Rumour Mill Time

[Bozzie]

Dont know if any of you read fast bikes but check this last paragraph on the ninja 250 review.

"Right now its only rival is the Hyosung GT250R. Otherwise your looking at a more fragile and tiring 125.
We were excited to learn that a 400cc version is coming too. Small Sportsbikes are on the way back and the Ninja250R is a great example of why its definetly good thinking."


So whos ringing up for there pre order then.

[Scott221]

Even if they do bring out a new zxr400, it wont be anything like the old ones. What with all this euro emission shite and new age kawasaki styling.

Taking the old zxr400 and upating it a little bit would be far too simple, they'll make it as hard as possible for themselves.

[superman]

i think if they did make another one it would weigh peanuts, that could be a selling prop for commuting to. a bike thats fast but light enough to pick up. well maybe not.

[Bozzie]

Im more hoping its a 4 cylinder than anything else. and not try to brand it as a "first big bike" and make it easy to ride.

TBH tho i think it will fit in the ninja250, and er6 family wich is more sport comfort than supersport.

hence me swapping my ER6 soon. (Should be for a gsxr600, or a zx6r if anyone wants to know)

[RedexRobB]

Well ive heard there are no plans in the pipeline for kawasaki to make a new 400....

[rene]

this is just going to turn into the same thing as the cagiva Mito 400, it wont be happening.

Theres a photoshop of a GSXR400 floating around as well. If kwack do it then expect it to come as watered down as the zzr250 has, a lot more commuterish than sports bike

[Bozzie]

Well it was in a magazine. So i guess they must have heard sumat from kawasaki.

[Xphyral]

i dont think theres really a need for a 400 sportsbike in the market these days, it wouldnt weigh much less than the zx6-r's and would have to have some really excellent performance figures to appear even slightly attractive to people with the cash for a brand spanking new bike. With the power figures that current 600's are parading around it's unlikely to be cost effective to invest money in the developement of a 400cc sports engine.

[Ballsout Racing]

Well it was in a magazine. So i guess they must have heard sumat from kawasaki.

Like the Aprilia RS450

Like the R4 (that was deliberatly rumered so that Yamaha could guage interest - and it's not happening (at least that's the last I heard))

[superman]

i dont think theres really a need for a 400 sportsbike in the market these days, it wouldnt weigh much less than the zx6-r's and would have to have some really excellent performance figures to appear even slightly attractive to people with the cash for a brand spanking new bike. With the power figures that current 600's are parading around it's unlikely to be cost effective to invest money in the developement of a 400cc sports engine.

i agree entirely with that TBH. whats the point unless they say you could ride it with L plates, which would never happen either unless you restrict but then you might as well have the RS125 first.

i think if you had say 7k in your bank an you wanted a new bike would you buy a 4 or a 6.

[zxr_oli]

They've made the 250 for 33hp'ers, i don't see that there would be a market for it. I know i certainly wouldn't pay, what like, 5k+ on a 400.

[rene]

only reason they were around in the first place was for the Jap learner rules.

There is a gap in the market at the moment tho. 600's are to much bike for most riders under a year or two worth of experiance but they have no option at the moment. But of course people natrualy think they can handel more than they can, the main reason why so many more born again riders (30-40s) are killed on the roads than anyone else.

[superman]

yea but the thing with what your sayin there is say you come off a 125 then you think ah ill have a new 400 cos iv just passed me test however for the same money you could have the 6 which wouldnt be incredibly more powerful so you might as well just hit the 6 right away i think 125 to 600 is a fair gap but in a way its a good thing cos its noticable like goin from a 6 to a thou would be noticable, theres no fun in just stepping up a touch more really. i think if a rider is sensible they aint got alot to worry about.

[RedexRobB]

so you rate fun over your own life?

Its fair enough if thats what you want to do, but with people dying on the roads because they are biting off more than they can chew isnt exactly speaking volumes for the rest of bike community who take a sensible approach to learning.

a 125 to 400 is a huge step, i had a 125, 250 and then the zxr. 250 to 400 was massive for me, completely different bikes in terms of how they feel. no 125 is gonna feel like a 400 sports purely becuase they are so different.

There is market for 400's, its just too small for the manufacturers to justify the cost of making one.

[rene]

how many 30 year olds do you see on 125s? they all make the 0 bike experiance to 600cc super sports. Personaly i think they need to get rid of direct accesss and everyone is resitricted at first, end of the day stats prove over and over again that older riders are far more likely to hurt themself/others than the 17 year olds are (not that insurance or the gov will take them into acount). Every rider i know who has worked there way up the power's is a far better rider than the people who jumped on a fast bike from the word off, and i dont mean in just a fast term they are also far safer on the road and actually understand how a bike works.

Any who like said there wont be 400's again anytime soon unless laws change in there favor