Prevailing wisdom claims that there is no substitute for cubic inches when talking about sports cars and motorcycles, and certainly, nothing will give you a thrill like a liter sport bike with over 200 horsepower.
However, on the flip side, nothing will scare you out of your wits like a liter sport bike, especially if you’re not an experienced rider. While ‘bigger is better’ is tempting, ‘small is beautiful’ is also true and one motorcycle that proves this beyond question is the Kawasaki Ninja 400, a sports motorcycle that is not only beginner-friendly but also has enough performance and chassis ability to help those beginners hone their talents while giving experienced riders more fun than they ever thought possible.
10 Kawasaki Ninja 400: Origins
The Japanese manufacturers have always recognized the value of small-displacement sport bikes, which tempt young buyers to the brand and prepare them for larger-engined sport bikes down the line. Back in 1986, the Ninja 250R appeared, being different from many rival machines by having a parallel twin engine, where most others made do with single-cylinder engines.
This grew into the Ninja 300 in 2013, and finally to the Ninja 400 in 2018. Power rose from 29 horsepower for the 250cc model, to over 40 horsepower for the 400cc, giving the Ninja 400 excellent performance that the chassis, non-adjustable suspension and single front disc brake were more than capable of handling.
9 Kawasaki Ninja 400: Engine
The 399cc parallel twin engine in the Ninja 400 is liquid-cooled and pushes out 44 horsepower and 27 foot pounds of torque, through a six speed transmission and a slipper clutch which significantly reduces lever effort. The engine is superbly flexible, as happy sitting at 30 mph in sixth gear without complaint as much as it is sending the needle of the rev counter round to its 12,000 rpm red line, with impressive refinement and smooth running. Despite being an entry-level sport bike, the Ninja 400 has the feel of a much bigger bike. In the right hands, it will give riders of much larger sport bikes a real fright.
8 Kawasaki Ninja 400: Accessibility
While this heading might have you confused - surely a motorcycle is accessible as all you have to do is throw a leg over it - it does make sense. A large sport bike can appear intimidating to inexperienced riders, even though the modern breed of liter sport bikes are physically small. The Ninja 400 might look like a ZX-10R Ninja from a distance but, stand up close and the size will not put off even the most timid beginner.
The seat height is a low 31 inches - lower than that of the Ninja 300 - enabling even shorter riders to put both feet flat on the floor, which is an important element in user-friendliness. All-in weight is only 370 pounds, so you’ll never feel as if you’re not in control and that light weight also makes it easy to hustle through a sequence of corners, instilling confidence.
7 Kawasaki Ninja 400: It Really Is A Sport Bike
There will be a temptation to view the Ninja 400 as a toy sport bike, but nothing could be further from the truth. Not only does it look like a sport bike and go like one, it also feels like one. If it’s not as aggressive in terms of the riding position as a liter bike then that is only to its advantage, making it much easier to ride - not so extreme that you will want to get off after half an hour to stretch your legs. If it’s not fully track-focussed, then it strikes a good balance between feeling aggressive enough for the track while also being relaxed enough for everyday riding duties.
6 Kawasaki Ninja 400: Ergonomics
This could also come under the heading of ‘accessibility’ but the ergonomics are worthy of a heading all to themselves. Sport bikes are usually pretty uncompromising in terms of their riding position but by raising the handlebars a couple of inches, the Ninja 400 becomes a bike on which a much wider selection of riders can find a good riding position.
The Ninja 400 might be physically small, but it doesn’t feel like it to tall riders, with plenty of relaxed legroom and a decent reach to the handlebars, meaning nothing ever feels cramped. On track, it is easy to get into a racer’s crouch down the straights and hang off in the corners. You could say that the ergonomics are the best of any sports bike: comfort with aggression.
5 Kawasaki Ninja 400: Feels Bigger Than A 400
Kawasaki has realized that a bike such as the Ninja 400 is a stepping stone into the world of sports bikes and that that path is fed by family resemblance. Look at the Ninja 400 from a distance, and you could easily mistake it for a ZX-10R, which is a good thing, as on the whole, motorcyclists like being looked at while riding or pulling up at a bar and there is nothing worse than being embarrassed by your ride. The Ninja 400 shares design cues with the ZX-10R, especially around the headlight treatment and front of fairing area. There’s no way you’d know it wasn’t a 700 or 1000cc bike just by looking at it.
4 Kawasaki Ninja 400: Chassis
No great shakes about the suspension, with only manual preload adjustment available at the rear, but the suspension set-up is perfect for the available performance and makes the Ninja 400 that much easier to simply get on and ride. Even on rough surfaces, the suspension never loses its composure and even the relatively short suspension travel - 4.7 inches at the front and 5.1 inches at the back - isn’t a handicap. Ground clearance is also short, at 5.5 inches, but seeing as you won’t be riding over obstacles as on an adventure bike, it’s not an issue and definitely contributes to the excellent feel through the twisties.
3 Kawasaki Ninja 400: Brakes
A single front disc either smacks of cost-cutting or under-performance, but on the Ninja 400, there is more than enough stopping power from whatever speed you will be traveling at, on road or track. Yes, the front brake lacks that intense bite and ultimate feel of more expensive twin-disc set-ups found on larger sport bikes, but there is plenty of initial bite which is reassuring. Dual channel ABS is available which can be a little too sensitive, but it’s an important safety feature and a measure of how far the technology has trickled down to find it on an entry level bike.
2 Kawasaki Ninja 400: Alternatives From Kawasaki
Kawasaki also offers a Ninja 650, but for our money, the Ninja 400 beats it hands-down in terms of chassis behavior, even if it is obviously down on power compared to the 650cc engine, with its 67 horsepower. Depending on where you live, there is also the incredible little ZX-25R with a 250cc, inline four-cylinder engine producing 50 horsepower at an incredible 15,000 rpm. Coming to more territories than the 250cc Ninja will be the ZX-4RR, also with an inline four-cylinder engine, which promises to have around 70 horsepower and which will be a serious internal competitor to the Ninja 400, although certainly with a much higher price tag.
1 Kawasaki Ninja 400: Rivals And Price
The small-displacement sport bike class is keenly competitive, with models from Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha and KTM, albeit with varying engine sizes. The Suzuki Gixxer 250 is the smallest of the lot and, while the handling is excellent, it really could do with more power. Similarly, the Yamaha R3 and Honda CBR300RR while being closer to the Kawasaki, can’t hold a candle to it in terms of out-and-out performance, while being of similar quality.
The closest rival to the Ninja 400 is the KTM RC390 which, while having ‘only’ a single-cylinder engine, has better suspension and comes as standard with ABS, which is an extra cost option on the Kawasaki. It would be a close toss-up between the Kawasaki and the KTM, both of which have their plus and minus points but maybe the Kawasaki edges it due to the slightly better build quality. The Ninja 400 costs $5,200 ($5,700 with ABS), the KTM costs $5,899, the Honda costs $5,049, the Yamaha costs $5,499 and the Suzuki around $3,500, which is a bargain compared to the others but reflects the weaker performance.