2017 Kawasaki Z900 review, test ride

On the inside
The Z900’s frame is all new as well. Kawasaki has dropped the older cast-alloy backbone chassis from the Z800 in favour of a tubular steel trellis unit that weighs only 13.5kg; about 1.5kg lighter than the similar new trellis on the smaller Z650. With five rigid mounts to the motor, the engine is a stressed member of the overall chassis now. The low weight, paired with a low seat height of just 795mm, makes the Z900 a good proposition for shorter riders.

The suspension setup, on the other hand, hasn’t seen a massive revision over the outgoing model. It retains the beefy 41mm upside- down forks at the front with stepless adjustability for rebound damping as well as spring preload (there’s no compression damping adjustment, though). The rear still uses the familiar horizontally mounted linked monoshock, and suspension travel at both ends is identical. Overall ride quality is quite good over the less-than-perfect road conditions in India; bumps at low and high speeds are handled in a predictable manner.

While most mechanicals have either improved or stayed the same, the same cannot be said about the brakes. The dual-petal rotors at the front seem to have reduced in size from 310mm to 300mm, but Kawasaki has retained the opposed four-piston calipers. The stopping power of the Z900 is far from insufficient. While the initial bite is light and predictable, squeeze a bit harder and the brakes will scrub off speed at a phenomenal rate.

Scream machine
The Z900 is powered by a new 948cc inline-four engine that is based on the Z1000’s unit and makes 123.6hp of peak power at 9,500rpm. As expected from an inline-four engine from Kawasaki, refinement levels of this engine are simply exquisite. From the moment you thumb the starter button, there’s a nice bassy buzz that transforms into a positively manic howl as the revs climb. And, as expected from a naked, the engine offers a nice, meaty mid-range with a noticeable kick after 6,000rpm. The motor has been equipped with a secondary balancer, driven on the sixth web of the crankshaft, to reduce some of the excess vibrations, and there’s minimal vibration in any situation.

Kawasaki has also developed an assist and slipper clutch which makes action at the lever light and assists with excessive engine braking. In keeping with its street-fighter character, the Z900 gets a short-ratio gearbox with pretty closely stacked gears until fifth; the sixth gear is a relatively tall one. In fact, combined with the high refinement levels, you can pull away from speed breakers from 20kph in third gear with no resistance. And the fifth gear will help you pull cleanly from as low as 30kph, all the way to a speedo-indicated 180kph; after which, the sixth gear will take you all the way to a 240kph-plus top speed.

What’s noteworthy on the Z900 is the cooling system – it’s absolutely outstanding. Even while ambling through heavy city traffic, there are almost negligible levels of heat from the engine, and that’s commendable for a larger displacement motorcycle.