Kawasaki have bucked the trend of practical and economically sensible motorbikes to deliver a small-to-mid capacity sports bike that isn’t learner legal. It’s also just mental enough to be an excellent ride.
Sports bikes are dead if you listen those who proclaim to have a good dose of wisdom when it comes to all things two wheels, and to be perfectly honest, given how many commuter motorcycles suddenly wear the tag, you’d be forgiven for thinking so.
The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-4RR, a 400cc sports bike that requires a full licence, is a much needed shot in the arm though, proving you don’t need a 1000cc beast to experience the handling and smile-inducing performance that a true thoroughbred can offer.
Modern styling, outstanding chassis geometry, quality electronics and updated performance from this little inline-four cylinder will have you positively brimming with excitement, especially if the Old Pacific Hwy is on your radar.
Packing 55kW and 37.6Nm, the liquid cooled powerplant delivers a few welcome surprises, including the immediately impressive bottom-to-mid range power delivery. The ZX-4RR pulls cleanly from 3000rpm and can be short shifted between the 3500 and 6000rpm.
All the while it keeps up with light traffic flow and remains silky smooth. On the road, the powertrain is fantastic, and has a really engaging and addictive intake and exhaust growl. That turns into a howl as the tacho reaches the 16,000rpm redline.
Its narrow stature make it perfect for inner city lane filtering and the clutch is super light – perfect for peak hour city traffic conditions. The quick shifter works reasonably well but isn’t the best specimen we have used lately.
Tested here in its KRT Edition colour scheme, it comes with four selectable riding modes, including ain, Road, Sport and a Rider Configurable option that would suit track use really well. The throttle mapping is silky smooth and the power delivery is nice and progressive.
We found ourselves indulging in Sport Mode for most of our testing, especially on country roads, where we could make the most of the ZX-4RR. To be honest, this is where this bike belongs – out of town in the twisties.
The ZX-4RR is characterised by its soft suspension, linear power delivery, gentle brake bite and communicative front-end, matched to the brilliant Dunlop SportSmart tyres. Riding through the bends you can truly appreciate how light, flickable and racy it is.
It’s just plain fun to ride. Suspension duties are performed by a 37mm inverted fork (SFF-BP), with preload adjustability and top-out springs. We did find it a little soft, even when fully adjusted though.
On the rear is a horizontal back-link, BFRC lite gas-charged shock with piggyback reservoir, compression and rebound damping, as well as preload adjustability, and a top-out spring. The front suspension allows 120mm of travel while the rear offers 124mm.
The ZX-4RR possesses plenty of stopping power, with dual semi-floating 290mm discs up front, which offer plenty of bite and feel. On the rear is a 220mm disc fitted with a single piston. Kawasaki’s compact sports bike provides a true racer vibe too.
From the rider’s seat, the ergonomic triangle provides a great track feel, the brakes are top notch and the top end delivers in spades. It’s better on the road than you might expect from the little green pocket rocket too.
Now for the tricky part – it’s expensive. The ZX-4RR is priced from $15,644 ride away, making it $6,000 or near enough to it, dearer than the learner approved Ninja 500 and just $3,000 less than the ZX-6R.
While it’s certainly a leap forward over the former, it doesn’t have quite the specs or the grunt of the latter. Up against the recently released Aprilia RS457. That makes it 6k more expensive than the LAMS approved Ninja 500 and 3k less than the ZX-6R.
As a genuinely powerful small capacity sports bike, it’s only real rival is the recently released Aprilia RS 457 (which is learner-approved, and while it’s no out-of-the-box production racer like the RS 250 – does offer decent performance).
To find out more about the 2024 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-4RR, you can visit their website, or talk to your local dealership.
Our test bike was supplied by Kawasaki Australia for independent review purposes. Images courtesy of bikereview.com.au.
