True to the original impact on riders, the ZX4rr delivers more smiles per km ridden
BHPian VW2010 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Seasonal Update – 3rd Service done – ~5200kms on the odo now
Summary – This is a fun bike that screams every day to go for a ride. even if that means a short 5km office trip. The bike is excellent on the track and can genuinely keep up with bigger bikes in the right hands. Suspension is actually good enough to manage track days. Extremely satisfying every time you sit on this bike. I even enjoy the 2km ride to my tennis court. This is a perfect bike if you are not about crunching miles but about enjoying even the shortest rides.
It has been quite a while. This is my daily ride to work, and I use it for occasional weekend rides with Rahulkool. I also had an opportunity to ride in the MMRT circuit with its bigger brothers.
In this time, I have done a few trips with close friends. One with the GSA 850 and the other with the ZX6R. Some photo montage.
True to the original impact on riders, the ZX4rr delivers more smiles per km ridden. It is light, nimble, and has power at tap in the most sane manner, which makes it a solid daily rider. You hit the 16K RPM at least a few times every day and still don’t feel scared of its power due to the low torque value. The power curve is alive after 10K rpm, which is why you almost hit the red line in every gear, even when riding inside the city.
Between the last update and now, I have completed the next regular service, which includes an oil change, a filter change, and a regular cleanup. Shout out to the Kawasaki Padi service centre. Kawasaki service in Padi is doing a good job so far, and they do have good foundational service engineers. They know what they are doing, and they do it with care—no major difference to the second service.
I have taken the maximum available warranty due to an existing potential issue with the ZX-4RR worldwide. There is a probability of the engine going kaput, and there are enough samples to say it is not a one-off incident. ZX6R had a recall and fix, which has not happened with ZX4R/4RR yet.
I have no interest in changing the exhaust for a louder sound. The stock is silent enough to avoid attention but loud enough for the rider.
Things I want to do in the future
– Get a 13T Sprocket in the front and a 50T in the rear and enjoy more acceleration than top speed.
– Change the Android Auto to something with TPMS
– Tyre change in the future
– More track days and take once to Budhh next year. The whole logistics is a nightmare, and I need to find fellow riders from Chennai.
Kawasaki ZX-4RR:
As a daily rider
The ZX4RR is a perfect daily rider. It is not an aggressive sports bike but a forgiving one. It is easy to ride in traffic as it is not heavy and is very nimble to ride between traffic, filtering out any big vehicles. It is easy to get to the front of the traffic at every presentable opportunity. The fuel efficiency if ridden sanely is close to 22 in the city and 26 on the highway, but if you are like me, who is going to red line at every available chance, you are looking at 17-19kmpl. There are no heat issues even during Chennai’s summer. The clutch is very comfortable to use. Quality of components is top-notch. Brakes are one of the most effective ones, which can only improve with better pads and even upgraded master cylinders like Brembo.
As a tourer
Is it a tourer, like an adventure bike, or even a naked? It is not. I have had better riding posture and a painless back in a sport or super sport, so I didn’t find it difficult riding 350 km. I had only one long ride to Bangalore and back, and with a rear bag and a tank bag, it was not tiring or difficult. But I do also see people riding on roadless destinations and offroading end point to their resorts, which may be extremely painful in this bike. I do not see myself doing such long multi-day rides ever, so it works for me. To the question, can we tour on this? My take is, yes. The suspension is exceptional and have got the same feedback from fellow gsa owner Rahulkool.
As a track machine
It is an excellent track machine, probably built with that in mind. It is not as 100% track-focused as the ZX6R, but it has enough going its way to enjoy your time at the track. The ZX4RR is loaded to be used as is on track, and it will never be a limiting factor to someone who can learn more from the machine. Cheaper on tyres compared to big 600s and 1000s, and yet it will be fantastic to ride around a safe environment, pushing the bike to its limits. I enjoyed the 20-odd laps in MMRT on the same day I was riding the RC390. I am a novice and I enjoy these small off-day fun. I do not aim to break any records or think I am the fastest, but rather try to learn in small bits to do better every time I get a chance to ride in these tracks. So someone who is a professional and has been riding and breaking their own lap records will have lots of fun with this small pot in the track.
Overall, a bike that continues to deliver many smiles per mile and keeps me grinning every time I ride it. It is indeed a one-of-a-kind at this point, until Honda announces its new 400 inline for India sales.
From the last service few pictures:-
The third service was business as usual. I need to get some time to polish those bent pipes. It may take half a day, but I have to get this done.
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