Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-4RR is less than $10K and SCREAMS!

Cycle World

The 400cc inline-four sportbike is back! But is the 2024 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-4RR track-ready? We find out in this first ride review.  Full Story https://www.cycleworld.com/motorcycle-reviews/kawasaki-ninja-zx-4rr-first-ride/  Read more from Cycle World: https://www.cycleworld.com/ Buy Cycle World Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/cycleworld

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

00:02 This is the 2024 Kawasaki Ninja ZX4RR,

00:06 a 400cc inline four ripper of a sport bike.

00:09 We spent a day at Thunder Hill Raceway

00:13 in Northern California,

00:14 hammering the little screamer to its 16,000 RPM redline.

00:17 On paper, the high revving engine,

00:20 fully adjustable front and rear suspension,

00:22 and excellent brake package,

00:24 point to excellent on-track performance.

00:26 But is it really track day ready?

00:27 Let's find out.

00:29 For me personally, I've anticipated this

00:31 for months and months to age myself a little bit.

00:35 Back in the day, Japan was making all these super cool

00:38 400cc inline fours that never got imported

00:41 to the United States.

00:42 And when I was in my early twenties,

00:44 I drooled over those bikes and never got to ride one.

00:47 So when this inline four from Kawasaki

00:49 was announced this year, I was like,

00:51 "That's the bike that I've always dreamed of riding."

00:54 And then months later, here we are out on the track,

00:57 getting to do seven 30-minute sessions at Thunder Hill,

01:01 which is a super cool track, very interesting,

01:04 lots of elevation change,

01:05 but an ideal track to ride a bike like the ZX4RR.

01:09 The engine in the ZX4RR is a 399cc inline four.

01:16 We thought that the days of seeing motors like this

01:18 in sport bikes was dead and gone

01:20 unless you were talking about Chinese bikes

01:22 that don't get imported here.

01:23 So the fact that Kawasaki brought this bike

01:26 into the United States is just such a cool thing.

01:28 Despite being a really fun engine,

01:31 our US bikes have been neutered to meet sound regulations.

01:34 On Thunder Hill's front straight,

01:35 you can really feel the engine lose momentum

01:37 between 11,000 RPM and redline,

01:40 where the power has been trimmed back.

01:42 Despite being a little disappointing up top,

01:44 riders who plan to race the bike or ride track days

01:47 can find solutions in the aftermarket, like flashed ECUs.

01:50 We've seen proof of a kitted 4RR

01:53 making 80 horsepower at the rear wheel.

01:55 The bike not only has a great engine,

01:58 but it also comes with a really complete electronics package.

02:01 It's got multiple ride modes.

02:02 It's got a high and a low power mode.

02:04 It's got multiple traction control settings, three there.

02:08 And then it's got four rider modes.

02:10 It's basically got a sport, a road, a rain,

02:13 and a customizable rider mode that you can adjust.

02:17 The chassis is a steel frame.

02:19 It's not one of the fancy aluminum frames

02:21 that they had on the sport bikes of the late '90s

02:24 and that era of Japanese stuff,

02:26 but it's a stout steel frame.

02:29 But the cool thing here is the suspension.

02:32 It's got fully adjustable inverted

02:34 Showa big piston fork on the front.

02:36 It's got preload adjustability, which is unique,

02:38 especially in this displacement class.

02:40 It's got a fully adjustable rear shock.

02:42 So you've got great suspension just right out of the box.

02:45 So if you're just a track day guy,

02:47 or you're maybe just do some good mountain road riding

02:51 and you wanna be able to get in there

02:52 and adjust everything to your liking,

02:54 this bike comes with premium suspension

02:56 right out of the showroom floor.

02:58 On track, the stock suspension worked very well.

03:05 The fully adjustable fork and shock

03:06 should get most riders into the right window.

03:09 At Thunder Hill, we were quite happy

03:10 with the setup provided by Kawasaki

03:12 and made very few changes all day.

03:14 This bike comes with a pair of radial mount

03:20 four piston calipers up front with 290 millimeter discs.

03:24 The braking on the track was absolutely awesome.

03:26 I was completely blown away.

03:28 One finger braking, maybe two in your hardest braking zones.

03:32 The track that we're at at Thunder Hill here

03:34 doesn't have a lot of hard braking zones,

03:36 but the power and the feel of the brakes

03:39 is next level for this class of bike.

03:42 There's just not really anything

03:43 in this mid displacement class

03:46 that has that sort of feel and power.

03:48 So we spent a long day out here

03:51 and the one thing that I was the most impressed about

03:54 is just you can ride this thing all day.

03:57 You go down the straightaway, you can get relaxed,

03:59 you're not getting your mind warped by speed

04:02 like you would on a 600 or 1000cc bike.

04:05 So it's just really fun and rewarding to ride

04:09 and I think can be a great bike for a newer rider

04:13 who wants just a really high quality track day bike

04:16 or something like that.

04:17 But I think experienced riders who've been riding

04:20 for 10, 20, 30 years hop on this bike

04:23 and instantly understand what it's all about.

04:26 The handling's fantastic, the motor's fun,

04:29 the electronics work really well, it's got great brakes,

04:32 it's just a great package right out of the gate.

04:34 Under $10,000 you look at it and you go,

04:37 "Oh, I think I might need one of these in my garage."

04:39 So I think Kawasaki has hit a home run with the ZX4RR

04:43 and we're super excited to spend more time on it,

04:46 get it back on the dyno, do a comparison test,

04:50 do some other things and really find out

04:52 what this bike's all about.

04:54 If you like what you see, please subscribe,

04:56 comment and like and thanks for watching.

04:59 (upbeat music)

05:02 (upbeat music)

05:05 (upbeat music)

05:07 (upbeat music)

05:10 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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