Kawasaki Ninja ZX-4RR 400 40ème Anniversaire 2024 — Specifications

Four cylinders, 399 cc, and a tachometer that only comes alive beyond 10,000 rpm. That's the program for this 2024 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-4RR, dressed in a special livery to celebrate forty years of the Ninja lineage. An anniversary that Kawasaki chose to mark with green, white, and blue stripes on the fairing, a commemorative badge on the tank, green-painted wheels, and a silver frame. The nod to the glory years is obvious, and it works. The ZX-4RR shares this limited edition with its bigger sisters, the ZX-6R and ZX-10R, but it may be the one that carries this heritage best. Because before it, there was the ZXR 400, a Japanese sportbike from the early 90s that wore exactly the same colors. Thirty years separate the two machines, but the costume remains the same.

What has changed, however, is everything else. The ZX-4RR's inline four-cylinder produces 77 hp at 14,500 rpm and 39.2 Nm of torque at 13,000 rpm — 20% more power than its ancestor, with an even more stratospheric rev ceiling. Fuel injection has replaced carburetors. The onboard electronics are in a different league entirely: color TFT display, four riding modes, traction control, ABS, up & down quickshifter, USB port, and Bluetooth connectivity. The ZXR 400 made do with an ignition box and an analog gauge cluster. The old bike retains one advantage: about fifteen kilos less on the scales. The new one, at 189 kg wet, compensates with fuel consumption and emissions of an entirely different caliber.

On the road, this ZX-4RR demands revs to give its best. Below 8,000 rpm, the engine is polite but subdued. Beyond that, the four-cylinder wakes up, the voice climbs into the high notes, and the thrust becomes decisive all the way to the redline. That's the whole charm of this displacement: you can wring every gear of the six-speed gearbox without risking a license suspension at every intersection. The tubular steel trellis frame, 37 mm telescopic fork, and rear mono-shock provide a chassis that's well-matched to the bike's size. The braking, with twin 290 mm front discs and radial-mount four-piston calipers, lives up to the performance. The 800 mm seat height and 15-liter tank make it possible to consider more than just trips around the block.

Against the competition, the ZX-4RR occupies a singular niche. Yamaha has its twin-cylinder R3 — more accessible but less exciting. Honda offers the CBR500R — more torquey but without the soundtrack of an inline-four. Nobody else puts a four-cylinder engine in a 400-class frame on the European market. This unique positioning comes at a price: €9,799, significantly more than a standard A2-class sportbike. The 12.3:1 compression ratio and short-stroke 57 x 39.1 mm bore and stroke betray an engine built to spin fast and high. This bike is aimed at mechanical enthusiasts, at those nostalgic for the hopped-up small-displacement Japanese sportbikes, and at A2 license holders who refuse to settle for a tame twin.

The 40th anniversary edition points directly back to the 1984 GPZ 900R, the very first Ninja. A machine that redefined the standards of the all-round sportbike — the first motorcycle to break the 2 kg-per-horsepower barrier. Forty years later, the philosophy has evolved but the DNA persists: do a lot with limited displacement, and above all, deliver pleasure with every climb through the rev range. The ZX-4RR 40th Anniversary is not the most powerful, nor the lightest, nor the cheapest. But it remains the only one offering this combination of engine character, sporting heritage, and thrills within license reach.