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 !