On the same day that both visordown.com and hellforleathermagazine.com posted articles whingeing (rightly so) respectively about the fact that Kawasaki would not be bringing their new Ninja 400R to the UK or the US, (hellforleather’s complaint was accompanied by a Michael Uhlarik opinion piece on the need for smaller street bikes in the North American market), Kawasaki Canada has sent us the welcome news that their newest small displacement Ninja will be available here as part of their 2011 lineup. A step up from the popular Ninja 250R, the 400R is identical to its middleweight 650 sibling but for its 399 cc engine, tuned for low- and mid-range performance, says Kawasaki.
Priced at $7,499.00, the Ninja 400R comes in traditional lime green Kawasaki livery and metallic black. We’ll be testing it at summer’s end and will give you our review then. Full specs are below.
SPECIFICATIONS
ENGINE
Type – Liquid-cooled, 4-stroke Parallel Twin
Displacement – 399 cc
Bore and Stroke – 68.4 x 54.3 mm
Compression ratio – 11.0:1
Valve system – DOHC, 8 valves
Fuel system – Fuel injection: ø34 mm x 2 (Keihin)
Ignition – Digital
Starting – Electric
Lubrication – Forced lubrication, semi-dry sump
FRAME
Type – Diamond, high-tensile steel
Wheel travel: front – 120 mm
rear – 125 mm
Tire: front – 120/70ZR17M/C (58W)
rear – 160/60ZR17M/C (69W)
Caster (rake) – 25°
Trail – 106 mm
Steering angle (left/right) – 35° / 35°
DRIVETRAIN
Transmission – 6-speed, return
Final drive – Sealed chain
Primary reduction ratio – 2.095 (88/42)
Gear ratios: 1st – 3.000 (42/14)
2nd – 2.167 (39/18)
3rd – 1.640 (41/25)
4th – 1.360 (34/25)
5th – 1.192 (31/26)
6th – 1.040 (26/25)
Final reduction ratio – 3.067 (46/15)
Clutch- Wet multi-disc, manual
SUSPENSION
Front: Type – 41 mm telescopic fork
Rear: Type – Offset laydown single-shock with adjustable preload
BRAKES
Front: Type – Dual semi-floating 300 mm petal discs
Caliper – Dual twin-piston
Rear: Type – Single 220 mm petal disc
Caliper – Single-piston
PERFORMANCE
Maximum power – 32 kW (43 HP) / 9,500 rpm
Maximum torque – 37 N.m (27 lb-ft) / 7,500 rpm
DIMENSIONS
Overall length – 2,100 mm
Overall width – 760 mm
Overall height – 1,200 mm
Wheelbase – 1,410 mm
Ground clearance – 145 mm
Seat height – 790 mm
Curb mass – 203 kg
Fuel capacity – 15.5 litres
