FIRSTRIDE:KAWASAKIZ900
The revamped naked is really a bit special.
Kawasaki are the kings of the fast engine. Think supercharged H2, multiple WSB winning ZX-10R and the screaming ZX-6R. Of course fastness doesn’t just apply to bikes with fairings, top drawer super nakeds such as the Aprilia Tuono, KTM Super Duke, BMW S1000R and the wing’d Ducati Streetfighter are crammed with big bhps and dripping in cutting edge electronics. They also cost plenty.
Which is where ‘middleweight’ nakeds such as Triumph’s Street Triple, Yamaha’s MT-09 and Kawasaki’s latest Z900 come in – although they’re hardly mid-weight, power or capacity, these days. What these bikes lack in looney power they make up for in their rapidity, playfulness and how they make sense in the pot-holed real world. They’re easier to manage and comfortably less than ten grand too. Or little more than a hundred PCPS a month.
With their charismatic three-cylinder engines and edgy design, the Street Triple and MT-09 have been the popular choice, but since the Z900 morphed from the Z800 in 2017 (and the Z750 before that), it’s flourished into something special. This twisted, ‘Sugomi’-styled Kawasaki is smoother than its rivals, more powerful and handles exceptionally well, despite what appears to be low-rent brakes and semiadjustable suspension.
Refreshed for 2020, the Z900 gets a new multifunction colour TFT dash, remodelled headlight and tank surrounds, a new bellypan, LEDS all-round and new Dunlop Roadsport 2 tyres. Suspension, brakes and chassis remain the same (other than a beefed-up swingarm pivot) and updates to the sleeved-down 124bhp Z1000 engine have been limited to Euro5 mapping and exhaust tweaks.
Not what you would call ground-breaking changes, but in truth the Z900 didn’t need much of a leg-up. You see, the Z900’s four-cylinder motor is one of Kawasaki’s finest road recipes; once you get past the still-annoying jolt and you go ahead and crack the throttle (and close it again) at low speed, it’s never short of thick, wheelie-inducing thrust from the depths of its rev range right through to its 10,500rpm redline.
Low-geared for maximum drama out of corners and spewing pure anger through its airbox and exhaust, the Z900’s 948cc lump still manages to be your flexible friend at normal speeds with a clutch and gearbox that are so light you almost forgive the lack of a quickshifter. Almost.
Like the Z1-inspired Z900RS the Z900 now comes with electronic rider aids: two power maps, fourstage traction control and power modes. The thing is you quickly realise you don’t need a soft map with 55% less power and lots of TC in your life. So, simply slot the Z900 into Sport mode and leave it there. For the rest of time.
Few Japanese nakeds nail it in the chassis department quite like the Z900 manages to. Most, like the new Katana, Honda CB1000R, MT-10 or even Kawasaki’s own Z1000, are too stiff, high and harsh at the front and soft at the rear. They understeer, sap confidence in the wet and pogo so much harder under hard acceleration that you need to drag the back brake to calm them down. Meanwhile the Z900 has the natural, playful balance of a European super naked with a spacious, fighty riding position to match. Forks and rear shock are well controlled, steering is never a fist fight and even with ABS, the brakes are gloriously unhindered by fussy electronics the front lever span is too far away mind.
The one thing you do have to look out for are the new Dunlops, which lack grip at both ends when you push on, and even after a hard ride they struggle to get even lukewarm. They’re safe enough, but the Z900 would shine on better rubber. What price that Ducati Streetfighter now?
‘The Z900 has the natural, playful balance of a European super naked with a spacious, fighty riding position to match’