Kawasaki ZXR400:
‘Extreme’ is a word that’s bandied everywhere these days. But when it comes to motorcycling, they don’t come much more so than Kawasaki’s ZXR400. Small (so popular with the ladeez), light, stumpy, extremely revvy and a fabulous handler, the little ZXR is refined essence of four-cylinder sportster with all the good and bad that implies. It’s not big, it’s not particularly clever, but show it some well surfaced bends and it’ll show you how good handling can be.
Dinky four-cylinder addictively shrieks and screams and comes complete with the frenzy of a 14,500rpm red line. Nothing much happens below 10,000rpm, so any progress is accompanied by a flurry of revs and a banzai-like howl from the end can. But all this fury is worth it because the little ZXR produces 62bhp, which can propel it to an almost unbelievable 140mph-plus top speed.
Exceptionally firm and taut, the suspension is unyielding and doesn’t compress much even with a heavy rider on board. On smooth roads or track days this equates to scalpel-like precision, but throw in some undulations and the wheels are in contact with the ground about as much as a freestyle snowboarder. It’s a jarring and pummelling ride that makes it hard to stay in the saddle, but then people don’t buy sporting 400s for their comfort.
Fairly typical mid-90s Kawasaki fare. Reasonable analog instrumentation squeezes inside the cockpit; half-decent mirrors (the other half show your elbows, natch) sprout off the compact full fairing and so on. That said, for a 400 it’s got everything the 750 version and more have, so is a quality bit of kit.
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