I’ve never raced but curiosity had me wondering if you guys did

 

No, I haven't, nor have the desire to. It's not even a real race. I race against other bikes on race tracks, in real racing. Flexing on the street while breaking the law is not real racing. But if you're curious about performance comparisons, all you have to do is good what typical 1/8 miles or 1/4 mile times are like for a stock ninja 400, then do the same for whatever cars you're interested in. Cars vary a lot more than bikes. Can a 400 out-drag a Toyota Corrola or Honda Accord or Kia Soul or any other average car you see on the roads? Yes. Can it out-drag a car that's more built for performance? Depends on how much you weigh and what car is it exactly. A Mustang GT with the 5.0 V8 has about 0.11-0.12 hp/lb. A stock ninja 400 is about 0.10 hp/lb if you're a small skinny dude. But if you're a bigger guy, more like 0.08 hp/lbs.

 

It also depends on your relative skill level compared to the other driver.

 

@sbk1198 That’s great! I don’t race either, I was just curious if any members here do lol and wanted to hear there points of views
That’s a good idea though, thanks I’ll look at that too

 

0-100km you'll beat most once you've got your launches down. I'm always gunning it off the lights. Can't help it.

 

The hardest part about stoplight racing fast cars or even Hayley’s is the launch. It’s not as easy as most think. If you’re really really good it’ll be close but cars and Harley’s can really launch hard.

In the 1/4 mile a new Mustang GT or Camaro SS will smoke you. And on top end just disappear into the distance.

Dont even think about about picking on the super cars.

PS: A Honda Silverwing or Suzuki Bergman will smoke you if you’re sleeping on them line.

 

What they said…it’s all in the launch…

I had my launches down pretty good and I never had a car best me off the line from a stoplight. I‘d usually accelerate to about 40-45mph and then ease off and watch them blow by me as they break the speed limit and draw attention to themselves and away from me should any LE be lurking nearby…LOL

Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t race every car off the line all the time. Only the ones who I felt needed to be put in their place. I could usually tell who wanted to test me by their gestures or sideways glances, sometimes an engine rev, or the impatient little forward nudges in anticipation of the green light...

Now, in the twisties…it’s a whole ’nutha ballgame…

I should add that I no longer have my little Ninja 400 as I sold it last year. I do miss it though and may get a Z400 to play around on and teach my son how to ride…

 

***
I‘d usually accelerate to about 40-45mph and then ease off and watch them blow by me as they break the speed limit and draw attention to themselves and away from me should any LE be lurking nearby…LOL
***

Yep! Strategy pays off in the end.

 

I don’t race cars on the street, BUT I have passed many cars in the twisties on my 300 and even 250!!!! The squid in me loves passing cars on the 300 and 250 in the turns. The passes have to be planned, not at will like on a 600 or 750. I was laughing in my helmet when I passed a Mustang GT on the 28 HP N250 😂😂😂 in a turn, then I disappearEd on him. I really enjoy riding the little bikes in the twisties!!!! AND of course the track.

 

I often split lanes to the front of a traffic light, at this point I'm committed to a fast escape when it turns green. So its my habit to accelerated fairly hard to clear well past traffic. However nobody ever wants to race other than my riding buddies playing around. In my life I've had more tickets then I care to mention but none in the last 10 years and have not been pulled over on my Z400.

 

I have to work on this. I feel I’m not accelerating hard/fast enough at intersections.

I do feel like my front tire lifted a tiny bit off the ground yesterday at the last intersection I stopped at before getting home yesterday. There are two rain channel dips in the street and I took off hard (for me) and felt the sensation of the bike lifting, but I’m not certain. I didn’t freak out or anything, and I could be wrong. Just not sure if I got pushed back in my seat or what happened.

 

I did have a cbr600 want to go a while back. Mentioned i was a 400 while waiting at the light. Clear scoffing attitude arose. So, green light, race start practice. Pulled ahead and had a commanding lead. Speed limit was 55 from the light, so stopped accelerating about 60. Empty roads otherwise. Felt good to bolster the N400 ‘tude. Pretty sure continuing on to higher speeds the cbr600 would have overtaken, but public and personal safety comes first. And i had already made my point….

 

I race. 😁
Not on the bike, yet.

Street racing has been my life and why I build my cars the way I do but don't get me wrong I'm not an idiot when I do.

I do track my cars at the 1320 and 660 tracks a d have win a couple of trophies after 3 hard years of weekly competition and then some.

I have a lot to learn before I do anything on the bike as far as racing off the track.
For now I'm docile and most of the time if I ha e the need for speed Intake it to the 1/4 mile.
But every now and then someone needs to be stomped on the road by a lowly Hyundai embarrassing said racer wannabe. 😂😇

Ok so now everyone will hate on me for this. 🤷😉

 

If some Karen pulls up next to you at a light in a totally noiseless SUV, rolls down her window, asks if you want to run for pinks, do it! Lol!

 

Anybody know what our 400s can do in a quarter mile with a skilled rider?
How about the overall top speed? One You Tube video claims 121 mph. Is that correct?

 

FWIW: my old ninja 650 was a bit faster than my friends base WRX off the line. Since the 400 is a bit slower, I'd guess it's roughly the same or a bit slower than a WRX. We did it just for fun one day. I don't personally care about straightline races or outright hp. That's why I'm perfectly happy and prefer the 400, and my old miata.

Anybody know what our 400s can do in a quarter mile with a skilled rider?
How about the overall top speed? One You Tube video claims 121 mph. Is that correct?

IIRC, stock the potential top speed is 127mph. Note that the speedo is a few % off. I hit 125 on the speedo stock but could've kept going. I have + 3 teeth in the rear now and top should be 118mph. I was able to hit 123 indicated (not gps) recently.

 

I’ve raced with mine! I’ve taken cars off the line and while rolling. Now the thing is, you won’t get to far before being over taken. I’ve got a 2022 EX Ninja 400 with an exhaust, that’s it. But I’ve taken Corvettes, Chargers Mustangs, and regular cars on and got off the start fast, but when I would be at tip rev in 6, I would be taken over. But the thrill and the thought process of the people I’ve raced when I’m so far gone, priceless! This little bike just overwhelmed them the first major parts of the race.

 

 

Only 0-60 then yes after that then no lol

 

Exactly. In fact, the bike will beat most cars and some sport cars. But there are a bunch of new sport cars that have better acceleration than the Ninja, and better top speed. But they cost at least 10x the price. So, considering that, the price / value for the fun you have on the bike is almost unbeatable.

Unless you have a fantasy to run away from the police or chase bad guys, it does not really matter.

 

The cars from the 80’s were pigs. I think just about any liter bike today can run low 10’s in the quarter.

This is a fun video.

 

Public roads, a lot of bikes can take many cars from a dig, but then it depends on how much road ahead and how committed/crazy the car driver is ... they are out there ... there's always that one young racer bro that makes it his life mission to get his rice-mobile back in front of you ...

But like the other poster said, at a stop light, lined up against an actual "fast car", nobody is ever doing a 100% start, it's not a "real race" anyway, just a casual jackrabbit blitz.

 

It certainly beats most SUVs and buses off the line. If everyone has to obey the speed limit on the road (60 mph max in Kiwiland) then you're king of the road.

 

It certainly beats most SUVs and buses off the line.

Loaded cement trucks too. When they are empty it's more of a challenge.

 

Raced a 350z (306hp) and gapped it. It rolling from 15 and ended about 80mph

 

If the race is to see who can get admitted to ICU first then yes. 9 times out of 10, it's the motorcyclist who gets to travel in the meat wagon.

Ride safe.

I'm boring. Just knowing I can blow someone away if I want to, is enough for me.

 

I don’t usually give it a thought but Friday a guy in a Jaguar pulled up the stop light and said “Hey what you got? You want to race that bike? He started power braking it and when the light turned green I put about 4 or 5 bike lengths on him until I let off at a 100. He then passed me and waved for me to pull over so I stopped and we talked. He couldn’t believe he couldn’t outrun such a small bike because his car was a 360 hp turbo v6. He seemed to be a nice guy just trying to have fun so I had no problem with the situation and he asked enough questions about the bike that I finally said we needed to leave because sitting on the side of the road was more dangerous than what we just did. He did introduce himself and said he hoped to see me again.😆

 

Years and years ago my mate was at the pub* - some guy pulled up and asked him if he could do wheelies. So off he went and pulled a few wheelies. When he got back the guy gave him ten pounds (UK currency) - at that time a tenner was about 20 times more than the hourly minimum wage.
Turns out it was Charlie Watts from the rolling stones.
(*Royal Exchange - Hartpury)