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/126417
, An attrIIetive bike. the KZ400 combines fun with economy. Better than 50 mpg is a good reason to ride to work. Ii Impression Kawasaki's KZ400: Comm By Dale Brown You've decided to do it. You're goi~g to leave your gas guzzling four-wheeled monster at home and take a motorcycle to work. The gas crisis did it. Sure, you finally got to read Tolstoy's War and Peace one morning while waiting in line for gasoline, but what other benefits did you get out of the mess? 22 If you're a racer, maybe you realized that motorcycles are suitable for non· competition activities such as getting over 50 miles to tbe 99.9-cent gallon of gas. Now that you've made the decision, let us pass along a bit of our experience. The foUts at Kawasaki graciously lent us it KZ400 for an evaluation. Conclusion? We liked it. The KZ400. simply stated, is a lightweight, fun motorcycle for going to work, going to school, or just having fun on your way to anything except pouibly, coast to coast. Going funher, it's a four'suoke, SOHC twin with sufficient pep or all save hard·core street racen. The KZ400 has good balance, excellent handling for iu intended purpose and a good control layout. Riding it feeb good, natural. A good place to stan this test might be to stan the motorcycle. As with all our recent test street bikes, it's very cold blooded. This is due mostly to EPA·mandated carburetor jetting that leans out the lower-rpm passages. When the bike is stone-cold, it will take several stabs at the electric staner before the machine finally stans to run. Let it run for a little while with the choke fully on, and the engine rpm will soar quickly from 1,000 to 3,000. Adjust the choke back to about halfway, let the engine warm up for a few more minutes and it's ready to go. When you go, you'll discover that the clutch has a nice light pull. Shifting is very easy. but occasionally a minor clunk originates from the engine, mOldy on updlifu. Underway, you'll discover that tbe KZ400 is a very comfortable. easy motorcycle to ride. Going to work becomes fun. We found ourselves constantly varying the route. searching for new and interesting comers. We didn't push the bike to the limiu Mondays at eN are bad -enough without having to repon for work with a bad case of road rash and a uashed test bike - but we rode it briskly and only scraped the cententand once, in a 90 degree left bander with a dip in the apex. Brakes worked very well within the confines of the test period - warm and sunny, dry roads. The rear brake will lock the wheel in a panic situation ( a double semi changing lanes two at a time on the freeway) but worlts very nicely with the front disc under normal applications. slowing the bike and rider down fast and smooth. The suspension didn't leave us with much of an impression, one way or the other. It's OK, but the rear shoclts don't do a real great job in soaking up . the abuse encountered in poorly maintained street and highways. A seat of the panu guess is that shoclts with well matched damping and springing tates ought to do the trick. The 398cc engine, fed by two Keihin CV32 carbs, produces enough power for the bike's intended purposes. though we don't see too many KZ400s in local club road racing. Our test bike was still in the break·in period, and the little sticker on the tach indicated that we should keep it under 6,000 rpm. We did well, we tried - and that engine speed was adequate for keeping u~ with the flow of freeway traffic in SIXth gear, even in SoCal. The engine stans making usable power at about 3,sao and will go to 9,500 rpm. Kawasaki's service manual claims a peak of 36 horsepower at 8,500 rpm. But if your route to work, rest, play or fate contains a lot of freeway or highway miles, we might suggest a little bigger mount. Shan jaunu on the freeway are no problem, but the little twin is buzzing and working and the rider feels it, through the seat. handlebars and pegs. Mirrors are a blur; useless above 40 mph. Gas mileage in our brief test exceeded 50 miles to the gallon. The bike carne with iu 3.7 gallon tank about half full. We quicltly put over 80 miles on it - including 22 on reserve late one Friday night. Three and a half gallons filled it up and that did it for the duration of the test, which lasted another week and a half.