Here's the link: http://ridermagazine.com/2017/12/01/2018-kawasaki-ninja-400-first-look-review/

Nice bike but just does not look as good as the Ninja 300.

ok, when is it suppose to hit showroom floors?

Not a review, just "press release journalism." It was not necessary to even see the bike to write that piece of fluff. Kawi's own literature tells you more.

Looks better in person (bikes usually do). I'm not a fan of the H2-derivative styling but having sat on the 400 at the motorcycle show, it's something I'd consider owning.

Why would anyone want that big a bike?

Nice bike but just does not look as good as the Ninja 300.
I'm not sure even about Ninja 300. Personally, I like pre-gen 250 looks best!

Why would anyone want that big a bike?

Some of us would appreciate the lil power boost, especially if you spend a lot of time on CA highways. Im pretty much redling my motor everywhere i go now ;p

I dont really want the Ninja or z650 tho and a supersports just gonna get me killed

With 16t sprocket, I have no issues commuting to SF on my 250R. Can hit triple-digits passing cars as needed.

I agree the pre-gen looks best. :)

Isn't the new 400 and 300 looks quite similar to a YZF R3 with winglet installed? Or is it just me??

who knows pretty soon the 250 will become a ....600?

who knows pretty soon the 250 will become a ....600?

I understand what you mean, but the market has been lacking motorcycles around 400cc displacement for a long time, and now markets in developing countries seem to be driving new models in the small-mid displacement range. I'm glad to see that.

Me too, but plenty of markets still require 125 and 250cc motorcycles. I miss the 250.

For a while, I thought they were planning to bring back the 250 when they made the 400, but I guess that was wrong, at least in the US. That's a shame... it would have been a nice spread: 250 - 400 - 650

That's a busy spread. Not sure the US would support that.

But the rest of the world, with its much bigger need for motorcycles, already supports it. Just bring them here. Oh well.

The April Roadracing World has an in-depth review of the 400 FYI. Chris Ulrich does his usual thorough job.

The first paragraph tells you a lot of what you need to know about this bike:

"I can count how many times I have thrown a leg over an entry level sportbike on one hand. Being a horsepower junky, I tend to gravitate toward 1000cc motorcycles. My small-bike snobbery has been purely performance-based: Sportbikes based on Superbikes have beefy frames and stiff (adjustable) suspension that allows me to ride the bike as hard as I can without getting bored. But that was before I threw a leg over the 2018 Kawasaki Ninja 400."

Needless to say, he was impressed. Forthright about its limitations, too. Pretty clear that Kawi has a winner here.

Love me some RRW

As an entry level commuter, it's a great idea. And for track days, it's not bad either - the extra power is safety when you're mixed in with bigger bikes.

From the racing side, it's a damn shame. It'll probably do well in the "300" AMA and WSS classes since at that level they can level the playing field with ECU tweaks. But at the club level, it'll just get bumped up from UL to LW. It'll probably win, since it's racing against supermotos, but the grid's gonna be too small to collect much in the way of contingency. I'd love to have seen the chassis improvements with a refreshed 300cc powerplant, but that's me.