Y
ou guys in America missed out
because the 1990s were a golden
era for little sports bikes:
Honda's CBR250RR and CBR400,
Yamaha's FZR250 and 400, Suzuki's
GSX250 and GSX-R400, and of course,
the Kawasaki ZXR400.
In my home ground of Australia,
these things were ripping roads and ear
drums apart in the '90s, riders bounc
-
ing the little four-pots towards, in some
cases, near 20,000 rpm redlines. As a
sport bike-mad teen, all I wanted was
a Honda CBR250RR (junior riders were
limited to 250cc or less while they were
classified as learners). I got a Yamaha
SRV250 café racer, which wasn't love at
first sight but grew into love over time.
That was over 25 years ago, more
than half my lifetime, but I can still
remember those little screamers and
lament that they have all but disap
-
peared from the world's roads.
RIDE REVIEW I 2023 KAWASAKI NINJA ZX-4RR
P86
The junior four-
cylinder, the Kawasaki
Ninja ZX-4RR, is back
in the hands of the
company that made
it famous
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY RYAN NITZEN,
KEVIN WING
RAGE
AGAINST
THE
MACHINE