400cc bikes. Pros and Cons?

**Lucy** · 6th July 2007, 02:17

Was in Colemans today and they had a couple of 400cc bikes. One Honda and one Suzuki. Road bikes. Anyone here got a 400? Alan said they are still economical gas wise, and I was wondering if they'd be a good move up from a 250. As a GN rider it should be obvious that I have a love of riding rather than speed, and as a tightarse I have a love of economy at the petrol station.

Have never seen a 400before. Didnt look much bigger than a Honda VTR 250 except for the gas tank.

**sAsLEX** · 6th July 2007, 02:22

CBR or VFR 400?

if you are after a cruiser rather than a sprot bike I would steer clear of the VFR as there can be a bit of weight on the wrists which is fine in the twisties or pushing it but if you ride sedately it can get on your nerves.

Other than that a 400 is an easy step up from a 250, more so seeing your on a weaker 250 than some.

**Lucy** · 6th July 2007, 02:26

Originally Posted by sAsLEX

CBR or VFR 400?

if you are after a cruiser rather than a sprot bike I would steer clear of the VFR as there can be a bit of weight on the wrists which is fine in the twisties or pushing it but if you ride sedately it can get on your nerves.

Other than that a 400 is an easy step up from a 250, more so seeing your on a weaker 250 than some.

I was in a bit of a hurry so didnt get to see/remember the models. Not really after a 'cruiser' but don't want a sports either, sort of after the uprightish touring/adventure thing, if that's a genre. I sat on the Suzuki one and it didnt seem too sporty, as far as leaning over forward with weight on wrists go.

**ZeroIndex** · 6th July 2007, 02:55

400's are a really good step up from a 250 anything...

The trick with 400's, most of them being very sporty is to pull all the fairings off, get a nice looking headlight, rip off the clip-ons, and then bolt on a nice set of MotoX bars, and you end up with a basic streetfighter... Very nice around town, not too bad on the open road (good if you haven't riden anything fully-faired)...
Here's a pretty decent example:

At the end of the day it comes to what you're looking for... Streetfighters are getting big internationally, but still quite a newish concept in NZ...

**sAsLEX** · 6th July 2007, 03:10

They can be very tall, in that I can only tippy toe on a ktm adventure and I am just over 6ft

**ZeroIndex** · 6th July 2007, 03:15

Originally Posted by sAsLEX

They can be very tall, in that I can only tippy toe on a ktm adventure and I am just over 6ft

Which post you referring to? That didn't make the slightest sense?

**sAsLEX** · 6th July 2007, 03:16

Originally Posted by Lucy

sort of after the uprightish touring/adventure thing, if that's a genre. .

This one.

**moT** · 6th July 2007, 03:18

you will learn lots rideing a 400 all the power on a 400 is useable so you can gas it with no issues handle great and are good on gas blah blah

**erik** · 6th July 2007, 07:58

There's a big step up in power from a 400 like my bandit to zx636r, much bigger than the step from a 250 to a 400.
My bandit's got enough power for me. With a 600 or bigger bike you might not have to change gears so much when going quick.

My bandit gets around 17km/l which is ok, but not brilliant. I think I've heard of cbr400's getting around 20 or 22km/l.
I believe some of the bigger bikes (600's) can get just as good or better milage, depending on how they're tuned and how hard you're riding them.

A gs500 might be worth a try, they're supposed to be really economical.

**Bass** · 6th July 2007, 08:29

Originally Posted by erik

My bandit gets around 17km/l which is ok, but not brilliant. I think I've heard of cbr400's getting around 20 or 22km/l.
I believe some of the bigger bikes (600's) can get just as good or better milage, depending on how they're tuned and how hard you're riding them.

I'm intrigued by your economy numbers.
I routinely expect 20 km/litre from my Sprint, 2 up with luggage.
I also got similar numbers from my RF 900.

I guess this means I'm just a Wuss. Bugger

**dnos** · 6th July 2007, 08:52

Nah your not a wuss. Even a little 250 like mine seems to use that much gas, I guess its because the right hand is so busy keeping the bike going.
From what a few people have said to me, some bigger bikes really do get better mileage than my 250, yours is a hell of a lot newer mind.

**Paul in NZ** · 6th July 2007, 08:57

The 400 class exists because in japan a sub 400cc bike (399cc) is cheaper to register / tax / insure etc etc but they fit in where the old 350 class was. In general you get a full (ish) sized bike with power enough, all of which can actually be used. Some of them are complete gems! (NC30 etc)

Because its a 'tax' class there are 400's in every strata of motorcycling from dirt bikes to cruisers and sports bikes, singles, twins, V's and in line 4's...

The down side of a 350 / 400 class has always been that they are every bit as complicated as a bigger bike but because of the more modest power output and the budget concious owners they attract they often get ridden hard and put away wet by people with a limited maintenance budget....

They are usually imports so your dealer may not have parts on stock!

Cheap to buy but not always cheap to own!

Lots of fun though...

**ZeroIndex** · 6th July 2007, 08:58

Originally Posted by erik

There's a big step up in power from a 400 like my bandit to zx636r, much bigger than the step from a 250 to a 400.
My bandit's got enough power for me. With a 600 or bigger bike you might not have to change gears so much when going quick.

My bandit gets around 17km/l which is ok, but not brilliant. I think I've heard of cbr400's getting around 20 or 22km/l.
I believe some of the bigger bikes (600's) can get just as good or better milage, depending on how they're tuned and how hard you're riding them.

A gs500 might be worth a try, they're supposed to be really economical.

I'll have to agree with the GS500... those are a mighty fine breed of bike (especially when they've got a set of wide bars on them)... good get-up-and-go... the wide bars make them a lot easier around town, and make the bike feel like it doesn't way a thing. Good economy on them too...very good economy.

**Coyote** · 6th July 2007, 09:06

My RG gets around 13km/L, so my VFR is brilliant when it comes to fuel economy at least in comparison to what I had to live with before (and currently as I'm still waiting for my VFR to be fixed)

I've been looking at my VFR with it's fairings off and thinking it looks bloody nice as a naked, showing off it's engine and exhaust system. Always wanted a streetfighter...