FEATURE KAWASAKI’S OTHER 400…
For some people of a certain age, of which I am one, the news that Kawasaki was bringing the ZX-4RR to the UK brought back a whole range of memories and fuzzy feelings. For others of a younger age who are unlucky not to have been active motorcyclists in the 1990s, the significance of the ZX-4RR is mostly lost. So, I feel, as the resident old fart at Fast Bikes, that it is my duty to explain to the kids just why the ZX-4RR has arguably caught my imagination more than theirs.
I make no apology if over the next few pages I come across as a sentimental old fool, because if I’m being honest, that’s exactly what I am. The 1990s for me was the decade at the beginning of which I left college, started earning money, got my full motorcycle licence, left home and moved into a bachelor pad, discovered beer, live music and girls and spent all, and had a 954 Fireblade in the garage, which was my company bike. The 1990s were good to me, and I don’t remember a single day of the decade that wasn’t brilliant. I could wax lyrical for pages about the many highlights of that time, but the one that is responsible for me taking to my keyboard for a few thousand words was my absolute obsession and outright lust for the Kawasaki ZXR400 - and why it was the one that got away.
