Kawasaki Z900RS Cafe Part 2 : Best Laid Plans...

 As I said in the last entry, I purchased this bike in mid-March even though I could not go get it for another 3 weeks. I was worried that it the longer I waited the less likely it would be there. Turned out that was a very good call as When I arrived on 3-April to pick up the bike, my Ace Sales Guy Brandon told me that the following weekend a couple days later, people came in 2 different times looking for that bike. But, it had a deposit on it now, so Ah Hah Hah Hah Ha!

I had lined up a U-Haul trailer that I would pick up on 4-2-24 and a hotel room to spend that night. As the day approached, in typical fashion known to all motorcyclists, it became apparent that the weather would NOT be cooperating. 

From NOAA : “A spring storm brought rain, heavy snow, damaging winds and thunderstorms across much of the Great Lakes on April 2, knocking out power to over 100,000 people across the region during the height of the storm.”

With all paperwork ducks in a row, I headed off on a 370 mile trek, mostly in pouring rain. The next morning I checked out, collected the U-Haul trailer and was waiting at the door of Roundhouse Powersports when they opened. I know people hate starting their day that way, but hey, I've got a 45 minute break forecast in the rain and I'm on a schedule.

Got the paperwork done and while I was looking at my watch and waiting for everything to be ready for me to take the bike, I wandered over to the Roundhouse Harley Davidson side of this huge dealership and bought a tee shirt, 'cause that's what we do.

By 11:20 I was loaded and ready to hit the road, just as it started to sprinkle...

I then drove home 7 hours in the rain. At one point in the Poconos it was raining sideways and everyone was crawling along at 35mph with flashers on. Road spray from passing trucks was blinding and you had to slow to let them make space.

As I got within 30 miles of home I started to see trucks out salting the NYS Thruway, which I avoided like the plague, and were also ominous as to the expectations with the temps dropping. I got home in a well-timed break in the rain and got the bike into the garage.

Within a few hours the rain had turned and had the storm been like this the entire drive home I am not sure if I'd have pressed on or parked for the night, but I've have been angry to move my new bike in snow and road salt. And so it goes.

A couple days later the snow was gone and it was time to get the bike washed and wait for warmer days.

Kawasaki Z900RS Cafe Part 1 : Discovery

Looking at the Z900RS, it immediately dragged me back to my late teenage years riding Kawasaki dirt bikes, and hanging around the local Kawasaki shop. I had posters on my bedroom wall of the KZ650 floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee; the 2-cylinder KZ750; and of course the KZ1000. A friend of mine's cousin owned a H2 Mach IV 750 triple that he streeted during the week and threw wheelie bars on and ran at the nearby drag strip on Sundays...

Of the 16 bikes I have had over the years, 9 of them have been Kawasaki. I had a couple truly great GSX-Rs but I love Kawasaki motorcycles. Read my Americade posts. I was the only kid I knew who could identify them coming down the street in the early ’70’s by sound. I learned to shift on a KE100, got my license on a KZ400 and took the plunge into sportbikes in 1984 when I bought a GPz1100.

Once I found the Kawasaki Z900RS Cafe, and spent a couple weeks researching the bike, it became my choice for next garage addition. It was brought out in the U.S. in 2018 but was not on my radar until recently. It shares all the "retro, classic" looks of the Z900RS but the cafe-type styling appeals to me more after decades of sport bikes. Its looks are the antithesis of say, the Ninja 1000sx. 

Let's see, what else does this bike have going for it that appeals to me :

- It does NOT have a multi-point IMU

- It does NOT have a self-adjusting sky-hook suspension

- It does NOT have adaptive cruise control

- It does NOT have an up / down quick shifter

- It does NOT have 200+ HP

- It is a street bike, NOT a track bike on the street

I've seen many videos and forum posts saying you NEED an ECU flash to remove the jerky throttle response. While now riding my bike, I have searched for and experienced what I assume is being referred to, but don't even give it a thought. Ain't no big deal if you've been riding a few years.

While shopping, I was really liking the 2018/19 Kawi green colors, though I'd peel the mustache. I also like the black ones later on. I figured if I could find something with less than 5000 miles on it and less than $10K I would get that and keep the Road King. I really like my Road King after spending a couple years getting it setup for me; I love the fit and finish of the bike and it is well suited for cruising / touring and NOT more aggressive cornering.

In early March I found a left-over 2023 at Powerhouse Kawasaki in Altoona, PA. It was waaaaaay cheaper than other dealers had the same bike listed. It was cheaper than any other Cafe I could find with less than 10K miles on it....

Hmm... I thought about it for a couple weeks and noticed that the 2024 Z900RS Cafe has not been changed at all, other than the Great New Price increase. I thought about it one more day and figured someone else would surely notice this as well, so I called and bought it over the phone. Said I'd be down in 3 weeks to complete the sale and pick it up.

Altoona, PA -- here I come !

2023 -- A Reevaluation Year

 Events of 2023 limited my riding time, therefore not a lot to post here. It started off with the usual enthusiasm to get back out on the road. I was hoping to expand my riding circle in the H-D world and see a bit more of New England on the bike. Didn't happen.

I think I took maybe 6 rides all season. A few were with my long, long-time ridding buddy of 40+ years, but they were local runs after meeting at his house; perhaps an hour in length from there. If I'm getting picky, I rode my bike about 20 miles each way to and from my dealership to have a set of Pirelli Night Dragons installed.

Right as the summer was becoming official, things turned. I did not ride the rest of 2023. By late summer I wasn't even waxing weekly anymore. By the end of summer, moving into Autumn, every time I looked at the Road King sitting in my garage, I started to think there's a pile of money sitting there I could be doing something else with...

As I shuffled my garage for Winter, I was pretty sure I would sell the Harley in Spring '24. But, I still wasn't ready to hang up my helmets. I was just deciding that maybe it was time to move in another direction. Maybe, another new bike.

I spent the entire winter researching various motorcycles, listed below in order of discovery:

The leading number is the number of times that I’ve reviewed it, sometimes for weeks, then looked at another bike, gone back to it and then moved on, again…

01   Moto Guzzi V100 Mandello S

01   H-D Pan American 

05   Triumph Tiger 1200 GT Pro

01   BMW GS 1250

08   Kawasaki Ninja 1000sx

05   Kawasaki Versys 1000 SE LT

02   Suzuki GSX-S1000 GT

05   Honda CB1000R Black Edition

        01   Kawasaki Z900RS Cafe

At this point I prioritize the more upright, relaxed rider's triangle. My back and shoulders are all done with the clipon, rearset, race crouch. But I want some amount of ground clearance for cornering. I spent a lot of time trying to talk myself into various ADV bikes but just wasn't feeling it. I really wanted to want the GSX-S1000 GT but all the road tests I watched said it was a bit more aggressive riding posture than would be good for me, and I've already lived years with the 1000sx which gets better sport touring reviews.

I am not a huge fan of the current styling trend in both cars (especially E-cars) and bikes moving everything towards something George Jetson (look it up youngsters) would admire. Ultra tech and angles and beaks, Oh My. 

I was liking the CB1000R Black a lot. Sorta retro vibe, but angrier. Then I saw one in a showroom and it did not have the fit and finish I wanted at all. An old pic of a Z1000 popped up on my wallpaper rotation, so I was looking at a review of the Kawasaki Z900 one day and they mentioned the Z900RS, which I was not familiar with, so I looked at it. That review led me to the Z900RS Cafe ....