Since my trusty CBR600 was pinched a couple of years ago, I've had a variety of other rides for my daily commute into the City of London . Some have been more successful than others - initially the Sunday Best Ducati stepped into the breach but my fears for its long-term health and second hand value (little did I know then, but that's another story) persuaded me to look around for an everyday hack. A pal had a Honda NSR250 doing nothing in his workshop and although I've never been much of a two-stroke fan I fancied something different; a test ride clinched the deal. The NSR made the daily grind through suburbia almost something to look forward to but its over-healthy thirst made visits to the local filling station a bit too regular, so it was regretfully sold on to the producers of the TV programme Bugs for Craig Maclachan to crash....

I replaced the NSR with a slightly dog-eared Yamaha XT350 which turned out to be almost the ideal city commuter bike, reliable, economical, nippy. If you’re in the market for an XT, inspect the alloy wheel rims very, very carefully. When replacing the rear tyre, I was horrified to discover the wheel rim was heavily salt-corroded internally, the alloy de-laminating and turning to dust. From outside however there was almost nothing to indicate the seriousness of the problem, other than a little bubbling of the surface of the alloy around the valve. Don’t make the mistake of thinking it only affects older bikes either – I have seen a 1994 XT in a shop with rims that seemed even further gone than mine.

Although the XT was good in town, it was lacking as an A road machine whilst the the Ducati was safely tucked up for the winter. So, seeking the best of both worlds I replaced the XT after a year or so with a Honda XL600 recently arrived from Milan. To start with I was happy enough as it promised much of what I’d been after, although it didn’t have the charm of the XT. It could be a temperamental starter and one morning kicked back, impaling the sole of my boot with the end of the kick-start. I’d made a habit of putting the side-stand up before starting it and unable to get the stand back down again or extricate the stand from my boot, the only way out was to get the boot off. This pantomime did not endear the bike to me and relations were not improved when it developed a need to be stone cold before it would restart; to put it mildly this could be inconvenient if the tank needed filling or I wanted to stop and buy something. It quickly became a lottery whether the XL would start which left me with two options; the first of which was to leave it running when I stopped. Leaving a bike unattended in London with the engine turning over is a surefire way of not having a bike for very long, so the XL was swiftly sent packing along with a mental note to never buy another big single without an electric starter.

Casting around for something better that would do the job but would also be fun, my local bike shop Premier of West Wickham (top chaps for all your Suzuki requirements - 0181 777 8040) came up with a trade-in, a 7 year old Kawasaki ZXR400H1 imported from Japan six months earlier. With immaculate green, white and blue coachwork and low mileage, it was an absolute steal and a quick test ride confirmed first impressions. The build quality of the Kawasaki is excellent and the specification top quality. A pal has a Honda CBR400RR of about the same age and whilst the CBR is equally exhilarating to ride, the exposed spaghetti wiring, rusty exhaust and rattly fairing left me in no doubt that I'd made the better buy.

You might imagine that a full-on racer riding position and revvy engine are not the best things to have for chugging through clogged up London streets especially for a 6 foot, 15 stone rider but it copes manfully and like the NSR makes the journey almost enjoyable. Personally, I'm not comfortable on more upright bikes so it's really a case of the rider fitting the bike. The ZXR quickly proved itself as a reliable commuter and is also quite at home on the motorway. A windy day on the motorway is where the little engine becomes noticeable, particularly if you're riding into a headwind where the lack of torque can make punching the bike through the bow wave of lorries and coaches hard work.

The power characteristics of the 400 will be familiar to anyone who has spent time on two strokes, which is to say it does nothing until the revs are climbing. The difference between a stroker and the ZXR, however is the tractable nature of the engine once it is revving. There are two power steps, initially at 5000 with the real rush chiming in at 10000 and hanging on strongly until the 14000 red line. This is combined with all the right noises, the characteristic Kawasaki engine growl being replaced as the revs rise by the scream of the notoriously wobbly end can. The downside of this is that revving the engine into these regions swiftly puts you into licence-threatening territory. I have so far been lucky in meeting a nice policewoman who let me off with a slap on the wrist and a less nice policeman who would have booked me but for having pulled me over too soon for his Vascar apparatus to have done its stuff properly. For once, I was grateful for police incompetance...

Having had the bike for a month or so, it was time to see what it really would do by taking it on a track day where the racer looks proved to be more than skin deep. Castle Combe is a fast track and all the revs are needed to keep up with the bigger capacity machines, but the 400 will respond to this with verve. With a top speed theoretically of 130+, there is enough to embarrass others provided the revs are kept up. Allowing the revs to drop bogs the engine down and the bigger, torquier stuff gets away whilst the 400 is sorting itself out. However, the light weight and nimbleness of the machine combined with a neutral but quick turn-in allows a tight line to be held through corners and this can be used to effect when catching up with more powerful but heavier brethren. The bike feels well planted on the track and unlike some other 400s the slightly nervous 'small bike' feel is not apparent and even harsh braking, awkward track surfaces or a big clumsy rider climbing around on top do not unsettle it unduely.

I'll leave the final word to a very fast Fireblade rider at Castle Combe who wasn’t sure if it was a 400 or a 750 - '400? Bloody hell! It shifts, doesn't it!'

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