RETRO FUNSTERS!
Kawasaki Z650 RS, Ducati Scrambler 1100 Tribute Pro and Ducati Scrambler 800 Urban Motard
Z650 RS
We reckon even Kawasaki was a bit surprised by the success of the 1970s-styled Z900 RS it launched a few years ago. The firm made a good job of it, of course; the modern Z900 naked roadster suited its Z1 makeover perfectly, and it’s as nice to ride as it is to look at.
So there’s no real surprises in this, the new Z650 RS. Team Green has taken its solid Z650 naked roadster middleweight twin and dressed it up like the 1977 Z650 B1. The air-cooled inline four Z650 was the firm’s middleweight roadster of the time, and quite successful, too. It had the styling of the bigger Kawasakis, solid performance, and is quite a desirable classic now.
The 2022 version has the looks, including the sweet fuel tank shape, retro-stitched seat cover and duck-tail seat unit. There’s a big round headlamp, of course, though it’s full of LEDs rather than a yellowish tungsten bulb, and you get textbook twinpodded instruments with a neat integrated LCD info panel.
Performance is essentially identical to the standard Z650: 67bhp, 187kg wet, with 41mm RWU forks, pre-load-adjust rear monoshock and twin 300mm discs up front with twin-piston calipers and Bosch ABS. The new Z650 RS should be in dealers now, costing from £7549.
Scrambler Tribute Pro 1100
From one 1970s throwback to another... this time it is Ducati’s 1971 750 GT we’re celebrating, in the form of a Scrambler 1100 Tribute Pro. It’s got the old-school Ducati logo on the tank, a brown stitched seat cover and a period ochre yellow paint scheme, which goes perfectly with the air-cooled V-twin motor and steel tube trellis frame. The rest of the bike is basically the same as the base-level Scrambler 1100 Dark: 86bhp, 1079cc two-valve desmo engine in a steel tube trellis frame with cooking suspension and brakes, a decent electronics package and wire-spoked wheels with Pirelli MT60 RS rubber.
Less retro and more street is the new 800 Scrambler Urban Motard. It’s a bit of a mishmash of designs on the supermotard theme, with a high dirtbike-style front mudguard, flat-tracker sidepanel number boards, spoked rims and sporty street tyres. The paint scheme is sort of graffiti-art with white and GP red colours, and it’s an attractive enough take on the Scrambler theme – though there’s nothing to suggest it will have the genuine madness of a proper supermotard. The air-cooled V-twin motor makes 73bhp and the bike weighs in at 180kg dry.
Neither model is built for outright performance (Ducati doesn’t want to cannibalise its Monster sales, we guess), but like all the firm’s Scramblers – it’s about a fun ride. And, to be honest, they get that spot-on: the Scrambler 800 and 1100 are both easy to ride and good fun, especially around town or on the proverbial twisty back roads.
The 1100 Tribute Pro costs from £11,995 and the Urban Motard 800 is from £10,350.