RIDE REVIEW I 2022 KAWASAKI Z900RS SE
P100
Just because it's a retro doesn't mean it can't get it up.
F
ew motorcycles have left their mark on the subculture
like the Kawasaki Z1. Not quite the original Japanese
four-cylinder (that honor goes to the 1969 Honda
CB750), the Z1 could quite easily be labeled the first Japa-
nese superbike, the machine that put us on the path we're
on today with over 200 horsepower four-pot screamers.
The Z1 is one of those machines that transcended the
scene, gaining a level of pop culture status generally
reserved for contraptions like a Ford Mustang. Kawasaki
knocked it so far out of the park, both in timing and execu-
tion, with the Z1 that they've been trying to get back to that
level ever since and never quite making it.
Classic
NEVER DIES
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK I PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIT PALMER
AN ICON FROM ANOTHER TIME INSPIRES
THE GENERATION OF TODAY. NO, WE'RE
NOT TALKING ABOUT STEVE JOBS; WE'RE
TALKING ABOUT THE KAWASAKI Z1 AND THE
FANTASTIC 2022 KAWASAKI Z900RS SE