ninjette.org - View Single Post

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

Welp.

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 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.)

March 31st, 2018, 10:53 PM	#1
Angel-be-Good ninjette.org guru Name: Ryan Location: San Francisco Join Date: Dec 2008 Motorcycle(s): '08 Ninja 250, '11 Street Triple R Posts: 337	First. Not first Welp. 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 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.) __________________________________________________ The Sunday Best* \| Current mileage: 50,000 Last futzed with by Angel-be-Good; April 1st, 2018 at 07:12 AM.
	1 out of 1 members found this post helpful.