Took my ninja 400 to auto club speedway and ran the roval layout, 21 turns 2.8 miles. While I have a healthy amount of track experience in cars, I've only been riding for 8 months.

My 400 is all stock except for protection pieces and a Coffman slip on.

Immediate observations... looking through turns and rev matching while braking are immediately transferable skills if you've been doing them in a car for a long time. Body positioning is everything and I may feel like I'm hanging off but I'm really not. Motorcycles do not corner as fast as cars, need to ENSURE entry speed is set properly for turn.

The stock suspension is way too soft, I weigh 165 without gear. The rebound specifically is SLOW. Needs to be changed ASAP

I boiled the brake fluid and glazed the rotors on my second run, the stock brakes are so bad that at the end the day I had my brake lever set all the way out and was pulling it all the way to the grip without ABS activating. Braking hard at 120 on the bank was more like praying to stop than actually stopping. Needs to stainless steel braided lines, some sintered pads and some Motul RBF600 ASAP.

Stock tires are surprisingly good, held up all day. Started feeling a bit greasy as I started getting faster, got a little bit of wheel spin a couple times as I started to roll on throttle. These tires are obviously not meant for this kind of abuse, but did decently well. https://imgur.com/gallery/8KyKXyG

Ran a 2:01.641
https://streamable.com/amp_player/bauu8

Observations after the day. The 400 is great, the chassis is confidence inspiring. The bike is extremely predictable, not dramatic even with the soft suspension. This bike is much faster in the corners than the bigger bikes, have to watch out not to ram into them as you blast out of a turn. Less fuel in the tank, the better the bike feels. The heel guards are massively detrimental to getting knee out and foot correctly placed on the peg. Slamming the bike through the gears without the clutch gets the motor HOT. Spent most of the day 1 blip away from the top, fan would be running for 5+ minutes after coming off track. Bike is perfect for building a really strong foundation of motorcycle riding. The bike looks great, lots of people coming over to look at the bike.

Overall I can't wait to change the suspension, brakes, tires, rearsets, water wetter and get back out there. I could be running a lot faster with just some good brakes, kept me handicapped all day (probably a good thing). I love this little bike.
https://imgur.com/gallery/E56aYsg

Video of my second session. 5th session of the day was when I ran a 2:01. Fastest lap in this video is a 2:07
https://youtu.be/nyoanPRQzQc

I loved that slow mo clip!

My first experience on a N400 was also on the track. Feel in LOVE with the bike after T1.

I also found the suspension was soft. But for my weight, I think it's ok (165lbs). Brakes weren't bad either.

Can't wait to get out there again.

Congrats on getting to motorcycle trackdays. And condolences to your wallet. I love it though!

 

Very comprehensive report mate, good images and clip. Glad you enjoyed yourself!

Interesting to hear how bad the brakes are in a track situation. I haven't had mine on a track yet. I know @SDM! changed his whole front set up to go racing, master cylinder and caliper. I'm running a braided front line but I can tell it needs more.

 

Just ordered some EBC epfa197hh pads, motul rbf600, and speigler braided line kit. Hoping that'll do it. Willing to bet I'm going to end up changing the master cylinder and caliper as well. Racetech doesn't have the 400 listed on their site yet. Hoping to get suspension setup from them at some point. Need to start doing tire research.

 

There's always Andreani Hydraulic or Ohlins.

https://www.spearsenterprises.com/ex400.html