Kawasaki’s highlight product ZRX400 is about to make a glorious return to the motorcycle market, offering an irresistible combination of old-world charm and modern world technology.
The remodeled classic carries old friends like bold styling cases from its true ancestor, but pushes forward into new territory of modern motorcycle design.
This is great news for motorcycle fans everywhere as Kawasaki prepares to reissue the motorcycle that may well be its most popular–showing us that sometimes you really do need look back in order move forward.
The Perfect Combination of Classic and Innovation
With its traditional form and powerful backing, the renewed ZRX400’s robust stance instantly recalls the golden age of motorcycles.
Yet underneath this familiar exterior lies a thoroughly modern machine, its high technology and performance capabilities may well have seemed like something out of a science fiction movie when the ZRX400 was first on the road.
The engineers at Kawasaki walked a tightrope of adding today’s performance and safety features without losing the bike’s spirit. The result is one part timeless familiar and another part pioneering Adventure in motorcycling technology.
The ZRX400’s bright and conspicuous color schemes like the heritage green and harmonized metallic black will attract attention where ever it goes–either stopped in traffic or cruising along.
While the classic round headlight has been used as an excuse to introduce advanced LED technology, the light given off by Kawasaki’s 2018 ZRX400 is cleaner and brighter all around.
A redesigned tank and side covers give a more aggressive look to the stance, yet they still pay tribute to original styling. Here Kawasaki is showing its respect for tradition by reinterpreting the tradition that made it popular after decades in production.
The zeal of the new Kawasaki ZRX400 is evident in all its components, right down to the perfectly proportioned rear raised bench and the luggage rack that fits in with the bike entirely.
Engineered for Performance Excellence
Kawasaki’s ZRX400 claims a thoroughly modernized 399-cc mould from its heart, which provides an astonishing blend of control and strength.
The standard engine should deliver about 48 horsepower, enough to qualify it for the A2 licence category of many regions but still giving a punch which experienced riders will find most pleasurable.
Having enhanced the capacity of the powerplant, Kawasaki needs to ensure that it delivers its extra performance smoothly. Therefore, emphasis has been put on creating a broad torque curve which makes bike incredibly responsive at any engine speed-eliminating the peaky delivery many motorcycles exhibited in original ZRX ’90s era.
Modern standards of performance and economy are obtained with advance fuel injection in place of old-fashioned carburettors, which also bring more precise fueling control over all conditions and cleaner emissions.
The gearbox layout retains the lower ratios were designed for acceleration and fuel economy, while the sixth gear is employed as an overdrive both to make cornering more relaxed — riding long stretches of highway with no overtaking problems and better mileage.
Equally remarkable is that Kawasaki has managed to create an engine that still evokes the soulful characteristics of the original ZRX, perhaps more than anything else.
Yet for all these modern refinements, the new engine retains that distinctive in-line four-cylinder howl as it races up into its upper rev range: it still connects rider and bike in a way which few contemporary motorcycles can manage.
Modern technology systems audit engine function now. State-of-the-art cooling systems keep it working at correct temperature, but a fashionable styling conjures up visions somehow both ancient and modern.
Modern Technology for Today’s Rider
While Kawasaki has preserved some of the orthodox techniques in its newest motorcycle, it now offers its riders certain technological conveniences and security features as a matter of course.
It must be clear that riders can pick from a variety of riding modes, differing power delivery and electronic intervention and with it all depending on conditions – or desires. Riders can thus configure the bike for use as anything, from daily commuting right up to tearing around on the weekends.
The fully digital instrument display is attractively designed, looking much like traditional analog gauges when seen from a distance; however it provides comprehensive information including gear position indicator, fuel economy data, and reminders to maintain the bike.
For example, Bluetooth connectivity allows riders to pair their smartphones for navigation assistance and to control music using switches on the handlebars, meaning they keep their eyes squarely on the road ahead.
Led lighting throughout has the effect of improving overall efficiency, thanks to resolve this ongoing problem between modernity and tradition.
The braking system has been entirely modernised: new dual front discs embraced by radial-mount calipers produce lively stopping power comparable with the bike’s engine output.
ABS comes as standard, providing a further rung of safety without interfering with normal riding operation.
By raising the fuel tank a little, the range of a single tankful is now approximately 200 miles. For convenience-conscious riders keen on covering long distances while still wanting to avoid unnecessary fuel stops these can only be seen as good things indeed.
The redesigned seat offers improved comfort for both rider and passenger, and this corrects a fault often raised against its predecessor.
It is clear that Kawasaki has tried to make the ZRX400 not only an entertainment vehicle for the weekend but a practical everyday motorcycle that can handle commuting duties equally well and then give rider thrills from Thursday through Saturday!
When KawasIf it seems like the ZRX400 is a nostalgic copy from the past, you’d be wrong. Kawasaki has recreated this famous name for a new era now enriched by decades worth of technological progress.aki brought back the ZRX400, it wasn’t merely a retrograde stage in history; rather they re-imagined this iconic model with all of their and today’s most modern technology.
Resultantly, the result was a motorcycle which salvage its own legacy and also heralds the message that classic machines aren’t meant to gather dust–they need to make progress.
For riders of motorcycling history but want contemporary performance and durability as well, Kawasaki’s new ZRX400 is perhaps a synthesis between old and new that we have been waiting for in everything: product design, packaging or lifestyle theme!