Kawasaki’s previous A2-legal sportsbike, the Ninja 300, used a parallel-twin engine that could be traced back through the Ninja 250R, via the ZZ-R250, right to the GPX250R in the 1980s. It was OK, but nothing „izzy. The new engine developed for the Ninja 400 is a gem: grunty and flexible, responsive and smooth, and zinging at the top of the revs. It’ll encourage you to take the long way home, bury your head behind the screen and the tacho needle deep into the red, and re-enact your favourite WSB skirmish. Yeah, so a ZX-10R is umpteen times more powerful, but the thrill of working the thrashable twin, ushering its delicate chassis between the hedges and maintaining speed, is utterly engaging. And should you encounter plod, you’ll be doing 80mph, not 140mph.

Yet despite this racy stuff the 400 has a riding position that gives comfort and control at clogged-commute speeds. You get a data-laden dash, light-action slip-assist clutch and proper bungee points. The motor is tractable in town, and it’ll do over 60mpg on your breezy commute.

If that new price is a tad salty, go for a pre-loved Ninja 300. It’s not quite the same performance and experience, but also costs not a lot over two grand.

‘The thrill of working the thrashable twin is utterly engaging’