Kawasaki introduces 2 new 400s at the Bangkok motor show.

[G Rex]

59 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Yeah many people that use to be bikers have left TV it doesn't seem to have many big bike luvers on here a only softy pussy bathtub scoot owners. ????????????????????????

I know what you mean - here are our scooters

Edited March 24, 2023 by G Rex

[JeffersLos]

7 minutes ago, London Lowf said:

When I bought my brand new grey import RVF400 in 1999 I paid GBP6,200. Next to it in the dealer's (Boxhill Motorcycles) I noticed a grey import Fireblade (900 in those days) in the iconic urban tiger colour scheme at GBP6,300 - I didn't hesitate  to buy the 400.

Killer story. 

 

Have you written a book? 

[Issanman]

Did someone mention Ducati 900?

Picture taken by me at Daytona in the 1980s.

[Kwasaki]

47 minutes ago, G Rex said:

I know what you mean - here are our scooters

That's the biker way keep em safe indoors. ????

[ktm jeff]

43 minutes ago, JeffersLos said:

Killer story. 

 

Have you written a book? 

A book . Good idea.  I remember when the "Grey imports" came out. There was even a monthly magazine dedicated to them. Bikes you couldnt get in England. The biggest shop seemed to be BAT motorcycles. A friend bought a NC 30 from DK motorcycles (Stoke ?) and asked me to ride it home to Solihull. Went rather well. The willingness to rev and the razor like handling sets these small race replicas apart from the more agricultural bikes.  The Tiger would have been an excellent choice too.

[dddave]

On 3/23/2023 at 7:15 PM, London Lowf said:

I was surprised to see the ZX-4R - that's a nice looking bike, apart from the can.

 

When I was younger i had a CBR400RR NC29 and then I treated myself to a brand new RVF400 NC35 and considered it to be the perfect bike for the sort of riding I did - the "A" roads of southern England and a few track days. However, that was back in the last century and I thought that the 400 race replica class had died, either through a change in licencing legislation in Japan or simply changing fashions.

 

I agree that 188kg seems extremely heavy - it doesn't look it! The RVF was 165kg (claimed).

 

 

 

 

Fond memories of my 78 CB400 "Hawk".  I had been riding a 60's 305 "Dream" and the "Hawk" was such a far superior bike in so many ways.  It was perfect for the twisty New England back roads: New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, not so great on hi-ways, really got buffeted around by cross winds.  Great bike that I'd love to have in Thailand.

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, dddave said:

Fond memories of my 78 CB400 "Hawk".  I had been riding a 60's 305 "Dream" and the "Hawk" was such a far superior bike in so many ways.  It was perfect for the twisty New England back roads: New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, not so great on hi-ways, really got buffeted around by cross winds.  Great bike that I'd love to have in Thailand.

CB400 are available in Thailand, it was my first bike in 2005.

Still quite a few about with green books.

[Issanman]

More information on the ZX-4R features and differences between the two different priced versions of it.

 

[fondue zoo]

I've always wanted to ride a bike through the countryside, YouTube vids of people doing that here look like a blast... but I grew up with horses not bikes.

I would die.

[London Lowf]

16 hours ago, ktm jeff said:

I remember when the "Grey imports" came out. There was even a monthly magazine dedicated to them.

Yes - simply called "Grey Bike" - see the sticker on my visor below. A brilliant genuine enthusiast's magazine. I had a box full, but may have got rid of them at my last house move.

 

There was also an NC30 Club - I remember that they loaned me a set of race bodywork for my RVF when I did a track day at Brands Hatch. I later sorted out my own set, but not before I also did a day at Donington in the OEM set.

 

 

 

Edited March 25, 2023 by London Lowf

[London Lowf]

14 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

CB400 are available in Thailand, it was my first bike in 2005.

Still quite a few about with green books.

The "big bike" rental shop just around the corner from me has at least one, but not sure if it's running at the moment. He also has an engine/box in the corner of his shop.

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, London Lowf said:

The "big bike" rental shop just around the corner from me has at least one, but not sure if it's running at the moment. He also has an engine/box in the corner of his shop.

Don't know if certain parts are hard to get for the CB400, for my Blade I had to get hold secondhand parts to get her to fire up. 

 

So no thanks to Honda for making it a classic and stop making parts. 

[kickstart]

On 3/23/2023 at 4:40 PM, Kwasaki said:

Don't you mean the 750 so good for fun intermediate acceleration but still only a 120mph top speed same as the CB750 a much better engine and bike. 

A legend of a bike, if you liked 22-25 MPG and a frame that that would not go round corners, those nylon tyres in the wet.......

Ignore the above still a god bike.

[JonnyF]

The ZX4R SE looks great. I'll take a look at the motor show this week. I think it's a good size for Thailand. Now that I've stopped doing track days I find my Panigale a bit too much for anything less than a 2 hour blat down to the cost. This could do the city stuff as well as the longer trips.

 

The ergonomics look somewhere between the supersports and the Ninja 400 twin. Which would also suit me. 

 

You'd be able to wring it's neck without doing warp speeds. Loads of fun. 

[Kwasaki]

On 3/25/2023 at 8:39 PM, kickstart said:

A legend of a bike, if you liked 22-25 MPG and a frame that that would not go round corners, those nylon tyres in the wet.......

Ignore the above still a god bike.

Maybe understand sort of bikers liking 2 stokes, the 500 in MotoGP is a legend but 4's took over. 

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, JonnyF said:

The ZX4R SE looks great. I'll take a look at the motor show this week. I think it's a good size for Thailand. Now that I've stopped doing track days I find my Panigale a bit too much for anything less than a 2 hour blat down to the cost. This could do the city stuff as well as the longer trips.

 

The ergonomics look somewhere between the supersports and the Ninja 400 twin. Which would also suit me. 

 

You'd be able to wring it's neck without doing warp speeds. Loads of fun. 

That reminds me of this: 20,000 RPM in a school zone and more.

 

[OneMoreFarang]

14 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Maybe understand sort of bikers liking 2 stokes

When I was young, we all wanted this one:

 

[JonnyF]

5 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

That reminds me of this: 20,000 RPM in a school zone and more.

 

Yeah I was also looking at the ZX25R before the ZX4R but I think the 4R is a better balance between having a little screamer and also having some decent power.

 

Ryan F9's videos are awesome, as are those old 250 screamers.

 

Too late to edit my previous post but I actually meant "2 hour blat down to the coast" as opposed to "2 hour blat down to the cost".

[Kwasaki]

22 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

When I was young, we all wanted this one:

 

Yeah remember them rode them, very popular so was the 250, I remember the UK govt reducing the the max bike leaner 250cc down 125cc many reckoned it was because of 250cc 2 stokes.

 

Later the govt maxed HP restrictions but many like my son being restricted to 125cc went 2 stokes and made them reach the ton. ????

[kickstart]

On 3/29/2023 at 10:20 AM, Kwasaki said:

Yeah remember them rode them, very popular so was the 250, I remember the UK govt reducing the the max bike leaner 250cc down 125cc many reckoned it was because of 250cc 2 stokes.

 

Later the govt maxed HP restrictions but many like my son being restricted to 125cc went 2 stokes and made them reach the ton. ????

Yaah the government decided that the Japanese 250cc were getting too quick for inexperienced learner riders. 

Hence bring it down to 125cc for learners and a max of 12bhp on the engine, the manufactures did that by putting restriction on the intake of the engine.

 

[Kinnock]

Kawasaki Thailand said they would be unveiling three new bikes at the Motorshow ...... a sportsbike, a cruiser and an adventure bike.  I had a faint hope the adv bike would be a Versys X400 - which I think would be the perfect bike for Thailand.

 

But while the Ninja 400R and Eliminator were new and look great, the 'new' adv bike turned out to be a Versys 650 with new dash and stickers ????

 

But looking on the bright side, my X300 is still a current model.

 

I also heard a rumour of a Z400 RS 4 cylinder retro ..... now that would be a wonderful machine!

Edited March 30, 2023 by Kinnock

[Kwasaki]

11 minutes ago, kickstart said:

Yaah the government decided that the Japanese 250cc were getting too quick for inexperienced learner riders. 

Hence bring it down to 125cc for learners and a max of 12bhp on the engine, the manufactures did that by putting restriction on the intake of the engine.

 

Yeah my son hated going through the levels of age as such, it didn't stop him riding more powerful bikes off road so that was good. 

 

Problem the pussy UK stuffy suit wearing Govt's politicians don't understand young people and motorbikes.

[kickstart]

On 3/29/2023 at 9:35 AM, Kwasaki said:

Maybe understand sort of bikers liking 2 stokes, the 500 in MotoGP is a legend but 4's took over. 

Come across this from the time Mick Grants H1-RW 500cc triple won at the Isle of Man Senior TT in 1975

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, kickstart said:

Come across this from the time Mick Grants H1-RW 500cc triple won at the Isle of Man Senior TT in 1975

IOM has great history been there twice and any biker would just luv being in IOM. 

[Issanman]

Kawasaki is offering test rides of these 2 new 400s on Saturday.

 

[eisfeld]

I'll never understand why Thai motorcycle dealerships are so alergic to test rides. It's marketing that costs nearly nothing. They can even charge a small fee if needed. The concept works well in other parts of the world and the costs here are lower. I've been interested in a few bikes in the past but because I couldn't test ride I didn't buy them. I'll never buy a bike blindly. Lucky for them I am regularily in Europe where it's super easy to do test rides for nearly every model that exists there.

 

I'd love to test ride one of those Kawas but I'm not in BKK.

[Kwasaki]

7 minutes ago, eisfeld said:

I'll never understand why Thai motorcycle dealerships are so alergic to test rides. It's marketing that costs nearly nothing. They can even charge a small fee if needed. The concept works well in other parts of the world and the costs here are lower. I've been interested in a few bikes in the past but because I couldn't test ride I didn't buy them. I'll never buy a bike blindly. Lucky for them I am regularily in Europe where it's super easy to do test rides for nearly every model that exists there.

 

I'd love to test ride one of those Kawas but I'm not in BKK.

I wouldn't let you test ride my bike. 

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, eisfeld said:

I'll never understand why Thai motorcycle dealerships are so alergic to test rides. It's marketing that costs nearly nothing. They can even charge a small fee if needed. The concept works well in other parts of the world and the costs here are lower. I've been interested in a few bikes in the past but because I couldn't test ride I didn't buy them. I'll never buy a bike blindly. Lucky for them I am regularily in Europe where it's super easy to do test rides for nearly every model that exists there.

 

I'd love to test ride one of those Kawas but I'm not in BKK.

What happens if a rider takes the bike and never returns?

As far as I know this is not theft in the usual sense, because the dealer gave the rider the keys.

In the more civilized world there will be more consequences.

 

What happens here is someone takes the bike and never returns? The dealer has a copy of the ID card. And then? Will the dealer ever see any money?

I understand why they are reluctant to let people ride any bikes.

[eisfeld]

3 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

I wouldn't let you test ride my bike. 

I don't think you are trying to sell it to me unless I missed something ????

[eisfeld]

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

What happens if a rider takes the bike and never returns?

As far as I know this is not theft in the usual sense, because the dealer gave the rider the keys.

In the more civilized world there will be more consequences.

 

What happens here is someone takes the bike and never returns? The dealer has a copy of the ID card. And then? Will the dealer ever see any money?

I understand why they are reluctant to let people ride any bikes.

Of course it is theft. You normally give them your ID or license to copy, sign some papers for insurance and it usually stipulates that you have the bike for an hour or so. The dealer just claims theft with insurance and insurance goes via police after the thief. It's equivalent to a very sort term rental.