So, let's talk about some of the differences as we dig in a little closer to these bikes to talk about which bike might be better for you. So the first thing I want to talk about is riding position. It seems to be what every review talks about. So I'm about six feet tall, coming across on the Zd400 here. My foot peg position is sort of where it is and it's very similar to me on both bikes. If I put my foot back like this, my heel, my size 11 heel... When I put my toe on the foot back like just barely off of a bike, my heel is on the heat shield for the motorcycle.

However, if I put my foot where it goes, it's off the heat shield. It's going to be the same thing for the Ninja 400. My arms are spread out and I've got my right hand on the front brake and will balance out here. So I am left foot on the ground, right foot up. That is my position. Is it upright? Is it straight? Well, there's your view right there of a six footer.

Let's jump and do the exact same position on this bike over here. And you're going to notice a little bit of a difference, but not a lot for a sport bike. Again, heel position, foot position, everything feels very similar, but my hands are probably a little lower closer. Is it a whole lot different? It may not seem like a whole lot different of leaning, but let's dig in closer now and show you why the position feels different when you're actually on the bike.

So, what is the benefit of that? Well, first of all, like I said, there is some confidence to be felt on the Z400 here, when you have those a little bit wider bars that can feel like a little better position for some people. However, if you're getting into a tough position and you really want to learn sport riding, this is going to give you a little bit more of a consistent feel with a sport bike.

Again, both bikes are sitting you relatively upright. This is not something like a super sport bike where they really tuck you in and it's uncomfortable. It's quite comfortable on both bikes. But this one is going to have that angle in and tighter in for the handlebar on the Ninja 400. So, again, that might be something that just feels right when you're sitting on the bike in the dealership. And like I said, if you come to James Gilbert's Wheels and Deals, sometimes just sitting on the bike helps you decide.

But there are a couple other differences with these handlebars, with the gauges, and everything else, the dash here. So let's see, there's our gauges there. Now, you have a tachometer up here on the Zd400, neutral indicator lights. So, as far as the functions, everything's basically the same here. A lot of glare with the camera. Now, keep in mind when you look at things with two eyes, your eyes kind of diffuse the glare. When you're look at things with one eye of a camera, you see a lot of reflection.

But you'll see here, this is your tachometer, it's sort of a digital display that comes up underneath the numbers here. A simple compact way to get you all the information you need. I kind of like it, but it's a little less traditional and a little bit less precise than having a proper needle. And that's why here on the Ninja 400, let's turn the key on there, they give you that proper needle. A little bit more precision there. And again, hard to film in the bright sunlight here. Neutral indicator there. We've got some dust on here. We should wipe that off before the video. All right. So, you've got your speedometer over there. Again, that is easy to see in the daylight, hard to film right now, but very easy to see when you have the handlebars straight. So again, a little different gauge cluster, it spreads out a little wider. Again, all the same information there, but one may suit you more than the other.

Another thing to keep in mind here is this area here on a sport bike is kind of just like framed up with a setup here, they call those clip-ons. Over here, you have a proper handlebar setup. There are advantages to a handlebar. There are advantages to clip-on. The advantage to the handlebar is let's say you're mounting a phone or you're mounting a GPS or something like that, there are a lot of options to mount things on handlebars and you have some more flexibility. Now, keep in mind, if you are mounting a phone you may want to also consider this bike here because you can put a 12 volt or a USB port in here and keep it behind your windscreen.

If the only thing keeping you from buying the Z400 is the fact that the Ninja has a windscreen. Well, you do have this little piece right here, if I can get to the right sunshine level there. You do have this little protective piece right here, which I quite like. What it does is on a lot of naked bikes, this what this class of bike is called, the gauges are out here in the open and you'll see that on something like the Zd650 RS. It's sort of the classic thing. But this does have a small windscreen to keep the bugs from getting in all those crevices and cracks. And because of that, the way it's mounted, you can get an accessory to mount to taller windshield there to give you a little extra protection. Now, to be fair, a little bit taller windshield there and this Ninja windshield is not going to give you a ton of protection. If you do get into a tuck position here, it is going to help you a little bit, but it's not going to be a whole lot over this.

So we talked about seating position, we talked about some of the dash, and the handlebars. Let's talk about these bikes in general. Taking a look at the Z400 controls here, they are identical on both bikes, so they're the same thing, I can show you both, but they work a little differently. So, in what you do is what I'm getting at. So, high beams are there, low beams are always on. There is a little flash to pass trigger right here. So you can flash your high beam just like that, which is super, super handy. You have really good quality feeling controls here. So again, you can hit those signals there and tap it off. Feels really good. The horn is very loud on both bikes.

Now, when you are operating these headlights, they operate a little differently because the headlights are actually different on these bikes. As we come around the front here, the Z400, both LED lights. So, you have the LED sort of a single, it looks more single, where this looks a little bit more separated here. You have a different look there with those headlights and you may prefer one over the other. You can see these are really just your daytime running lights on right there. Your headlights are being there, and both these lights are on. On previous Kawasaki bikes, before they went to some of these LED bikes, sometimes you would have a low beam here and a high beam there. They are both on. So, you do have full lighting right there. But again, there is a little bit difference in that. Over on the right side of the handlebar, you have your throttle of course. And because I'm holding the camera in my right hand, I'm going to have my left hand over here. Kill switch, start switch. That's really all you're getting there. So simple, simple stuff, easy to control.

The next difference I want to talk about is the mirrors. You can see me there in the mirror, and the mirrors are identical, but they're placed different and that means they're going to give you a different type of view. So when I say they're identical, what I mean is this overall shape here, kind of comes up, flat on the top, come up around there. So, you've got that shape, you've got the aerodynamics right there, that is mounted to the handlebar here on the Z400. When you look at the Ninja 400, there's a totally different mounting point. So instead of mounting it on the handlebar, it's considerably more forward on the fairing. Both of these are relatively buzz-free positions, so there're not a lot of vibrations in there. But you do have the benefit of positioning, which means that one is going to be better for you than the other.

What is the difference? When you're on the Ninja 400, again the Ninja 400, think of it more like a highway bike, a sort of country-highway style bike. Because they're forward and out, you have a good view behind you. When you move the mirrors, these identical mirrors, to the handlebars over here, what you end up having is they're closer to your body, closer to your body gives you a wider angle view back behind you. So, driving around in town that wider angle is going to help. And again, there's no difference in the mirrors, it's just if you've ever held a bathroom mirror up way away from you or way close to you, you can see that they'll give you a wider field division. So I don't know if we can sort see, you can see more of that line when you come close, less of that line when you come further, and that's kind of the feeling you get. Now, both are very good. They both clear you, but there is a difference between the two mirrors because of the positioning, even though they're the exact same mirrors.Let's talk about a little bit of practicality stuff. The back end, we talked about lighting in the back. The lighting on the back is basically identical. I can't see with my eyes any difference. There is a little benefit down here that I think a lot of people miss. There's a little clip in here and there's a little clip by the passenger foot peg. If I can get my camera to cooperate with me, oh, it's moving on its own. There we go. A little clip down there as well. That allows you to take something like a tail bag, which I prefer overtaking something like a tank bag, put the stuff behind you, you don't have to put it on your back. And both bikes have that.

So, you do have the ability to live with these bikes every day by taking a little extra gear along with you on the backside of both the bikes, and you can see it here on this side. Same thing here, the little clip right there. Oops, come on camera. There we go. A little clip right there. And again, if we fold down that passenger's foot peg there, that little clip right there. So it gives you a little bit of an advantage to take a little bit of extra gear even though there's sporty style bikes.

When you're talking about these smaller sport bikes, we got to talk about safety and this... both bikes do this very well. You've got a little ring down here, which is an ABS type sensor in your solid, I think they're 30-centimeter or the 300-millimeter discs that are pedal style disc. Now, that pedal styling Kawasaki's moving away from. The theory was that you used to give you some heat dissipation on a bike that goes as fast as these do and drives like these ones do. It's probably not making a huge difference. Something a bike like this with 1000cc engine has actually the rounded calipers without the pedal style. But you still have the drilled rotors, which again helps dissipate heat.

And that ABS, I think, makes a big difference on a bike like this. Both these bikes, if you grab a little bit too much brake, the ABS will be able to kick in and try to keep that wheel from locking up, which can really help. So, overall, you've got strong brakes, a good engine, and you want an engine that is fun but isn't scary. Although this 400 can be a scary bike, it's certainly enough power to do that. You've got brakes that it can match that and pull you right in, and it's identical on both bikes, which I think makes a difference.

One more minor styling difference I want to point out is where the signal lights are located. They're above the headlight on a little stock out here. Now, sometimes they're down low here and they're still very well protected. If you were to drop the bike, I don't see any issues there, but they are rubber mounted here inside the handlebar, so probably not going to come into impact if you were ever to drop the bike. Down here, you've got them mounted into the fairing, a little bit more aerodynamic styling there. And so, there's no stock there. Again, just a little different styling difference on each bike within the fairing and separate from the fairing. One other styling difference that you're going to notice is there's a little bit of a green tape line here where there's nothing on the Z400. So again, a little more sporty look to the Ninja, which makes some sense. So let's talk about living with these bikes. We talked about the p

So people have asked me in the past, do these bikes have passing power? Absolutely. Even at 120 kilometers an hour. The top speed on th ese bikes is 200, give or take, right around 200 kilometers an hour. So you could pass people on the highway with either of these bikes, but that real sporty feeling is good from zero to 120 kilometers an hour, and that's where you can enjoy these. If that's the type of riding you're going to do, these are incredible value bikes.So if you want to know more about these bikes, let me know on the comments below because I'm in no way done videoing these bikes. We can put them on again and again and again to make sure you get the answers you want. And if you want to see them in person, swing by Jim Gilbert's PowerSports here in Fredericton, New Brunswick. They are a destination store. They just started with the Kawasaki line not that long ago, just a few years ago, and they are the number one volume Kawasaki dealer in the country. They are absolutely, like I say, a destination store worth coming to see. Thanks, everybody, for watching.