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Angel-be-Good
March 31st, 2018, 10:53 PM
Welp.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/802/27276325918_58f6bf3e31_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Hyjipm)

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/792/41106521892_cba390ea44_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/25CrEQ5)

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/784/26277987107_86b7458b72_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/G36y4e)

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/801/40437858024_fb9bf4a038_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/24BmAmG)

Came home with a 2018 Ninja 400 today. It's gonna take me a while to stop saying "Ninja 250" when referring to it.

Ten years ago, I bought a new 2008 Ninja 250. It was my first bike, and I stubbornly hung onto it while feeling some peer pressure to get a bigger bike. I rode the 250 to Big Sur, Los Angeles, Crater Lake, Seattle, Yosemite, Death Valley, Zion, and Grand Canyon. When I finally sold the bike -- some 60k miles later -- it was to buy another 250, the Yamaha WR250R.

The WR was totaled about a year and a half ago, and I've been getting by with a temperamental Street Triple. I've missed having a small bike, for a number of reasons. I miss the bulletproof reliability, and the ease through San Francisco traffic, but mostly I miss having a bike I can wring out. The Street Triple has 3x the power of my earlier 250s, but I've never been as fast on it. More importantly, I haven't had as much fun on it.

When I had the 250, I'd often think to myself that if the bike made 40hp I'd never need another bike. Enter the Ninja 400. It's the bike I wanted my 250 to be. Same weight. (Minus one gallon of gas.) More power. Fuel injection. Stiffer suspension. (It's a bit bouncy over rough stuff.)

So I got it. Picked up the 400 today from a dealer in Petaluma -- their price is better than the shop in the city, and it came with a free ride down the coast. They told me I'm the first to buy a Ninja 400 from them. I had my pick of four -- one KRT, one orange, one black with ABS, and one blue without. If you've seen my 250, the decision shouldn't be a surprise.

About me:


Age: 35
Height: 5' 10"
Weight: 180lbs
Riding experience: 10 years, ~100k miles
Bikes owned: Ninja 250, Suzuki DR350, Triumph Street Triple, Yamaha WR250R
Bikes ridden: MSF Nighthawk, BMW RnineT Scrambler
Primary riding: Daily commute, weekend backroads


Impressions after 80 miles of coast home on the Ninja 400:


What a looker! I really liked the look of the 250...aside from the headlight, which always kinda looked like cartoon eyes. I've been eyeing the Yamaha R3 lately, but this 400 looks even better to my eyes. There's a smoothness and maturity to the look.
The dash offers a ton! My 250 had analog needs for revs, speed, and gas. An overheat light. And one blinking green shared by both indicators. The 400 dash is surprisingly more advanced. Big digital speedo, digital fuel and temp gauges, TWO blinking green lights for the indicators, real-time (and avg.) miles per gallon, an estimated range left (!!), a marvelous gear position indicator, AND a clock. I think the white-on-black inverted color looks cool, but I suspect it's harder to read than the usual black-on-white.
The sound is nice! I always liked the sound of the 250 at full revs, eager to scream politely. The 400 is similar...but with an added metallic throatiness. I mean, it's not a V-twin, but it's very satisfying. Still polite, but has a bit more attitude.
Seating position is exactly like I remember. I see Kawasaki is offering an "ergo-fit" seat that's 1" taller, and I'm interested to try it out. K&B didn't have one in stock to sample.
A couple YouTube reviews I've watched complained of the position of the exhaust, which competes with the rider's heel for space. It's true. I thought I'd only notice on rare occasions I move my toes onto the pegs, but as it turns out that's not such a rare occasion -- I guess I almost always ride like that :p The exhaust is in the way, I'll probably become oblivious to it in time.
The suspension is surprisingly stiff, very little sag when I sit on the bike (I'm about 180lbs). It feels good. Over rough pavement, it's a bit choppy, but it feels great when the road is great.
The throttle close is a bit abrupt. Maybe I'll get used to it, but when rolling off the throttle it seems to cut out earlier than expected -- as if you were turning down the volume on a stereo, and it jumped from 10 to 0 without any in between. I'll have to use the clutch to make up for smoothness missing in the throttle-off.
Speaking of clutch, it is incredibly light. Can't remember if the 250 was the same, but certainly the clutch on the 400 is much lighter than the last few bikes I've ridden. Not a ton of feel, but it's very easy operation.
Brakes feel great, especially at the lever. About midway into my 250 ownership, that bike developed a really soft lever that I never resolved. Lived with it long enough I wasn't sure it wasn't always like that. Happy to report that the 400 brake lever does not have this issue -- bites early, and strong.


Alright, now for the engine.


The power is fantastic. Requires fewer revs to take off, but can otherwise feel similar to the 250...until getting on the throttle and the 400 keeps upping the power where the 250 felt flat and demanded upshifts. The 250 was always "enough" for me, it did almost everything* I asked of it. But the 400 does it easily. It's not at all an overwhelming jump, it's just the power I wished my 250 had.
At 70mph, it's spinning around 6,500rpm. As I recall, on the 250 I'd be pushing 9,000.
There's good power across the rev range, even poking along at 5,000rpm it's got plenty of roll-on power to accelerate without requiring a downshift. The extra power is especially good for passing -- I felt a lot more confidence overtaking cars at small opportunities on single-lane highway.
It revs easy, sounds great doing it...but I've been easy on it so far. Break-in and new tires and all.
I've seen some people questioning whether or not 400 is still beginner friendly. My take: It obviously is. Granted, it's been ten years since I was a beginner, but the 400 doesn't do anything I'd worry about giving to a new rider. It doesn't have overwhelming torque, a ham-fisted jerk of the throttle won't kick out the rear tire, and it won't bring you to too-fast speeds without plenty of intentional gear shifts and throttle. Any motorcycle -- yeah, including a 250 -- will let a new rider get in over their head if they're reckless. The 400 has more power to get reckless, but it still requires reckless intent; the power of the 400 is not an accident waiting to happen, as I might describe the power on a 600+.


I got the bike home with 80 miles on the odo (up from 0), parked it next to my Street Triple. Feels good to have a small bike in the garage again. Of the small bikes I've owned -- Ninja 250, Suzuki DR350, Yamaha WR250R -- the Ninja 400 is the first that both satisfies the small-bike itch and doesn't leave me daydreaming "what if...more?" I'm looking forward to fully breaking in the motor so I can rip on it guilt-free.

(*The only time in 60k miles the 250 didn't have enough power was crossing the state of Arizona on a 70mph highway with massive headwinds. I was being passed by semis. I blame my sail-like saddlebags.)

Alex
March 31st, 2018, 11:40 PM
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-LLwF8B8/0/2a7520f8/O/i-LLwF8B8.gif

Z1R rider
April 1st, 2018, 03:14 AM
Nice looking bike, and a nice writeup, thanks.

maverick9611
April 1st, 2018, 03:58 AM
great write up. I've been to the same kawi shop when i lived in novato. they are great!

adouglas
April 1st, 2018, 04:38 AM
https://i.imgur.com/8Iy9eYf.jpg

maverick9611
April 1st, 2018, 04:58 AM
how was the the out the door price?(if u don't mind sharing)

Angel-be-Good
April 1st, 2018, 07:01 AM
how was the the out the door price?(if u don't mind sharing)
Not bad. I went to another dealer in the city before, they quoted me ~ $6,800. This place in Petaluma wanted $6,000. Easy choice.

Snake
April 1st, 2018, 07:13 AM
Awesome write up ! Thanks, got me thinking now.

VaFish
April 1st, 2018, 10:13 AM
You #1

CaliGrrl
April 1st, 2018, 03:04 PM
Nice! I was just in a shop here looking at 400s. Thanks for the pics and the write-up!

snot
April 1st, 2018, 04:57 PM
:drool:

Angel-be-Good
April 2nd, 2018, 10:13 PM
A few more impressions:


The mirrors are good! I remember having a hard time getting a good view through the 250's mirrors -- I had to angle them /just so/ such that I could look through the triangular nook between my hip and the inside of my elbow. The 400 mirrors are further forward, and so see better around me. Maybe I've just been used to inward-facing bar ends on my Triumph, but the view from the Ninja 400 mirrors is great.
The engine vibrates more than I remember on the 250. Not at all RPMs -- when it's spinning high, it's pretty smooth, but somewhere in the middle of the RPM range it'll shake the mirrors.
Probably the same vibration, but a slightly different effect: You can feel the twist of the engine, almost like a baby boxer twin engine tugging left and right. It's pretty faint, but it's there, and some evidence of the improved torque of the 400.
Did my typical freeway commute today, a breeze on the 400. Ran into wind, big hill, etc., and the bike always has power to accelerate.
I forgot to mention, the dash cluster not only shows MPG, it also has an "ECO" indicator that flashes in and out depending on how economically you're riding. I don't know if it's targeting a specific MPG rating, or just looking at throttle position, but I suppose there's something there for MPG-conscious folks who...like watching the dash more than the road ahead?
I feel like my knees have more room vs. the 250. On the 250, my knees were basically up against the crook under the outer lip of the gas tank. On the 400, I don't feel like my frame is pushing the limits of knee room. I think a difference in tank shape just makes this more roomy without making the bike actually bigger.
Even non-ABS bikes (like mine) have toothed rings around the brake disc for ABS systems.


I did some more searching on the Ninja 400, looks like in Japan they're also selling a Ninja 250 with the exact same bodywork (and apparently 36hp?!). From what I can tell, the blue color I got is available only on the 250 in Japan. Black is available only on the 400.

Happy to answer any questions anyone has about the bike.

adouglas
April 3rd, 2018, 04:03 AM
The engine vibrates more than I remember on the 250. Not at all RPMs -- when it's spinning high, it's pretty smooth, but somewhere in the middle of the RPM range it'll shake the mirrors.

Well, the fix for that is obvious:

Ride faster.


:rotflmao:

DannoXYZ
April 3rd, 2018, 06:50 AM
Awesome review!

Angel-be-Good
April 3rd, 2018, 06:58 AM
Well, the fix for that is obvious:

Ride faster.
Only if you insist :)

adouglas
April 3rd, 2018, 07:17 AM
Only if you insist :)

The party starts at 9,000 rpm, brother.

-nUj2wMhZdg

sharky nrk
April 3rd, 2018, 09:51 AM
Yep.....I'm jealous. I want one now. In blue. Thanks......

LOL congrats

DannoXYZ
April 3rd, 2018, 10:09 AM
What's top-speed on that sucker? About 115mph???

Angel-be-Good
April 3rd, 2018, 10:36 AM
What's top-speed on that sucker? About 115mph???
I have not reached it, but I've seen some people on YouTube claim it's about 110mph.

Angel-be-Good
April 4th, 2018, 07:16 AM
My 250 as she was when I sold her:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/443/20182192226_842ef8feaa_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/wKr1Bu)

My 400 now:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/805/39421813510_965db313d2_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/234z6HQ)

adouglas
April 4th, 2018, 07:29 AM
Definitely the fastest color.

Kestrel
April 18th, 2018, 03:49 AM
I too own a Ninja 250. Started on one many years ago, had a few bikes in between (SV650, VFR800, XR250L, DR350), and purchased Ninja another three or so years ago. Currently have the DR and Ninja in the garage. Rode the latter 8000 miles around the entire country last summer. It would have been nice to have the extra power of the 400 while fighting head winds in South Dakota, but it was otherwise remarkably competent the entire trip.

I've seen your posts (and blog) before; I could have sworn you posted over on BARF for a while. Regardless, I'm glad to see you have another blue Ninja in the garage. Seems fitting.

Angel-be-Good
April 20th, 2018, 09:05 AM
Rode the latter 8000 miles around the entire country last summer. It would have been nice to have the extra power of the 400 while fighting head winds in South Dakota, but it was otherwise remarkably competent the entire trip.
That's what I'm talking about. That's basically what I concluded with the Ninja 250 -- for all its credentials as a "beginner bike," there's nothing the average experienced motorcyclist does that the Ninja 250 can't do. (A trials bike rider, however, may have some issues.) It's such a competent package and available at a great price.

I could have sworn you posted over on BARF for a while. Regardless, I'm glad to see you have another blue Ninja in the garage. Seems fitting.
Yeah, I used to be pretty active on BARF ✌️