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Wild Wonderful West Virginia


Tpoppa
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I covered about 1400 miles total.  Saturday was about 480 miles of relentless curves.  That might be the best day I've had on 2 wheels.  

WV has so many amazing motorcycle roads.  Many are in areas with little population which means traffic is light and LEOs are basically non-existent.  There's a great mix of tight/technical & fast/flowing.  

btw, I'm loving the Ninja 400.  It doesn't have quite the pure sportbike capability of my old 1125R or CBR600RR...but it's not as far off as you might think.  Riding it is all about momentum.  Luckily I can chuck it into corners at speeds I couldn't on the VFR1200.  It only has 44 rwhp, but the gearing is spot on & I can use 100% of what's there.  Passing cars was never a problem.  The only times I I felt limited by power was on corner exit in a few sections where the pace got particularly hot.  I had to get a little "creative" to keep that Hyperstrada from waking away on corner exit.          

Pound for pound it might be the most fun motorcycle I've owned 👍

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2 hours ago, Pauly said:

I am completely flummoxed by the capabilities of that Ninja. 

Almost the entire grid in the MotoAmerica Junior Cup is the Ninja 400 this year. Out of 20+ bikes, there are 2 Yamahas and 1 Honda, every other bike is a Kawi 400. They are only running a few seconds slower than the 650 class, which are pushing 100 horsepower. 

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9 minutes ago, what said:

Almost the entire grid in the MotoAmerica Junior Cup is the Ninja 400 this year. Out of 20+ bikes, there are 2 Yamahas and 1 Honda, every other bike is a Kawi 400. They are only running a few seconds slower than the 650 class, which are pushing 100 horsepower. 

Full of fuel it weighs 361.  I can get it down to 345 with just a slipon and lithium battery & removing passenger pegs and tool kit.

I could probably get it close to 335 if I was willing to throw more $$ and time at it...spoiler alert:  I'm not  😄

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19 hours ago, Tpoppa said:

Full of fuel it weighs 361.  I can get it down to 345 with just a slipon and lithium battery & removing passenger pegs and tool kit.

I could probably get it close to 335 if I was willing to throw more $$ and time at it...spoiler alert:  I'm not  😄

I been eying the z version for some time when I migrated from the thought that grom will be impractical for us neo guy. But was not sure about the power plant and package etc. when you are giving such stellar review I am really tempted to give this a try 😆

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4 minutes ago, NinjaDoc said:

I been eying the z version for some time when I migrated from the thought that grom will be impractical for us neo guy. But was not sure about the power plant and package etc. when you are giving such stellar review I am really tempted to give this a try 😆

The motor is plenty capable.  It needs to be revved, but is happy at high rpms.  The spring rates are softer on the Z400.  Not sure if the gearing is the same or not.  I looked at them both.

The reviews on the Ninja 400 seem to be a bit better so that's what I went with.   While the looks are sport bike, the riding position is definitely sport tourer.

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9 minutes ago, Pauly said:

With bikes like the CBR500 and Ninja400... the appeal of a GROM is lost on me. 

Exactly, ninja400 is where you can draw a line I guess on how low vs practicality. 650 is a slight step up grom is a step down 

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2 minutes ago, Tpoppa said:

The motor is plenty capable.  It needs to be revved, but is happy at high rpms.  The spring rates are softer on the Z400.  Not sure if the gearing is the same or not.  I looked at them both.

The reviews on the Ninja 400 seem to be a bit better so that's what I went with.   While the looks are sport bike, the riding position is definitely sport tourer.

I am so used to upright position now, even on the tracer I put risers on top :)  that’s the way I am trying to cheat on my left hand cornering issue. Instead of unlearning and learning the right way. When ever I turn hard left handers I end up pressing on top of the left handle bar instead of pushing it. (If that makes any sense) when I raise the handlebars high I stopped doing it and pushes it 😂

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