Morning story

[killa]

Had a few jars last night and got up late for work this morning, pissed off, rushed, and hungry I got out the flat in good time. I got the bike out started her up, pulled away and got the car park where I cut through to bypass the longer one way system.
As I am waiting at the lights on the other side I hear a bike coming up, I kind of recognise the sound of a 400, it was a early 90’s ZXR400. He talks to me for a bit, “Nice bike, have you had those wheels sprayed”, they haven’t been sprayed but cleaned, lol. I must admit his ZX had seen better days, it looked to me as if it had been stood outside or something because of the rusty bolts and things, I got to know he had just passed his test and said it went like shit off a shovel. Ok.
Pulled away from the lights, I think he was enjoying just being with someone on another 400, we are going through town centre until we meet the ‘duel’ carriage way. Like any other Noob the guy nailed it, so I replied with some throttle not all, I followed, a few corners in and my bike was getting up to a good temperature (I don’t ring its neck until it is hot). Over the roundabout I dropped it down one, dipped the clutch and came out, he knows I’m coming so nails it, he has a great distance advantage but, I was happy with the results.
We got to the lights and he shouted “I thought the Kwak was faster than the NC30!!”, yeah so did I actually, even though it was quite quick I think it had something to do with age, but there isn’t anything like a quick blast like in the morning.

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Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.
Bike:- Yamaha TRX850 | Killas Biking History | Killas Gaming History | Killas autmotive history

[VFR400UK]

They claim the kwak is more powerful, but that is maximum power, which you only use on a bike for a fraction of a second before kicking it up another gear. A wide area of power and good mid-range count for alot if you know how to use them.
His bike was probably worn out and underpowerd too, otherwise the performance advantage probably wouldnt have been noticeable.

[Jrod]

The person on the zxr would notice the extra power when the vfr is just a little dot in his mirrors.

[craigs23]

V4 Midrange, gotta love the torquey nature of the NC30.

No point having 3 or 4 extra ponies if they're plonked up the top of the rev range. Maybe your cleaner wheels gave less unsprung weight, allowing the bike to accelerate faster?

[DynaMight]

a few HP isnt gonna make much difference on the road or short drags. a 400 would easily 'keep up' with a 600 on a few short <120 MPH drags down a dual carrageway.
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[getyerkneedow...]

[the grim reaper]

I used to have an NC30 and my mate had the ZXR at the same time, we swapped on the motorway and I found the ZXR to be gutless because all the horses were at the top end (bit like most Kwaks I've ridden).

The NC30 felt quite torquey in comparison, on a racetrack, in the hands of a racer, it's be a different story but, on the road, midrange is useful.

Cheers

Grim
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Adverts don't always work: Remember that advert, where the army are running across the desert and they have a wounded man on a stretcher. They get to a ravine, the bridge is down and a caption pops up that says, 'What are you thinking?'. I don't know about you but I was thinking, 'Christ, I'm glad I'm not in the f***ing army'.

[G]

I'm not aware there's any reason a V4 should have more midrange torque than a parrelel 4.
It may be able to get better traction due to a 'big bang' firing order, but that's another matter and not really an issue on the road.

The NC30 has a close ratio gear box which means starts are slower, but should be faster when you're over 60 or so.
Generally the NC30 seems to be about a second down on quartermile times from what I remember.

[craigs23]

Better traction, firing order, twin-like power pulses. Have a look at a dyno graph (I've got one of a Bike small bikes test) and you can visually see the difference. From what I've ridden, you can feel it on the road as well.

400s aren't about straightline ability, and all in all, in relative terms, are no faster than a 500 twin. But from what I've experienced, their useability is very good, meaning you can use a lot more of what they've got. The NC30 'feels' more useable on the road because it 'feels' like its got a better midrange.

Just my 2 cents anywho...