400cc bikes. Pros and Cons?

[Coyote]

I have emptied an RG in about 85 Km....... at full noise they drink like father Ted!

Wasn't Father Jack the drinker?

I still average about 100km from 10 bucks of gas (about 7.5 litres)

[clint640]

I did quite a few k's on my old VFR, NC21, I found it fairly comfortable for touring, & it'd do 'you're walking sonny!' speeds up any hill on the island loaded up with luggage. I took it clubmans racing & had great fun, commuted on it, she was a good versatile bike.

Good comments above about the complexity/maintenance issues though, the exhaust valves burnt out on mine, luckily I scored a 2nd hand motor for $160 & she kept on trucking better than ever. Another thing to watch on the VFR's is the front discs, they are prone to wearing out & are expensive to replace.

Cheers
Clint

[James Deuce]

I'm a huge fan of 400cc bikes, there is little more satisfying than getting it right on a 400. Matching revs, slick changes, agility that is little short of miraculous after riding a 750cc or bigger bike and enough power to cope with pretty much anything thrown at you.

Depending on your riding style there are some out there that are perfectly adequate two up or touring.

I haven't found parts to be a problem for the Katana, but that's largely because Suzuki have lots of part commonality across the range, being a relatively small company compared to Kawasaki and Honda. Pick the model you buy and you'll be able to get parts easily.

[vifferman]

Was in Colemans today and they had a couple of 400cc bikes. One Honda and one Suzuki. .. I was wondering if they'd be a good move up from a 250.

It's all up (or down?) to what does it for you. Any bike bigger'n a 250 is going to be less effort to ride in headwind conditions, up hills, etc. Economy has more to do with how you ride it than engine size, as most bikes are pretty economical.
Bear in mind that as Paul said your current ride is very simple mechanically: air-cooled, single cylinder, single carb, etc etc. Almost anything you replace it with (apart from a other single-cylinder bike) is going to be dearer for servicing, parts, etc. BUT, on the other hand, without slighting your GN, almost anything bigger is going to be a 'nicer' bike in terms of acceleration, handling, brakes, etc. while also being heavier. This shouldn't matter when riding, but you'll take a wee while to get used to handling it at slow speeds and when stopped.

I went from a relatively lightweight 2-smoke 250 traillie to a 500 (albeit with a bit of a gap) no problems at all. Once you're proficient, you can ride just about anything.

[Morcs]

400cc's are the most fun. by a long way.

Ive owned 2 (nc30, nc35) and would not want anything else from a bike - apart from a physically bigger bike for pillioning...

[kiwifruit]

400s are heaps of fun, my cbr400rr was really light, well balanced and (at the time) well powerful enough.
One morning i managed Rotorua to Taupo in 28 minutes (i was young and stupid, yes)

[ZeroIndex]

Wasn't Father Jack the drinker?

I still average about 100km from 10 bucks of gas (about 7.5 litres)

Same, and then you've got another $6 of R2 or TTS 2t oil which brings it up to $16 per 100kms... not a cheap bike to run, hence the move to the FZR400 which is on average the same $10 for 100kms without the added cost of 2t oil...

[FROSTY:Me]

400s are great fun my only issue with them for a Newer rider is they are l starting to get old -Ie potentially have higher maintainence costs.
Im repreating others opinions here but I do strongly reccomend the following bikes.
GS500 suzuki--Twin cylinder light bulletproof
ER5/Gpz500 Kawasaki--same reason but giving you the choice of faired or not.
SV400--Colemans have one --still a twin but a V
Don't let the CC's fool you --A GS500 is a heap easier to ride and feels lighter than the GSXR400

[Oakie]

400s are cool and are a good allrounder:
> Big enough to do the highway with no problems. (I did a West Coast trip with Mrs Oakie as pillion and luggage on the pack rack, comfortably.)
> Pillioning doesn't upset them too much
> Small enough to be a commuter (Mine does my 38km daily commute superbly)
> Fuel economy is good in either role. (Should get 18 to 22kml depending on model)
> Get more wear out of tyres than larger bikes. (got 16000ks out of my first set of tyres)
> Insurance is cheaper than larger bikes
> They do have that little bit more power of course.

[Lucy]

Thanks all, thats great. Lots to mull over and look at. Still on my learners so got a while to go but it's great to know the option is there. I have only sat on a couple of bigger bikes so far, and the only one that felt comfortable was a BMW 650Cs, so its good to know that there are cheaper options that don't involve staying with a 250.

[slowpoke]

Sorry, apart from looking good (RVF400 etc), I reckon these things are waaaay overrated.

A VFR400 weighs 170kg's going by stats off the 'net and it's not the heaviest of the bunch either. Tie that to the puny 26ftlb's of torque at 10000rpm and you are going to be working hard (comparatively speaking) ALL the time.

I'm sure coming from a 250 or ridden in isolation it will seem reasonably quick but the performance doesn't justify the complexity when there are other options available. They cost the same to service/crash as bigger bikes and are all getting long in the tooth meaning attention has to be paid to shocks, forks, steering/suspension bearings etc etc.

I reckon Frosty has got the right idea if it is intended as an allrounder:
GS500 suzuki--Twin cylinder light bulletproof
ER5/Gpz500 Kawasaki--same reason but giving you the choice of faired or not.
SV400--Colemans have one --still a twin but a V
Don't let the CC's fool you --A GS500 is a heap easier to ride and feels lighter than the GSXR400

It's horses for courses but I reckon their are better options available than an import 400.

[James Deuce]

Don't let slowpoke fool you into thinking a 400cc V-Twin will have more torque than IL4. Torque is a function of capacity, not engine layout. An SV400 or Monster 400 will have the same torque as an IL4 400 or parallel twin 400 (GPz400) but both the V-Twin and parallel twin will have less HP.

[slowpoke]

Don't let slowpoke fool you into thinking a 400cc V-Twin will have more torque than IL4. Torque is a function of capacity, not engine layout. An SV400 or Monster 400 will have the same torque as an IL4 400 or parallel twin 400 (GPz400) but both the V-Twin and parallel twin will have less HP.

I'm not tryin' to fool anyone, just agreeing with Frosty's recommendations.
Yep, I pretty much agree with you Jim...but the twins make their torque a lot lower in the rev range (8000rpm for SV400) vs the 4 cylinder (10000rpm for VFR400) and are much cheaper to maintain.
I shudder to think what a top-end service (including shims)would cost on a CBR, ZXR, GSXR, RVF 400 in percentage terms compared to the value of the 15year old bike.

[James Deuce]

I've found parts for the Katana to agreeably inexpensive, even OEM parts.

As far as servicing goes, I'm doing it myself, and I don't see what the list value of a motorcycle has to do with maintaining it correctly? Consumables and asset value are separate ledgers. In my book anyway.

[Morcs]

I'm not tryin' to fool anyone, just agreeing with Frosty's recommendations.
Yep, I pretty much agree with you Jim...but the twins make their torque a lot lower in the rev range (8000rpm for SV400) vs the 4 cylinder (10000rpm for VFR400) and are much cheaper to maintain.
I shudder to think what a top-end service (including shims)would cost on a CBR, ZXR, GSXR, RVF 400 in percentage terms compared to the value of the 15year old bike.

To Have the shims redone on an nc30 is about $800...