Make Mine a Triple

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silverstrom · #1 Post by **silverstrom** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 11:44 pm

It warmed up a bit this afternoon and I was able to get out for a while. The scenerey looks familiar

pepsi · #2 Post by **pepsi** » Tue Oct 23, 2012 1:19 am

very nice three some

kpke · #3 Post by **kpke** » Tue Oct 23, 2012 11:10 am

very nice

iron · #4 Post by **iron** » Tue Oct 23, 2012 2:12 pm

I love that bike. Tell me, does it keep up with the RZ? How reliable are they?

This old RZ · #5 Post by **This old RZ** » Tue Oct 23, 2012 4:58 pm

iron wrote:I love that bike. Tell me, does it keep up with the RZ? How reliable are they?

I think the owner will verify my experience with a friends..Stock vs stock the nod goes to the Honda.and handling wise the Honda is a neat treat.
when Moddified,its usually in favor ofa RZ.my RZ wiped the floor with a friends NS400 quite easily.
There is currently a resurgence going on.with these bikes,with large big bore options to close to 500cc,recent publications have provided examples which out perform a Suzuki RG%))"IN STOCK FORM" One of the same UK tuners whom is doing this is also developing new cylinder heads and reedinduction kits,If I recall from a 125/250cc? MotoX machine,there reworked and bolt on. Parts are as expexted hard to come by,pistions,rings and cranks have been very hard to source,from what Ive read over the last decade or so...but things are changing.

silverstrom · #6 Post by **silverstrom** » Tue Oct 23, 2012 10:39 pm

After riding the RZ500 and then the NS400R soon after is is very obvious that the Honda does, in fact, handle much better than the 500. It had been a while sicne I was on the NS and I'd forgotten just how well it handles the curves. Braking is better also.

The NS isn't even close to the 500 on performance. That is to be expected given the NS400R is 112 cc smaller than the RZ500. As they say, there is no replacement for displacement. The 500s power is useable across a wide range. The NS needs to be kept above 7500 rpm to really perform well. You need to keep the ATAC closed to make power. The hit at 7500 is amazing. I'll hold the throttle steady and let the rpm slowly climb and when it hits 7500 it takes off like a rocket. Keep the revs up and it's a lot of fun. The powervalves on the Yamaha just work better than the ATAC on the Honda. The extra 20 HP helps too.

Speed is deceiving on the NS400R. 100 kph feels like 50. If I don't watch the speedo and bring the bike up to what I think is 100 KPH it's actually closer to 140-150. It's hard for me to judge speed because the Honda just soaks up the road so well. The RZ500 is similar to the 350 for road feel. It's easy to get a feel for the speed. It doesn't hide anything. Twist the throttle at any speed at any RPM and the result is instant torque and a rush of power to the road. Hold it as long as you want and it just puts out more. I'll put it this way, the NS400R will get you a lot of accidental speeding tickets. The 500 will get you lots of tickets too, but it won't be accidental.

I think the NS400R riding position is more GP like than the RZ500. Both are comfortable, but I feel the part more on the Honda. On the NS400R I feel more like I'm part of the bike. On the RZ500 I feel like a passenger on a cruise missile.

That's my take on it so far. I'll know more after I ride more. For now, I'm enjoying the hell out of both bikes. Next year I hope to be able to compare both to the RG500. Now that will be a fun day.