I am torn between the Kawasaki ninja 400 and the Yamaha R3 as my first bike.. the 2018 Ninja 400 costs around $5300 (with abs) and the 2017 Yamaha R3 I have found costs around $3300 (with ABS).. I'm not worried too much about the 70cc difference since I'm an averaged sized guy (5'10, 170lb ish) and I'm not looking for anything crazy top speed wise. However, with that said I do like the fact that the Ninja 400 has faster acceleration from what i researched. The R3 seems like a great bike but there is a lot of parts on the bike that seem to require replacements such as the tires that tend to lose traction, the breaks are a considered "mushy" and the shocks seem somewhat uncomfortable, also to make the bike look cooler it seems like i'll be putting a decent amount of money into mods for the R3 while the kawasaki 400 looks badass right off the lot. Maybe I'm misinformed since all i have to base my opinion on is youtube reviews. Basically I'm hoping someone can help me decide which bike will be a better first bike (not interested in anything over 500cc) and I've narrowed it down to these two bikes but the price difference is bothering me since performance wise they seem very similar so the R3 seems like a no brainer price wise until i looked into the parts the would need potential upgrades for a smoother/safer ride. Any input/advice would be great! Thanks in advance.
