VOL. 55 ISSUE 1 JANUARY 9, 2018 P83
ment for Kawasaki's current
model lineup.
At $10,999 for the Metallic
Flat Spark Black and $11,999
for the Candytone Brown/Can-
dytone Orange paint scheme
tested here, the Z900RS is in
the midprice range for a mod-
ern retro bike, falling quite a bit
shorter than the BMW R nineT's
$15,395 MSRP and above the
Yamaha XSR900, which re-
tails for $9499. But the fact is,
neither of these two admittedly
brilliant bikes have the heritage
and aura surrounding them like
the Z900RS—and that alone
will help them sell a bucketload
of Z900RS's to everyone from
back-in-the-day riders to people
that just simply want to look
cool. CN
2018 KAWASAKI Z900RS
ENGINE: ......Liquid-cooled, DOHC, 16-valve
Inline four-cylinder
DISPLACEMENT: .................................. 948cc
BORE X STROKE: .....................73.4 x 56mm
COMPRESSION RATIO: ..........................10.8:1
CLUTCH: ................................ Wet multi-plate
TRANSMISSION: ................................ 6-speed
CHASSIS: ............ Tubular steel trellis frame
FRONT SUSPENSION: ..... Inverted fork with
adjustable compression and rebound
damping, and spring preload
REAR SUSPENSION: ..................... Horizontal
back-link swingarm with stepless adjust-
able rebound damping and spring preload
adjustment
FRONT WHEEL TRAVEL: ....................... 4.7 in.
REAR WHEEL TRAVEL: ..........................5.5 in.
FRONT BRAKE: ..............300mm dual semi-
floating discs, radially mounted dual
monobloc four-piston calipers, ABS as
standard
REAR BRAKE: .............. 250mm disc, single-
piston caliper with ABS as standard
FRONT TIRE: ..........120/70 ZR17-in. Dunlop
GPR-300F
REAR TIRE: .............180/55 ZR17-in. Dunlop
GPR-300
RAKE: .......................................................25.4°
WHEELBASE: ........................................58.1 in.
SEAT HEIGHT: ......................................31.5 in.
FUEL CAPACITY: ................................. 4.5 gal.
WEIGHT: ..............471.9 lbs. (curb, claimed).
COLOR:........Candytone Brown/Candytone
Orange, Metallic Spark Black
MSRP: ...........$10,999 for the Metallic Flat
Spark Black and $11,199 for the Candy-
tone Brown/Candytone Orange (tested)
S P E C I F I C A T I O N S
Kawasaki nailed the styling on the Z900RS.
