Kawasaki’s Ninja 300 has done very well, but’s even facelifts and a capacity hike couldn’t hide the fact its engine dates back to the GPz250 of the early 1980s.
So next year it’s replaced with the Ninja 400. Still a parallel twin, it has quite different internal dimensions and a capacity of 399cc rather than 296cc. In Europe, the Ninja 400 makes 33.4kW, but that figure was chosen to meet strict power-to-weight limits imposed on certain licence holders – rather like the LAMS restrictions on new riders in Australia.
The bike’s is 6kg lighter than the ABS-equipped 300, largely thanks to a steel trellis frame. Suspension and brakes are the same, although Kawasaki says the 400’s fork is more rigid despite being the same size.
