kneescraper
7th April 2007, 19:14
Well I've done around 250kms on my 1994 Suzuki RF400 r, I thought I would share my impressions of the motorcycle.
At first glimpse of the blue RF400, you notice how large it looks. From its bulging tank to its oversized wide J-lo impersonating rear end. Mount the motorcycle and you soon realize its not as big as first thought. However the bars are in perfect position in conjunction with the seat high...foot pegs are near perfect....leaving the brake and gear lever in a less than desirable position, but I've come to live with that. Switch gear is in perfect position, easy to reach and use, dials are also very easy to read...idiot lights are mounted above the dials which seem to catch your eye more than the normal lights below dials setup.
Turn key one click to the right, hit the start button and she fires right up, choke only needs to be used for a second...then the engine settles at 1,500rpm and idles. The engine in my motorcycle sounds tight and strong, not rattles or misses. Once the engine has had a min or two for the oil to warm up I give it a few blips of the throttle....yep, this engines tight. revs settle back down to idle in no time. Out on the road the engine is smooth, clutch is light and gearbox is super super smooth. Very good power for a 400cc....of course the power being up in the rev range. However still good power down low for town riding.
Out in the twistys the bike comes to life, I never ever thought the bike would handle this well...however the ground clearance is not so good, the muffler seems to enjoy touching that hard black surface. With a few adjustments to the suspension this bike would be able to hang onto a CBR400rr no problems. Engines power is very useable in the twistys...no need to slam it down gears...this baby will pull from 5,000rpm to 13,000rpm no problems...even up hills. If ya wanna live life in the fast line, keep the Suzi up near 9,000rpm..this is when the vc kicks in which a strange but erotic crack. Brakes....well what more can I say than...AWESOME. Suspension is of low standards compared to, say a R6..but you don't pay the same price tag either. Chassis is good, real good..no problems there.
Stats...
The bike is very light, you notice this around town. Moving in and out of parks and dodging crazy cagers is no problem, very chuckeble. Petrol usage is high, mind you my bike is running rich...I was lucky to get 130kms out of a 17ltr tank. I will update the petrol side of things once the carbs have been looked at.
All and all the RF400 is a great bike, very underestimated. For its price its up there on the want list. After doing 200+kms the only pain I had was my right wrist, which had a slight numbness to it. Perfect bike for a newbie coming from a 250cc or a oldie coming back to riding. Don't be fooled by its humble looks or that fact its not as popular as a CBR or ZXR...these RFs rock.
:Punk: :Punk: :Punk: :Punk: :Punk: :Punk: :Punk: :Punk:
At first glimpse of the blue RF400, you notice how large it looks. From its bulging tank to its oversized wide J-lo impersonating rear end. Mount the motorcycle and you soon realize its not as big as first thought. However the bars are in perfect position in conjunction with the seat high...foot pegs are near perfect....leaving the brake and gear lever in a less than desirable position, but I've come to live with that. Switch gear is in perfect position, easy to reach and use, dials are also very easy to read...idiot lights are mounted above the dials which seem to catch your eye more than the normal lights below dials setup.
Turn key one click to the right, hit the start button and she fires right up, choke only needs to be used for a second...then the engine settles at 1,500rpm and idles. The engine in my motorcycle sounds tight and strong, not rattles or misses. Once the engine has had a min or two for the oil to warm up I give it a few blips of the throttle....yep, this engines tight. revs settle back down to idle in no time. Out on the road the engine is smooth, clutch is light and gearbox is super super smooth. Very good power for a 400cc....of course the power being up in the rev range. However still good power down low for town riding.
Out in the twistys the bike comes to life, I never ever thought the bike would handle this well...however the ground clearance is not so good, the muffler seems to enjoy touching that hard black surface. With a few adjustments to the suspension this bike would be able to hang onto a CBR400rr no problems. Engines power is very useable in the twistys...no need to slam it down gears...this baby will pull from 5,000rpm to 13,000rpm no problems...even up hills. If ya wanna live life in the fast line, keep the Suzi up near 9,000rpm..this is when the vc kicks in which a strange but erotic crack. Brakes....well what more can I say than...AWESOME. Suspension is of low standards compared to, say a R6..but you don't pay the same price tag either. Chassis is good, real good..no problems there.
Stats...
The bike is very light, you notice this around town. Moving in and out of parks and dodging crazy cagers is no problem, very chuckeble. Petrol usage is high, mind you my bike is running rich...I was lucky to get 130kms out of a 17ltr tank. I will update the petrol side of things once the carbs have been looked at.
All and all the RF400 is a great bike, very underestimated. For its price its up there on the want list. After doing 200+kms the only pain I had was my right wrist, which had a slight numbness to it. Perfect bike for a newbie coming from a 250cc or a oldie coming back to riding. Don't be fooled by its humble looks or that fact its not as popular as a CBR or ZXR...these RFs rock.
:Punk: :Punk: :Punk: :Punk: :Punk: :Punk: :Punk: :Punk: