Kawasaki Z900 Performance
H2-inspired frame and beefy engine. This the lightest and fastest middleweight Zed to date
‘At full bark the Z900 is clean and aggressive all at the same time’
BLIMEY. COMING FROM the two triples, the Z900’s inlinefour takes you by surprise. Spy a rare patch of straight Welsh tarmac, twist the throttle on, and a strong wave of power – unhindered by peaks or troughs – propels you right up to its 11,000rpm redline. It’s all straight-talking forward momentum, reaching out and pulling you to the horizon rather than punching forward like the Yam. ‘So smooth,’ says Langy. ‘It pulls cleanly with oodles of power. Typical Kwak.’ At full bark, the Z900 sounds clean, raw and aggressive all at the same time. Flitting across a wriggle of road hacked into a hillside the 948cc, 123bhp four has pretty much the urgency of the MT-09 in lower gears, flicking the front wheel into the air over crests in second and third. Ask for acceleration and you get it. Reach cruising speed, click the slick gearbox up a few notches, and the Z900 takes on a different character, however. Waft around in the midrange in a high ratio and the spirited edge is replaced with something a bit more hair dryer than rebellious naked, even through the official Akrapovic slip-on. On long, straight rides it’s not a bad trait, but in this mountainous playground it’s a slightly lacking power delivery and disappointing soundtrack after the explosive response of the Yamaha and haunting aural assault of the Triumph. Back down a couple of gears with the slick ’box, chase the Triumph into a series of turns, and the Zed reveals handling sportiness. Out of the box the fully-adjustable suspension is on the firm side and works when the road is fast and smooth, just like the Triumph. It hasn’t the Street’s sense of posh damping, and it gets a bit crashy ridden hard, however it’s happier being lobbed hard into fast corners than the MT-09. ‘I like the predictability of the whole caboodle,’ pipes up Mike. ‘You leap aboard, crack on and it all feels familiar and usable for anyone raised on Japanese bikes. The gushing inline four, the balance, the riding position – none of it holds surprises.’ And this is a bit of a problem with the new Z900. It might be new, and it might be a bit better than the previous Z800, however it doesn’t have anything or do anything that shouts ‘now’. There’s a new tubular steel frame for the 900, its construction apparently made possible by lessons learned while creating the supercharged H2 hyperbike. The tubular subframe allows a low seat height – 25mm lower than the Yamaha. The fuel tank is tall and wide, splaying legs, the handlebar is raked back towards you, and on this Performance version of the bike there’s a flyscreen jutting up in front of you. And so the Zed feels wholly different from the modern, airy, controlling riding positions of the two triples. There’s an old-school feel of being ‘in’ the bike and being slumped in the middle, rather than being ‘on’ it and issuing orders. Mike’s nosing at the engine. ‘It just looks old-school,’ he says. ‘The gearbox sits behind the crank, rather than being stacked and triangulating the shafts as on the MT-09 and Street – it’s showing its family tree back to the ZX-9R of the mid-90s. The motor’s long, making the bike look like it weighs 70kg more than the Yamaha and meaning its mass isn’t as easy to centralise as on the others. You feel it during constant direction changes on whirling roads – the Zed isn’t quite as sweet or neutral as the triples.’ Brakes are the only ones here that aren’t radially mounted. This doesn’t affect performance, the bite and power of the Nissins being admirable, however it makes the 900 look lower spec than rivals. You might not want or need them, but traction control and modes are conspicuous in their absence. Switchgear looks clunky next to slim controls on the MT, and the mirrors were first seen on Z-family bikes ten years ago. The new cheap-looking digi display is like a step backwards; the Z800’s multi-screen affair was nicer. You’d overlook these points if the Kwak was cheapest. It isn’t. That flyscreen is part of the Performance pack that adds the pipe, tank pad and seat cowl, and takes price to £9139 on the road. That makes it the most expensive here – a grand more than the MT-09. The base Z900 is £8389, but it’s still a lot of sofa searches for a bike that doesn’t excel in any area. The Zed’s lasting impression is of looking down at that heartbreakingly-ugly speedo with its fauxcarbon surround, the thing that finishes a bike lacking a standout feature. Only Mike sees past it. ‘It’s not trying to be different like the Yam, or tearing down a sporty cul-de-sac like the Triumph. If you love fours and have a history including bikes like Hornets, Bandits and previous Zeds, the 900’s wailing engine, capable chassis and exploitable familiarity will be completely satisfying.’