You guys all know that my track/race bike is a Kramer 690, but the bike that really got me into track riding was a wonderful Ninja 400 that I remember fondly. I sold it last year but the bike is back at Iconic as the owner has to unfortunately but his track aspirations are on hold due to injury and now the bike needs someone else who will give it a good home. Will that be you?!
I sold the Ninja because the Kramer was such a huge step up – I was going to auction it off on Iconic with no reserve but a client randomly reached out asking for advice on his next track bike: he was deciding between the Ninja 400 and the ZX-4RR. He knew about my N400 from my RevZilla Highside/Lowside podcast episode and he knew that I had ridden a hopped up ZX-4RR from a different video, so he asked me for some recommendations and…he ended up buying mine.
Goodbye, Ninja. You were a good one!
It went out to the east coast for a year but now it’s back. I never really got into all the details on Bike-urious, but here’s my history with the bike:
“The original owner of this bike purchased it new from Fun Bike Center in San Diego, California in October 2019 and then immediately took it to Jeremy Toye of Ninja400.com/Norton Motorsports to be built as a dedicated track bike with approximately $6,000 in parts.
After the work was performed, he rode the bike on the street for 150 miles to make sure there were no issues and then he used it as a track bike (no racing), primarily at Chuckwalla. He changed the oil/filter after every track day and mentioned that he started all of his bikes and ran them to full temperature every weekend. After ~2.5 years of ownership, he decided to sell the Ninja with the plan of upsizing to a ~650cc twin like the Aprilia RS660/Yamaha R7 and filled out a submission form to auction it with Iconic Motorbikes.
I’ve been lucky to have the luxury of trying out several different bikes at press launches but it always took me some time to get settled in with the variety so I wanted a dedicated track bike that I could get accustomed to and grow with. In the middle of February 2022, I was at Inde Motorsports Ranch to review Kyle Wyman’s Harley-Davidson King of the Baggers that he won the inaugural championship on – I was one of the last people to ride it before it got put into Harley’s museum – and I was chatting with a few journalist buddies there about an ex-Chaz-Davies Aprilia racebike that was on Iconic. I thought it would make for a cool first track bike, but I also mentioned this Ninja 400 that had just been submitted and people who I trust (Troy Siahaan, Michael Gilbert, Zack Courts, and Nic de Sena) all recommended I go with the Kawasaki to get into the world of track days.
I bought this Ninja in late February 2022 with 1,182 miles on the odometer on one condition – I had to give the seller first right of refusal if I decided to sell (which I have done, he has passed on it). Our technician Olly gave it a once-over and then my buddy Nic de Sena of Ultimate Motorcycling (who was one of the people that convinced me to buy it) had me join him for a track day at Buttonwillow to show me the ropes as he also owns a well-prepped Ninja 400 track bike.
So, that’s the deal. It’s a really well-prepped Ninja 400 which would be great for someone that wants to get into the world of trackdays (not so much for a youngster who wants to join the upcoming MotoAmerica Talent Cup, though). I hope it finds a good home (ideally with one of you), so let me know if you have any questions and I’m glad to help!
Find this Ninja 400 for sale in Santa Monica, California with bidding up to $3,002 here on Iconic Motorbikes.
Disclosure: Bike-urious is a partner in Iconic Motorbikes.