T
HE RUMOURS of a
retro Z900 Kawasaki have
been circulating for the past
couple of years. Most of the other
manufacturers have released one or
another interesting retro model but I
have to say that Kawasaki has taken
the cake with the new Z900RS and
Café versions. They are beautiful
looking bikes in photos, and in the
metal they’re simply stunning.
I headed along to hipster café, Deus
Ex Machina in Sydney to witness the
reveal to the Australian press and
Kawasaki Team Green members. I
also took original Z1 owner
and friend, Nigel along for the
viewing as I reckon he’ll be
EVENT
KAWASAKI Z900RS
AND CAFÉ REVEAL
Get in line! This bad boy will be popular! WORDS/PHOTOSSTUART
placing his deposit on one as soon as
he can. To have a concourse original
Jaffa and a new one that he can ride
every day would be pretty special.
The retro Z900RS and Café are based
on the current Z900 but with a slightly
retuned engine, more focused on
mid-range torque than outright power.
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build quality details and to say both
bikes look a class above is about right.
This will also attract a premium on
the price tag. For the RS Jaffa colour
you’re looking at $17,999 ride away.
Kawasaki mentioned to me the Jaffa
colour is actually the ‘SE’
version with the Café
coming early next year
along with a more basic
coloured version of
the RS. Expect the
Café version to be
around the $18,499
mark and the basic
version around
$16,499.
These two
prices
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will be pretty close.
The folk at Deus were given two
pre-production bikes to ‘customise’
as part of the reveal and for display
at the Sydney Motorcycle Show. One
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the other styled on Gooses’ MFP bike
from Mad Max. I and most of the
onlookers were a little confused with
the ‘styling’ Deus had used for these
bikes. The reaction online also hasn’t
been kind to Deus. I don’t wish to
make any further comment regarding
these bikes but to say that they’ve
missed the mark is an understatement.
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on both bikes and the RS Jaffa feels
very similar to the original Z1with a
great seating position with the high
handlebar. In the mood lighting at Deus
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the RS and Café look amazing. I’m a
paint man and love show quality paint –
which both bikes appear to have.
But, that’s enough from the reveal, it
isn’t long until we’ll have the RS Jaffa
to test – hopefully in the next issue!
(Fingers crossed). D