[Arvy]

Hi all!

Just picked up a 400 this afternoon from SF Moto, San Francisco CA.

Prior to the 400 I was on a 300, which was totalled following an accident last November. I was lane splitting (very low speed) and got hit by a driver trying to get in to a gap.

Anywhos, I rode about 50 miles today and these are my thoughts... Although not sure how useful they are since I've only been riding for about a year...

Pros
- amazing instrument panel, has a digital display showing gear, mpg, clock, speed. The tacometer is super nice too.
- super lightweight, ~17lbs lighter than the ninja and you can tell.
- the led lights are awesome!! Lights up way more than the 300, so no more driving blind at night

Cons
- seat seems harder, not comfortable at all. There might be a break in period... The 300 was used when I bought it and the seat was a lot more comfy than this one
- suspension is super stiff. This could be a pro or con... But it definitely feels wayyy stiffer than the 300 and you feel the road a lot more

A slight con is the break in period. The service guy said don't take it above 4k rpm for the first 200-250 miles, need to double check in the manual, if true that would suck since there's no way I could commute to work! (I live about 12miles freeway riding from work). I did actually take it to work today, and the temperature guage was way up there. Like 1 short of max... So guessing that wasn't a bright idea.

Will post a more thorough review after the break in period. For now I think I'll keep it at the recommended limit.

 

[Rm1sner]

Hi all!

Just picked up a 400 this afternoon from SF Moto, San Francisco CA.

Prior to the 400 I was on a 300, which was totalled following an accident last November. I was lane splitting (very low speed) and got hit by a driver trying to get in to a gap.

Anywhos, I rode about 50 miles today and these are my thoughts... Although not sure how useful they are since I've only been riding for about a year...

Pros
- amazing instrument panel, has a digital display showing gear, mpg, clock, speed. The tacometer is super nice too.
- super lightweight, ~17lbs lighter than the ninja and you can tell.
- the led lights are awesome!! Lights up way more than the 300, so no more driving blind at night

Cons
- seat seems harder, not comfortable at all. There might be a break in period... The 300 was used when I bought it and the seat was a lot more comfy than this one
- suspension is super stiff. This could be a pro or con... But it definitely feels wayyy stiffer than the 300 and you feel the road a lot more

A slight con is the break in period. The service guy said don't take it above 4k rpm for the first 200-250 miles, need to double check in the manual, if true that would suck since there's no way I could commute to work! (I live about 12miles freeway riding from work). I did actually take it to work today, and the temperature guage was way up there. Like 1 short of max... So guessing that wasn't a bright idea.

Will post a more thorough review after the break in period. For now I think I'll keep it at the recommended limit.

Welcome to the forum! You're the first I've seen mention the seat and I'm curious to hear other owner's opinions on this as I haven't received mine yet.
As far as break in, most manuals say don't go over "x" rpm. The problem with smaller bikes like the 400, is that it's almost impossible considering normal speeds are usually higher than the rpm they don't want you to exceed. The most important part is that you don't keep the bike at the same rpm constantly. Upshift and downshift frequently and even take it towards redline every now and then. We have a thread started on this and you can find more info in there.


Enjoy the new bike!

 

[ozzymoto]

Congrats on the new ride! I was curious if SF Moto had any N400's in yet... now I need to find some time to get over there.

Really excited to hear the dash includes a taco-meter in case I get hungry :wink:

Would love to see some pics or a video walkaround! What color did you get?

 

[xorbe]

Someone was asking me about N400 seat vs my N650 seat -- need to compare.

 

[freezuch]

Welcome to the forum!
Don't sweat over riding it on the freeway: make your ride exciting by shifting every 30 seconds from 4 to 5 to 6 and back. You engine will be broken in in no time.

 

[Kiwi Rider]

Welcome! As a sports rider I'm really pleased to hear the suspension is stiff- yes!
Not so sure about the hard seat tho..

Definitely DON'T ride around for 250 miles at less than 4K RPM. This is bad advice. You will be using the engine outside of it's sweet spot. These high revving parallel twins like to spin freely with a few revs on.
You don't have to ride it hard out and hit the redline if you don't want to or feel comfortable doing it but you definitely don't want to be 'lugging' the engine at low revs. Worst thing you can do.
My advice to someone like yourself would be to just ride the bike like you intend to every time you ride.
Enjoy! :grin:

 

[Arvy]

Got the KRT edition in lime green

Will take a video walk around tomorrow morning and post it.

I had the yoshimura r77 on my ninja 300, which sounded amazing. The stock exhaust sounds decent, can't wait to get another yoshimura. Makes me feel more comfortable on the freeway when lane splitting.

 

[Arvy]

Thanks for all the replies, really appreciate it.

 

[merbo]

Congrats on your new bike, enjoy! About the break in period what I plan to do is to mix it up like city and highway riding low and high RPMs. I'll wait for your video. Ride safe!

 

[Arvy]

Video of walk around: https://youtu.be/XAjsYtG7T14

Never posted a video before, so happy to do another if I missed anything.

 

[Phaze]

Thanks for sharing man! Congrats on the bike, love the colour. Would love to hear how the Yoshimura exhaust will sound on this bike, be sure to let us know when you make the swap. You have any plans to change the seat? Or you just attributing the discomfort to it not being worn in yet?

 

[Arvy]

I'm thinking it's coz it's still new. The 300 I had was used (had ~4k miles when I got it) and it was really comfortable. So I'd be surprised if they made the 400s this bad. Hoping it'll be ok after a couple hundred miles... Fingers crossed!

 

[seca]

Thanks!

Thanks for taking time to show us
your new 400. Welcome to the forum!

 

[rde09]

Welcome Arvy and glad to have you on board, very nice KRT!

 

[freezuch]

It'd be awesome, if you can record some riding on the street. We can see that overheating issue live as well.
We'll make a moto-v-logger out of you in no time.

 

[cheguevara]

Hi all!

Just picked up a 400 this afternoon from SF Moto, San Francisco CA.

WHAT! Omg, I was there just a week and a half ago and the salesman said they didn't have any yet! Did you go through Frank? I'll have to go on my lunch break tomorrow to see if they still have some (I work in the Twitter building so it's only a few blocks down on 8th). I'll ask them if they do Costco Program...

Do you live in SF, Arvy? We should go on a ride sometime when I get my 400. :grin:

 

[ozzymoto]

WHAT! Omg, I was there just a week and a half ago and the salesman said they didn't have any yet! Did you go through Frank? I'll have to go on my lunch break tomorrow to see if they still have some (I work in the Twitter building so it's only a few blocks down on 8th). I'll ask them if they do Costco Program...

Do you live in SF, Arvy? We should go on a ride sometime when I get my 400. :grin:

SF Moto is doing demo rides on the weekend so definitely sign up. BTW, what are the details on the Costco program?

I'm in SF, definitely up for a ride with you and Arvy when I get my 400 (or before then, too). Cheers!

 

[cheguevara]

@ozzymoto: The Costco Program varies widely but it's usually $400-800 off the price of the bike, plus a $250 Costco gift card (that you can use on that super-inexpensive Costco gasoline). It also sometimes gives you 15-20% off accessories but idk what it would do for the Ninja 400 at this point since there seem to be few parts for mods for it yet.

Here's a thread from the Ninja 300 forums that may give you an idea: Does Costco program include ABS model?

@Arvy, great video! Glad to see SF Moto has the green KRT model. Hoping they'll have more available in stock. Didn't have a chance to go today on my lunch break and may not have a chance tomorrow either, but definitely going in the next few days. Also looking at Fremont Kawasaki and PCP Motorsports in Sacramento.

 

[Arvy]

It'd be awesome, if you can record some riding on the street. We can see that overheating issue live as well.
We'll make a moto-v-logger out of you in no time.

I have a gopro and sena SMH10R and the last time i checked it wouldn't be possible to pair the two and have voice recording. I do use my gopro on my commute, but I'm pretty sure you don't want to see me sifting through traffic...!

It's going in for it's first oil change tmrw, I'll try to take it somewhere nice along the coast and get a video in the afternoon

 

[Arvy]

WHAT! Omg, I was there just a week and a half ago and the salesman said they didn't have any yet! Did you go through Frank? I'll have to go on my lunch break tomorrow to see if they still have some (I work in the Twitter building so it's only a few blocks down on 8th). I'll ask them if they do Costco Program...

Do you live in SF, Arvy? We should go on a ride sometime when I get my 400. :grin:

Hey! I live in San Mateo, and was looking around for the N400 and SF Moto happened to have one! Some dealers told me they won't release them until April, but I really wanted one so kept searching.

They have a bunch of different colours still in stock, at least when I picked mine up. I think they only had one KRT but they said they'd be able to order one if a customer really wanted it.

Would love to go on a ride! I recently got a puppy too though, so time is a bit of an issue - but would be able to take an 1 or 2 out to go riding!!