Kawasaki ZX-4RR
Why follow the parallel twin crowd when you can call on pocket-rocket nostalgia and build a four-pot, 15,000rpm screamer? Kudos, Kwak…
Mechanical sympathy has no place in the ZX-4RR experience. If this all-new Kawasaki’s engine isn’t spinning above 10,000rpm you’ll be quicker getting from A to B by bus. But keep this pint-sized-four in its high-rpm sweet spot and it’s one of most exciting, addictive and rewarding sportsbikes on the market.
‘You really have to work it, like a highly tuned two-stroke,’ blurts a clearly-impressed Jimmy. ‘When it comes on-cam at 10,000rpm it’s like flicking a switch. The motor comes alive, changing personality from quiet and sedate into a howling head-banger. You can’t help but keep it pinned – that’s the buzz.’
This is the first new 400cc inline-four sportsbike in decades and we doff our collective Bike cap to Kawasaki for having the balls to build it. Current middleweights of a sporting bent tend to be parallel twins and more worthy than exciting, especially in 400cc form. The ZX-4RR couldn’t be more different, radiating sportsbike swagger and punching way above its capacity when on-song. It’s more than a passing nod to the exotic 400 race reps of old too, coming in both standard R and more exotic RR specs. Kawasaki UK has opted to import only the RR, which benefits from more adjustable suspension – although up front that’s limited to preload only.
Buzzing along the A43 between Stamford and Corby, threading my way past slower traffic in a frenzy of high-rpm gear changes, it’s like I’ve been transported back to the early ’90s when Japanese import 400s were my weapon of choice. If anything, the ZX-4RR is even more intense to ride, revving to 15,500rpm – the limiter cuts in 500rpm before the 16K redline – and howling like a rabid banshee as the ram air sprinkles its magic on top-end performance. Kawasaki boast that their new arrival ‘ushers in a screaming 400cc revolution’ producing an ‘intoxicating wail that is music to the ears of high-performance motorcycle fans’. ’Tis true – the screaming mechanical vibrato bouncing off passing traffic and back into my lid only increases the thrill of thrashing this thing. Add class-leading power to the mix – at a claimed 76bhp it’s easily the most powerful production 400 ever – and there’s a lot to get excited about. It’s a proper rider’s bike, demanding full input and concentration if it’s to give its best. Between 8000 and 12,000rpm power output almost doubles, from 35bhp to 60bhp. The final 12 horses are released by 14,500rpm. That requires wringing every last drop out of the ’box’s middle ratios – a process aided by a super-slick quickshifter. But for all its high-rpm jinx and impressive numbers the ZX can be frustrating, as Carl explains: ‘So far I’ve only used sixth gear a couple of times. At cruising speeds you’re in fourth or fifth just to stay in the power. Even when you do snick sixth a slight head wind or incline is enough to drop the motor back out of the power, so it’s down the ’box again just to get moving. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I love the ZX, but you find yourself riding flat out everywhere just to suit the power delivery. If you prefer short-shifting, this isn’t the bike for you.’
By contrast, the chassis requires little coaxing to do its job. Each corner becomes another excuse to revel in the ZX’S ample braking, light, precise steering and accurate handling. Stability is rarely brought into question, even on horribly-maintained minor roads, and the position from which this is all controlled is one of the ZX’S star attractions. Sportsbikes don’t have to be cripplingly uncomfortable and this Kawasaki is proof. A 400 it may be, but there’s room aplenty in the marriage between ’bars, ’pegs, and seat. At 6ft and more butter than muscle these days, even I delight in the ZX’S ergonomics. The R7 is back-breaking by comparison.
The ZX-4RR is an absolute blast. It’s a shot in the arm for not only the sub-600cc middleweight class, but the whole sportsbike sector. This is the way to get new riders back on bikes with fairings. If only it were a little cheaper. Almost nine grand is a big chunk for a 400, even one as exciting as this. But then again, the last of the ol’ ZXR400S cost £5745 back in 2003, which is ten grand in today’s cash…
‘At 10,000rpm it goes from quiet and sedate to howling head-banger’