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New z900rs

8.8K views 23 replies 9 participants last post by  nalla57  
#1 ·
I know its not ninja 1000 related, but then again, its motor is a family member. Have you guys seen one, yet?

I stopped into my local shop and they had the new z900rs. I hate retro, and I hate everything that is not the latest and greatest in technology. If it has one extra horsepower and weighs two lbs less, then I want that.

That being said, the 900rs is beautiful. I took one look at it and instantly remember my dad paying 1695.00 for his one year old (but brand new) kz 900. The 2018 bike looked small. I remember the 1974 model as being HUGE..but, then again, I was 10. I remember riding dads bike. He would let me do circles, then catch me when I stopped. I could not touch the ground

Lots of tiny details are correct. I very much remembered the instruments and the finish of the front brake lever. The brake lever, especially. It was not perfect, like todays bikes are. It looked more like someone had to polish out a ding with a wire wheel and was rushed to finish. This new lever looks that way. Funny how the dumb, non issue items become an issue...

The bike looked great. Fit and paint finish are way too good to even compare to the old version.

I hope this retro thing goes crazy. How cool would it be to have a "superbike" race series.

Theres no way im buying one. It does nothing that I need it to do. Plus, my modded ninja is lighter and has 50 more horsepower,and I think the fz 09 is a better bike..and still......still, I hope kawasaki sells a million of these.

I did not ride it, but Im still going to give it a score of 10/10 as its
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
I have to find an original, now. Ive got to figure out of the memory of it being size "large" is real, or just what I remembered.
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
Zaph, yes...I went too far and did not consider the "big picture"

.I'm complimenting it like someone might compliment a kid who won the 100yard dash, but it was in the special Olympics.

Yes, he won, but his time of 4 hrs 27 minutes is not fast. He tried, and did all he could, so props for that.

A compliment to the Japanese design team, for sure, but remembering they also gave us bikes that looked like the fz10 and z 1000 sort of thing......compliment....

No, they will never match the old Triumph look, or a new look like an MV agusta brutale.
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
I remember the kz 400. Those were everywhere.

Especially the model supplied with a windshield and bags.
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
Ok don't think you are alone in the maintenance dept. Back then, who were we supposed to learn from? I swear my dad learned to fix what broke. I do not recall him doing oil changes. I would have remembered. He was a terrible mechanic and I would have helped him, or done the work for him. Like you, I don't think there was much thought to it. If it ran, you were good to go.

No way was there ever a valve adjustment. Back then, that was supposed to be every 6000 miles. I know he rode his kz900 10 times that, and never looked at valves.

The kick start makes sense...that was right around the time when electric starters could be trusted.
 
Discussion starter · #12 ·
I remember the Pinto. At the time, a family friend owned a local Ford dealership. His driveway was one of those that did not require a car to be put in reverse. A big circular, gated thing. I borrowed a Pinto to go to the local convenience store. A cool little car, for sure. It was brand new.

I pick up what I need, at the Circle K, and attempt to put the car in reverse. I can see where reverse is, on the tree, but no way to access it.

Luckily (?) a group of motorcycle riders are there, wearing "Barons MC" on their vests. Its a well known, Salt Lake City motorcycle gang......ok, back then "Gang", today its a club.

They can see I have no idea how to make this car go backwards. I go tout and said, "I dont suppose more than half of you guys own Ford Pintos, do you?"

They started laughing. I explained my issue and 3 of them shoved the car backwards so I did not have to. I later found out you needed to push the stock "down" to access reverse.

If this 900rs is successful, maybe Ford needs to bring back the Pinto?
 
Discussion starter · #14 ·
I would love to buy an rs and build it up to emulate this:

I have seen pictures of their cafe racer rs, but its not quite right as compared to this bike. Maybe the Vetter model would be easier to create?
 
Discussion starter · #16 ·
I've always loved the zrx. This rs looks like it's in a different class. In real life, it has a small, compact look to it. Still, I could always make room for a zrx.

I wonder if Kawasaki has any other retro bike in mind? What else would you like to see? The kz1300 would be unreal, but probably too expensive to be possible?

A modern kz 650 would be cool. I know we have the ninja 650, already, but I'm wanting a small 4 cyl bike, too
 
Discussion starter · #19 ·
And can you imagine the level the two strokes would be at if the technology had moved like ti has for the four strokes?

If you compared the original kz900 to this rs 900, its like 30% more power and 30% less weight......
 
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Discussion starter · #23 ·
That UK magazine thats called "Practical Sportsbikes" is pretty good. In this months issue, they feature a project bike that is base don the zrx400.

That bike looks just like the zrx1100/1200, but uses a 400cc inline 4, instead. Probably a waste of time, now, as im sure its as heavy at the 900rs.