VOL. 55 ISSUE 26 JULY 3, 2018 P103
ly crappy throttle response compared to the 900s
on his side of the pond.
The gain from this is twofold: first is the smooth-
er throttle response makes for a less jerky ride. The
second benefit is the Café is far more confidence
inspiring to ride at anything like a decent pace
because when you open the throttle a little on the
side of the tire at speed, you are met with a more
progressive hit of power that's easier to modulate
than on the 900RS. Like well set-up carbs.
This is a very good thing because the 948cc
inline four that first saw life inside the 2017 Kawa-
saki Z900, itself a gem of Japanese aggression,
is an excellent motor. The changes wrought by
Kawasaki when developing the 900RS and Café
version, like different cams, intake, compres-
sion, a heavier flywheel, final drive ratio and that
exhaust, totally transform the feel at the twist grip.
Imagine Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider and The
Shining—same guy, two totally different personas.
On the Café, there's a butt-load of bottom- to
mid-range torque on hand, so much so I feel the
gearing is too short to really maximize the mo-
tor. I have the same problem on the 900RS, not
surprising considering they share the same final
gearing of 15/42 front to rear.
My feeling is Kawasaki doesn't want you to
really max the Café out. It's a retro bike, after all,
designed to look cool while giving off the persona
that you used to be the man, back in the day. The
gearing is such that you hardly ever need first
gear, even from a dead stop at the lights. You
can easily leave it in second because you'll rip
into sixth gear far quicker than you'd expect
for a four-cylinder just shy of 1000cc.
The gearbox action is quite nice. It's not fit-
ted with a quickshifter, doesn't need one. It's
a sure-footed change, a little old school in that
it's heavier than what you'll find on a modern
superbike, but certainly nothing to complain
about. The cable clutch is similarly smooth
and delightfully old school.
One of the great things about the Café
is the stuff that's different from the 900RS
makes it a better bike. Sounds odd to say, I
know. The bodywork is a case in point.
The addition of the front cowling and screen
helps deflect the wind right at the correct point
for a rider of my height (a touch under 6'1"),
allowing the wind to hit me right in the chest
rather than my head, as is the case with so
many screens these days. My dad found the
opposite, as he's about two inches shorter than
I am. He found the wind was directed right at
his visor, so preferred the stance offered by the
full naked 900RS to the Café.
The improved wind deflection (for me)
(Left) Just needs a number 21 plate on it
and it's a proper Eddie Lawson tribute.
(Below) The Z900's inline four has been
retuned with more bottom-end torque
and it's better for it.
