VOLUME 57 ISSUE 20 MAY 19, 2020 P57
S P E C I F I C A T I O N S
2020 KAWASAKI Z900 ABS ($8999)
ENGINE: .......... Liquid-cooled, 4-cylinder,
4-stroke, DOHC, 16-valve
FUELING: .............................................. EFI
DISPLACEMENT: .............................948cc
BORE X STROKE: ............... 73.4 x 56mm
TORQUE (CLAIMED): ...............73.1 lb-ft @
7700 rpm
TRANSMISSION: ..........................6-speed
CLUTCH: ............................Wet multi-disc
CHASSIS: .................. Tubular steel trellis
FRONT SUSPENSION: ......41mm inverted
fork with rebound damping and spring
preload adjustability
REAR SUSPENSION: ................ Horizontal
back-link, stepless rebound damping,
adjustable spring preload
FRONT-WHEEL TRAVEL: .................. 4.7 in.
REAR-WHEEL TRAVEL: ....................5.5 in.
FRONT BRAKE: ....Dual 300mm petal-style
discs with 4-piston calipers, ABS
REAR BRAKE: ........ Single 250mm petal-
style disc with 1-piston caliper, ABS
FRONT TIRE: ............... Dunlop Sportmax
Roadsport 2 120/70 ZR17
REAR TIRE: .................. Dunlop Sportmax
Roadsport 2180/55 ZR17
SEAT HEIGHT: ............................... 31.5 in.
WHEELBASE: ................................. 57.3 in.
FUEL CAPACITY: ...........................4.5 gal.
WEIGHT (CURB, CLAIMED): .....467.6 lbs.
front calipers lack feel when
used in anger, and with an ABS
system that cannot be switched
off, I had a few hairy moments
when there'd be a pulse at the
lever before the ABS had any
right to kick in. Again, at sedate
traffic speeds, the brakes are
no problem. Crank things up a
notch, and they start to show
their spec.
The fact that ABS can't
be switched off is a bummer
because it eliminates the pos-
sibility to find out if the lack of
power and feel at the lever is
predominantly to do with the
ABS or the master-cylinder/
caliper setup. However, Euro 5
rules dictate that ABS can't be
switched off if a bike is to be
sold in Europe, which means
we must live with that from now
on, for all manufacturers.
Moving onto the cockpit,
the new 4.3-inch TFT dash is a
massive improvement over the
old needle and digital speed
readout from the 2017 model.
There's a lot of information
in there, but it's easy to read
and access via the left mode
button, and there are three dif-
ferent light settings it switches
to for daytime, early/late sun,
and nighttime riding. Kawasaki
has been doing this longer than
anyone I can remember—I'm
pretty sure the ZX-636 of 12
years ago had this feature—and
some bikes still don't have it.
In the end, I came to like the
Z900. I still stand by my asser-
tion that it didn't overly wow me,
but it's a solid, well-built ma-
chine at an exceptional price.
There are other machines in
this category that will beat the
Z900 for excitement—it needs to
lose some (and more) pounds
to compete against something
like the KTM 890 Duke—but
considering what you get for
the money, the Z900 is a fine
machine indeed. CN
They always feel
higher than they look.
