might ‘only’ be 110bhp at the crank - and one
rider was saying how it “wouldn’t pull the skin off
a rice pudding”. Well, that just shows how little
some supposedly ‘experienced’ riders know -
the flat torque curve of the RS gives most of
the 98.5Nm peak torque throughout the rev
range. The numbers that matter don’t lie.
This is one of the most fun bikes I’ve ridden
in a while. Ok, so it’s not a track bike – you
only have to look at it to see that – but it is
hilarious on the track. Turn the traction control
off and it’ll play with the best of them - 2nd
gear wheelies out of corners, crossed up and
snick it into third. But if you’re not into playing
around like that, the 900 is still a hoot trail
braking into corners and firing it out.
I was expecting this to be a softly suspended
thing but it’s not at all – remember what I was
saying about the Zephyr earlier? Well, the shock,
forks, chassis and brakes are more than up to the
job. For anything up to fast trackday group, the
new Zed is up to it. Retro-sport? Most certainly.
The very first Zed was a performance machine, and
while this isn’t the cutting edge of race machinery
there’s no doubt got some performance both
from an engine and a chassis point of view.
On a metal front, the Z900RS sports some good
tackle. The clutch is both an assist and a slipper,
meaning it has two sets of cams, one to pull the
clutch together so lighter clutch springs can
be used, and one set to force the clutch apart
during excessive engine braking to stop the
rear tyre from skipping and hopping. The front
suspension is adjustable for compression and
rebound damping, as well as spring preload. As I
said above, the traction control can be switched
off for sporty track riding, and the standard tyres
work very well even when given a good pasting.
Two versions of the bike are being imported, a
special edition candy tone orange/brown and a
special edition matt green/ebody. As well as colour,
the two bikes have detail differences to the finish
of the exhaust, wheels and bars. Happily, both
come in just under $20k at $19,995. Plain black is
an special order option, which is $500 cheaper.
It’s been a long time in the making but I
think Kawasaki has done the Z1’s legacy justice
with the Z900RS. It’s grunty, handles well,
is a hoot to ride and looks bloody good.
42 KIWI RIDER
Stonking motor; great handling; retro
looks
‘only’ 110hp...