Skip to Main Content
Search Suggestions
Menu
Common Tread

Kawasaki teases the Z900RS

Sep 07, 2017

Spurg's pants are wet.

Soaked. See, it rained here in Philly, and Spurg has been bogarting the Kawasaki Z900 that's in the house. I threw a little temper tantrum and made him go home at lunch and get it for me. (He already rode it and I haven't yet, and it's been here for a month.)

I got my knickers all in a twist because of this little video Kawi released today.

I have to agree with Lance that bike tease videos are getting a little out of hand. (They faked him out so badly he posted up a video teasing a new golf cart or something.) This is at least very definitely a motorcycle, and it's liable to be based upon the Z900 I made my friend and coworker fetch for me. (Love you, buddy!) I really want to have some familiarity with this, because this Z900RS really tickles my funny bone. As you can see, it's a style that the rest of the industry will call retro. I'm not going to fight it, but to me, it's a standard. Just a plain old motorcycle. When I first started riding, most people didn't even call them anything other than just "a motorcycle." I like the idea of the Z900, but the looks are a little polarizing. It looks... well, it looks way faster than I am.

But I digress. You can do a google image search for some guesses at what this bike will look like. I can't confirm or deny any of the images are the real deal, but if what I'm seeing is what Kawi is selling, I'm pretty impressed. The Yamaha XSR900 was a bike I gave very high marks to due to performance and value. It appears as though the Z900RS could give it a run for its money, and the styling may be a bit more subdued, which I expect some riders will appreciate. Of course, there's also the link to the old Z900/KZ900, which is another tasty-looking bike. Hopefully some of the notable pieces on that bike will be carried through to the new RS. (Those pipes? The ducktail rear fender?) I'd also expect the engine will be tweaked a little from the Z900 I'll be riding home this evening.

I can't wait to ride one of these new RS models, though. I suppose I'll have an opportunity to see a bit more when it's officially unveiled on October 25 in Tokyo.

Meanwhile, maybe I should see if the dryer is done for Spurgie.