Top 5 Highlights Of Kawasaki’s Latest Baby Sportbike

Kawasaki’s latest baby sportbike is something of an enigma. It looks a bit like the Ninja 400 that we’re familiar with and its motor also has the same cubic capacity. But there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye. And though it will likely never come to India, we can’t help but admire this little firecracker. So here are five things that make the Ninja ZX-4RR so special:

Mental Motor

Yes, this ZX-4RR engine capacity is just 399cc. But it divides those cee cees among two more cylinders than the Ninja 400. And thanks to four tiny, lightweight pistons, its liquid-cooled four-pot motor can rev up to a heady 15,000rpm – now that’s almost MotoGP territory! It only makes 36Nm of torque (1Nm less than the Ninja 400), but because of such a high rev ceiling, it makes 77PS of peak power. And when you factor in ram-air, that figure goes up to 80PS! That’s enough to put many 650s to shame (12PS more than the Ninja 650, to be precise).

Top-spec Hardware

To manage all this performance, the ZX-4RR actually gets some top-notch hardware too. It’s built on a trellis frame suspended on a preload-adjustable Showa SFF-BP (Separate Function Fork-Big Piston) upside down fork and a fully adjustable Showa BFRC-lite monoshock, similar to the one on the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R! It gets twin 290mm brake rotors at the front with Nissin 4-piston radial calipers and a 220mm disc at the rear. That said, it still has an axial master cylinder for the front brake. The ZX-4RR tips the scales at 188kg.

Electronics Galore

Most 400s don’t have an extensive electronic rider aids package. But the ZX-4RR gets KRTC (Kawasaki TRaction Control) as standard as well as four riding modes - Rain, Road, Sport and Rider, the last of which is fully customisable. The RR variant also gets a bi-directional quickshifter out of the box. You access all these aids through a 4.3-inch colour TFT dash that offers smartphone connectivity and also gets a “Track” display mode, which only shows the gear position indicator, a lap timer and engine speeds above 10,000rpm – basically expecting you to keep the engine singing at high revs at its peak power and torque figures when you’re on the track.

Looks Familiar… almost

Kawasaki Ninja 400 shown for representation

The Ninja ZX-4RR’s design is quite reminiscent of the Ninja 400, with its twin-LED headlight setup. And although the panels are similar and it’s available in an almost identical KRT Racing Green colour scheme, the ZX-4RR is definitely wider, thanks to the wider 4-cylinder motor. This, along with the beefier exhaust makes the ZX-4RR look a lot chunkier, almost resembling 600 supersport machines.

Pricey Little Thing

All this performance and technology doesn’t come cheap by any means. In the United States, the Ninja ZX-4RR is priced at 9,699 USD (approx Rs 7.96 lakh). That makes it 1,200 USD more expensive in the US than even the Ninja 650 KRT edition, which in India comes for Rs 7.12 lakh (ex-showroom). If nothing else, this is an indicator that the Ninja ZX-4RR won’t be coming to India any time in the near future, at least until Indian buyers stop conflating cubic capacity with price.