Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1039781
JEREMY TOYE NINJA400R.COM KAWASAKI NINJA 400 RACER TEST P112 LET'S RACE! I f you've ever read one of my tests or seen a video on You- Tube, you'll know how much I love riding little bikes. Unlike a superbike that feels at times like you're going into a heavyweight title fight, a junior-cup-level mo- torcycle can feel like your friend, always making you push a little harder without quite the conse- quences if it goes bad thanks to the reduced speeds, braking and acceleration forces. Toye's racer feels exactly like a proper little bike should: stiff, responsive and very, very light. The man claims a 310-pound wet weight for the expert club- spec machine and with 56 horsepower on tap, it makes for a potent weapon. I hadn't raced on the tarmac since this year's Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on my KTM 1290 Super Duke R—a bike very, very different from this—so it took a bit of time to blow the cobwebs off at one of my favor- ite of all tracks, Sonoma. Luckily, I had an advantage as Toye had spent Friday setting the 400 up for me, and as he's far better at that than me, I knew the bike was going to be spot on. The weekend started great. Pole position on Saturday in Formula III with a 1:50.206 was a good way to get going, although I had to start from the back of the fourth row for the Lightweight Twins and even further back for the beginning of the 450 Superbike race as I didn't have any points in the 2018 series. I managed to take the win in Lightweight Twins against Marc Edwards, going third overall against the 700 Superstock and Formula Singles (basically Mo- toAmerica Twins Cup bikes), and took another win later in the day, this time in the Formula III event. But, the most fun race of the day wasn't actually one in which I got the win. The 450 Superbike race was hectic, and as I had the slowest bike against 600 Supersport bikes that had one cylinder killed (thus making them essentially a 450 triple), it was a bit like fighting with one arm tied behind my back. And because I was starting so far back, I had plenty of guys to pass. What. Awesome. Fun. There's hardly a better feeling than railing around the outside of bikes much larger and faster on a little 400. I passed every- one except one, coming up just short on the drag to the line. No matter, I was laughing my ass off the whole race. Toye's toy whizzed me around Sonoma to a best lap of 1:49.407, which would have put me right in the mix in the MotoAmerica Junior Cup had I been a 16-year-old racing against Yates and Co. (not- withstanding the higher rpm's and less weight my bike had). I hadn't had that much fun racing in years—it was the exact oppo- site of the stress-induced Pikes Peak race this year. Toye's Ninja400r.com racer the kind of bike everyone should have a go on. Even 2018 Mo- toAmerica Stock 1000 Champi- on Andrew Lee popped his head in and said he was desperate to have a go. The combination of a good base bike with light weight, enough horsepower, excellent tires in the Pirelli Supercorsas and in good company made for an awesome weekend at the track. And taking home a few bucks prize money and a couple of trophies made it even better. CN Toye's bike was so well set up and such a joy to race.