In today's modern world of motorcycles, with stricter emission and noise targets, we’ve slowly been watching 4-cylinder supersports die. With the Yamaha R6 being discontinued in favour of the 2-cylinder R7, the CBR600RR being replaced by the more docile CBR650R, and the Suzuki GSX-R nearing its demise after being pulled out of certain regional markets. Despite all this, Kawasaki has kept the faith and decided to invest and build another high-revving 4-cylinder supersport: the 2026 Kawasaki ZX4RR. It may not be a middleweight like the 600s I just mentioned, but it brings something unique to the market that I think no other manufacturer has attempted in recent years.

I was particularly interested in covering this because I personally was looking to purchase a Kawasaki ZX4RR as an upgrade to my existing Honda CB300R. Circumstances changed and I ended up with a BMW R nineT, but I still found myself wondering about a little Kawasaki screamer. Now I get to stop wondering.

Nothing else like it

The thing is, Kawasaki has brought something to the table that no other manufacturer has. A small, lightweight, supersport class bike, that is approachable, enjoyable at sub gonna-die speeds, and very affordable at $11,499.

The first thing I noticed is how small the bike feels. It’s easy to sit on, easy to handle and rather comfortable for my 5’10” frame. The ZX4RR feels tossable, easy to turn, and genuinely feels like it was teaching you how to ride while you’re riding it.

Jumping on my own bike again made me realize how much I've improved as a rider despite my short time with the ZX4RR. It’s definitely not as fast as bigger-bore bikes, but despite that, it’s a boatload of fun being able to bang the sixteen thousand RPM limiter on the streets from light to light while still maintaining legal speeds, thanks to its short gearing.

Less is... less?

The motor is infamous for being neutered for the North American market at 57 horsepower due to a quirk of California’s noise rules; it makes a much healthier 77hp for global markets. Even in this stock state of tune, It's still amazing for being able to push the limits of physics and be capable of pushing that much power out of such a small displacement engine. 

Fun leads to fast

The best way I can describe this bike is its kind of like the Mazda MX-5. It's small, light, a tad underpowered, yet dynamically fantastic, and most importantly, fun to toss around. It would make a phenomenal starter track bike as it forces you to learn technique and momentum through the racing line first, instead of relying on straight-line power to fill in for skills you don’t have.

The controls all facilitate your education. The brakes have good bite and progressive, easy-to-modulate feel, the slick quickshifter encourages you to work the engine, and it really wants to lean over easily, and with sharp, adjustable Showa suspension supporting only 414 pounds of mass, every little movement you make feels amplified - not to scare you, but organically encourage better riding.

tech/nitpicks

As far as tech features go, the ZX4RR features ABS but also traction control, assist & slipper clutch, drive-by-wire with multiple ride modes to change throttle mapping, Kawasaki quickshifter, as well as smartphone connectivity.

The smartphone connectivity is rather limited in what it can do, requiring Kawasaki’s Rideology app, and the only thing it does is relay who’s calling you or who’s texting you onto the TFT screen. It also sends data back to your smartphone to tell you the status of the bike as well as being able to change settings and display settings straight from your smartphone, which you probably will prefer considering navigating the menus is rather clunky and un-intuitive.

Another nitpick is the on/off throttle response when cruising. Regardless of what ride mode you’re in, it felt like anything past 6000 RPM (which is an average cruise on this) the throttle felt really sensitive and hard to transition smoothly. Regardless of how much you feather the throttle, the transition from decel to accel or vice versa always felt a little jarring.

Competition from within

The elephant in the room that has to be addressed is what most people are thinking: why would I buy the ZX4RR when the ZX6R exists for not much more? That is valid, not only that, the ZX6R is only ten pounds heavier. However, the point most people miss is that despite being both supersports, they are very different bikes, for different tasks. The ZX6R comparatively is a true supersport. The seating position is much more aggressive, it's a lot more unforgiving, and harder to enjoy on the street. Yes it's more bike, but more isn't necessarily better if you can't use the more it offers.

You can take a ZX4RR on longer road trips and not be getting off it in pain. You can hit the (hilariously high) limiter in a ZX4RR and not be doing criminal speeds. You can take it to the track and not be afraid of pushing the bike harder, faster, for fear of it biting you. However the only thing that's hard to defend is the weight, and that weight penalty is due to the fact that the ZX4RR uses a steel frame unlike the ZX6R, but does that alone make it not worth considering? Definitely not. I still want one in my roster for when it's time to learn real track riding.

Wrap it up

Just like in the car world, “slow car fast is more fun than fast car slow.” It’s far more fun to use all of what a vehicle has to offer than tiptoe around with a beast you can’t use. The same applies to motorcycles; and no motorcycle embodies this better than the 2026 Kawasaki ZX4RR.