and free, and you can feel it at
the twist grip. This light feel is
matched to a supremely easy
lever pull at the clutch. Kawasaki
uses a Slip and Assist unit, so
the rider experiences a near
effortless clutch lever pull when
clicking up and down through
the gears.
The softer suspension set-
VOL. 56 ISSUE 11 MARCH 19, 2019 P93
flexible and gives a solid rush of
top-end power for something so
small. It also sounds better, so you
want to give it the berries all the
time as the power above 8000
rpm certainly makes it worth it.
Throttle response on the Z is ex-
cellent. There's not much internal
mass rotating between your knees
in the little 400—everything is light
S P E C I F I C A T I O N S
2019 KAWASAKI Z400 ABS ($4799)
ENGINE: ............. Liquid-cooled, DOHC,
8-valve, parallel twin
DISPLACEMENT: ...........................399cc
BORE X STROKE: ...........70.0 x 51.8mm
COMPRESSION RATIO: ....................11.5:1
CLUTCH: .Wet multi-plate, slipper type
TRANSMISSION: ........................ 6-speed
CHASSIS: ............................. Steel trellis
FRONT SUSPENSION: .................... 41mm
conventional fork
REAR SUSPENSION: ............ Monoshock
with preload adjustment
FRONT BRAKE: ................. 310mm disc,
2-piston caliper, ABS optional
REAR BRAKE: .... 220mm disc, 1-piston
caliper, ABS optional
FRONT TIRE: ...................... 110/70-17 in.
REAR TIRE: ........................150/70-17 in.
WHEELBASE: ..............................53.9 in.
SEAT HEIGHT: ............................ 30.9 in.
FUEL CAPACITY: ......................... 3.7 gal.
WEIGHT (CLAIMED):................... 363 lbs
COLOR:..................Candy Lime Green/
Metallic Spark Black
tings compared to a Ninja are
a welcome addition over some
of the crappy road surfaces we
experienced in SoCal for our
day's test. The front suspension
action is particularly smooth (it
better be considering it's un-
adjustable), and you can adjust
rear preload, so getting a base
setup dialed should be pretty
