Kawasaki Ninja 400 Review: Gold Coast Street + Broadford Hire

Independent review. The Broadford unit was a Champions Ride Days hire. No brand sponsored this piece. How I review.

I have ridden the Kawasaki Ninja 400 twice, years apart. A couple of hours on a 2020 bike on the street around the Gold Coast back in 2021. Then a 2024 bike at Broadford late in 2025 - a Champions Ride Days hire, my first day at that circuit, by which point I had owned an R6 and put in track time at Mandalika.

Most of that Broadford day was wet. Then it dried out, I lifted the pace, and the stock brakes faded hard. Street hardware doing a circuit job.

If you are weighing up a used Ninja 400 in Australia, this is that review: how the twin actually feels on the street, what Broadford did to the brakes, how it stacks up against the R3, CBR300R and RC 390 I have also ridden, and who should walk straight past it. Let's dive into the review.

Key points

• Usable twin power: against the R3, CBR300R and RC 390 I have ridden, the 400's midrange is the standout.
• Friendly street posture: upright and beginner-friendly, not a supersport crouch.
• Track-day capable: plenty of confidence on a wet Broadford - but budget fluid and pads before you thrash a dry day.
• Aftermarket depth: nearly a decade of race knowledge and parts, with strong support here in Australia.

Why trust this review

My experience with the Ninja 400

• 2020 model, street, Gold Coast, 2021 - a few hours (not owned)
• 2024 model, Champions Ride Days hire, Broadford, late 2025
• Hire bike stock aside from Dunlop sports tyres; low kilometres (a couple of thousand if that)
• No ownership service history from me

How I judge a beginner sportbike

• Scored inside the LAMS / beginner sport class, not against an R1
• Street comfort and confidence first; track manners second
• Only bikes I have seat time on go in the compare table
• Specs, recall and gearbox notes come from manufacturers, the press or race shops - linked and labelled

Which Ninja 400 is this?

The 399 cc parallel twin, in its 2020 and 2024 forms - those are the two I rode. This is not a ZX-4R review.

Walk into a Kawasaki dealer in Australia today and the twin sitting in the Ninja sport line-up is the Ninja 500. So treat the 400 as the used-market twin most buyers will actually be shopping in 2026.

Is it comfortable on the street?

Yes. The first thing I noticed on the 2020 Gold Coast bike was how little it asked of me. You sit relatively upright, on the bike rather than folded into it, and it is closer to a compact sports-tourer than a full race crouch.

It is street-friendly and beginner-friendly without feeling like a toy. I only had a couple of hours on it and I still got off thinking I could ride the thing all day without hating life.

How is the engine in this class?

The engine is the reason you buy one. I have also spent seat time in this class on a Yamaha R3, on race-prepped and street-rubber R25s at Mandalika, on a Honda CBR300R (the bike I learned on - street only) and on my old RC 390. Against that lot, the Ninja 400 is the standout for mid-range punch.

It has proper torque for a sub-400 twin and it keeps pulling through the rev range instead of making you wait for the top end. That is exactly why people race 400s against R3s - more power and more mid punch when you are actually competing. For a beginner sports bike on the street, that usable midrange is the whole point.

How did it go on the track?

Broadford was my first day at that circuit, and it rained for most of it. Champions Ride Days handed me a 2024 Ninja 400 on Dunlop sports rubber that still looked almost new. On a saturated Victorian track, I was very glad to be on a 400 and not on something with more power.

Then the track started to dry, I lifted the pace, and the brakes overheated. The fade was obvious.

There was nothing wrong with that hire unit. It left the factory with rubber lines, ABS, stock pads and stock rotors, which is a street braking package being asked to do a track job. So if you are taking a road Ninja 400 to a track day, take it easy your first time out. If fade turns up, start with a higher-temperature fluid and more track-oriented pads. Braided lines can wait until you have the skill to ride without relying on the ABS to catch you.

Brakes aside, the 400 is hard to fault as a beginner track bike. It is friendly, neither unit I rode failed while I was on it, and there is a deep pile of aftermarket and race knowledge behind it for the money. Local AU support is strong too.

Is the gearbox a problem?

Not in my hands. I never had a false neutral or a dropped gear on either of the Ninja 400s I rode. The reputation is still worth knowing about, because race shops and owners do document shift issues under hard use. Norton Motorsports' public tech write-up is the cleanest single place for the mechanical story (shift star, detent spring, related parts), and it notes much of that same hardware story carries into the Ninja 500.

That reputation is one reason I still lean towards Yamaha's small twins when I want a bulletproof entry-level track tool. In my experience the R3, and the R25s I thrashed at Mandalika, are the bikes you can run hard with the least drama out of the box.

Plenty of Ninja 400 race teams just upgrade the shift hardware and get on with it, and it is not exotic money. But if your goal is to turn up, ride and improve with minimum drama, reliability is the whole game. I learned that the hard way on my R6 in Indonesia, where three separate situations - parts or a mechanical failure - wiped out track days I had already paid for. A broken bike teaches you nothing.

id=”how-it-compares”>How it compares

The split I use when someone asks me 400 or R3 is a simple one. Racing them, or just want the extra power and mid-range punch? Take the 400 - for that job it is often the better race tool. Not racing, and you want a reliable, bulletproof entry-level track bike? The R3 has the better DNA out of the box from the factory.

On the R25 specifically, since it is doing a fair bit of work in that table: two full days at Mandalika, one bike race-prepped on slicks, the other on street rubber. Both were bulletproof.

I low-sided one at Turn 10 at around 60-80 km/h. A broken peg and a bent bar, sorted in about an hour, and I was back out the same day.

To date that race-prepped R25 is still the best riding experience and the most fun I have had on a circuit, and it is where I learned the most, because I was not afraid to push it. On a 600, I still cannot ride it to its full potential. I do not have the skill yet to hold one wide open the way I could the little Yamaha.

Specs (manufacturer / press - not my dyno)

None of this came off a dyno of mine. Published class figures for the Ninja 400 generation, attributed to manufacturer and press: 399 cc liquid-cooled parallel twin, around 45 hp class peak, about 168 kg wet, a 785 mm seat, and a six-speed box with assist and slipper clutch. Confirm the year and whether it has ABS on any used bike you look at. The Ninja 400 overview is a useful generation map, but verify the exact year against a brochure or a dealer sheet.

In a 17 Aug 2026 bikesales EX400G snapshot (~19 listings), asking prices commonly sat from the mid-$6,000s into the high-$7,000s depending on year and kilometres. Asking is not sold.

What should a used buyer check?

Service history and crash damage, same as any LAMS sportbike. Then the recall: there was an Australian cam-chain tensioner recall affecting Ninja 400 and Z400 models around the beginning of 2021 - see coverage such as bikesales' recall report, then confirm the applicable work was actually done with a Kawasaki dealer through the Kawasaki AU recalls hub. And if you have track ambitions, budget for consumables before vanity parts.

Who it is for

Beginners and returning riders who want a bike that looks like a real sportsbike without folding them into a torture-chamber crouch. First track days. Riders who care about being able to get parts.

Skip it if you will not touch the brakes before a serious track program. Skip it if you want the most bulletproof stock entry track DNA and you are not chasing race pace - take the R3 / R25 path instead. And if your plan is track days in Australia, skip the CBR300R; riders here usually go R3, Ninja 400 or RC 390 for the aftermarket support and more bike for the money.

FAQ

Is the Ninja 400 still worth buying in Australia?

Yes, as a used bike, if the price is honest and the bike is clean. It is still one of the friendliest beginner sport packages I have ridden, and the aftermarket is deep. New shoppers will be steered towards the Ninja 500.

How much is a used Ninja 400 in Australia?

In a 17 Aug 2026 bikesales EX400G snapshot, asking prices commonly sat from the mid-$6,000s into the high-$7,000s depending on year and kilometres. Always check the current listings, and remember asking is not sold.

Is it good for track days?

As a beginner track bike, yes - just respect the stock brakes. If you want maximum mechanical simplicity for a season of track days and you are not racing, I lean R3 / R25 for bulletproof DNA. If you are racing and you want the mid-range punch, the 400 is often the bike people choose.

Should I worry about the gearbox?

I did not have issues on either of the two units I rode. Race shops still document false neutrals and problems with related shift hardware under hard use - start with the Norton Motorsports note linked above if you plan to thrash one. Plenty of race teams upgrade the shift star and detent spring before a season.

Was there a recall?

Yes - an Australian cam-chain tensioner recall covered certain Ninja 400 and Z400 models around 2021. Confirm with a Kawasaki dealer that any applicable work was completed.

The bottom line

So there you have it. For street riding and first track days I would put a beginner on a clean used Ninja 400 again in a heartbeat - upright, friendly, and the twin with the mid-range punch I actually enjoyed in this class.

Choose the 400 if you want that punch for racing. Choose an R3 or an R25 if you want bulletproof entry track DNA - my Mandalika R25 days are still the most fun and the most learning I have had on a circuit.

The caveats stand. Stock brakes fade when you push them, and the race community's gearbox story is real even though I never felt it myself.

If you own a 400 or track one here in Australia, what did you upgrade first? Let me know by leaving a comment below.

Related reviews

• 2017 KTM RC 390 Review
• Kawasaki ZX-25R Review