12-27-2017, 01:20 PM
Btw, before I stopped by the Honda shop, I first visited the Kawi shop to check out the Z900RS, as well as the Ninja 1000 and Z900. I was primarily there to compare the seating positions of the Ninja 1000 and Z900, but since they had a Z900RS on display I went ahead and gave it a thorough looking-over.
A few observations...
-Kawasaki has really improved their fit and finish in recent years. They used to be the worst of the Big Four, but they now seem to be right there with Yamaha, above Suzuki, and just below Honda. The Z900RS is a very nice piece.
-Great exhaust note/intake sound. Very slick, somewhat throaty; refined, yet still plenty mean. Excellent job.
-My lord, but is that seat height tall! Not only is it much taller than the Z900, it's also taller than my already-quite-tall XSR900, even with the additional factory "comfort seat" from Yamaha, which is a bit thicker than the stock seat. America gets the tall, thick seat as standard for the Z900RS, which is great for ADV riders. I'd opt for the shorter seat. I think the bike looks better, as well, with the shorter seat. The tall one almost looks like an overfilled air mattress. The shorter seat looks much sportier, and is a better visual match for that elevated tail section.
-The digital instruments display in the center is rather plain but nicely laid out. It's quite useful, except that it's very difficult to read in direct sunlight. At one point, with the sun directly behind me, it was impossible to read.
-The offset horn just below the headlight looks unbelievable bad. It just looks so unfinished. Why on earth didn't they give it two horns for symmetry, like the CB1100?
-My favorite part of the entire bike has to be those cast wheels that look like spokes. Great idea. Just one problem, though. Good luck trying to attach a traditional tire pressure gauge to the stem. There is simply no way to do so, at least not without bending the stem to allow the gauge to clear the spoke. If ever a wheel cries out for a right-angle stem, it's this one.
-That Zephyr-replica tank is surprisingly wide. Never mind the unsightly seams at the bottom, which aren't as noticeable on the black model as they are on the brown and orange one, it's the sheer width of the thing that blew me away. What with the stupendously tall seat and that bloated tank, I felt like I was on a much larger bike than the Z900RS really is. Again, the shorter seat may help there, as it might just position my knees against a narrower portion of the bodywork, down lower.
-Gorgeous headlight. On or off, it's beautiful. Love the larger size, love the LEDs.
-Ditto, the turnsignals. I know a lot of people in America are po'd that once again we don't get the cool Euro-spec narrow LEDs, but I think the ones we do get complement the bike very well. They look great. They're floppy as heck, but they look fantastic.
-I like the look of the exhaust. Small, tidy, purposeful. The giant cat box at the bottom blows goats, though. Too bad they couldn't come up with a more elegant design to hide the thing, like Triumph and Honda did with the T120 and CB1100.
-Not a fan of the fake aluminum support pieces on either side of the front fender. Besides the fact that they don't belong there in the first place, they're plastic. Come on, Kawasaki, don't skimp there. Even Yamaha uses real aluminum for its trim pieces on the XSR900.
-Love the overall view from the seat. The cockpit is nicely finished. Nice top triple clamp, no mess of exposed wires anywhere, attractive mix of textures. So much more appealing than, say, an old ZRX1200 cockpit.
-Bungee hooks everywhere! All sorts of room, including mounting attachments, for soft luggage, Excellent.
Overall, as I said earlier, I found the Z900RS to be a very impressive piece, and probably a bit more nicely finished than the $2400 cheaper Z900. Still, once I bopped back on over to the Honda store to check out the '17 EX again, these two bikes are clearly not in the same league, in terms of fit and finish and attention to detail. From stem to stern, the Honda looks like it ought to cost many thousands more than the Kawasaki. It's no contest, really. It's difficult to put my finger on the exact difference, except to say that the Honda looks absolutely of a piece, like a painting or sculpture created by a single artist committed to one, pure design ethos, while the Kawasaki seems to be more of a cobbled together clash between the stylists, the bean counters, and the go-fast millennials in the CAD-CAM room.
In that sense, the Z900RS is reminiscent of my XSR, which also lacks the singular purity of the Honda. Park either the Z900RS or XSR900 beside a CB1100 EX, and the Honda immediately stands out as the most beautiful machine, and the best example of timeless, classic design.
A few observations...
-Kawasaki has really improved their fit and finish in recent years. They used to be the worst of the Big Four, but they now seem to be right there with Yamaha, above Suzuki, and just below Honda. The Z900RS is a very nice piece.
-Great exhaust note/intake sound. Very slick, somewhat throaty; refined, yet still plenty mean. Excellent job.
-My lord, but is that seat height tall! Not only is it much taller than the Z900, it's also taller than my already-quite-tall XSR900, even with the additional factory "comfort seat" from Yamaha, which is a bit thicker than the stock seat. America gets the tall, thick seat as standard for the Z900RS, which is great for ADV riders. I'd opt for the shorter seat. I think the bike looks better, as well, with the shorter seat. The tall one almost looks like an overfilled air mattress. The shorter seat looks much sportier, and is a better visual match for that elevated tail section.
-The digital instruments display in the center is rather plain but nicely laid out. It's quite useful, except that it's very difficult to read in direct sunlight. At one point, with the sun directly behind me, it was impossible to read.
-The offset horn just below the headlight looks unbelievable bad. It just looks so unfinished. Why on earth didn't they give it two horns for symmetry, like the CB1100?
-My favorite part of the entire bike has to be those cast wheels that look like spokes. Great idea. Just one problem, though. Good luck trying to attach a traditional tire pressure gauge to the stem. There is simply no way to do so, at least not without bending the stem to allow the gauge to clear the spoke. If ever a wheel cries out for a right-angle stem, it's this one.
-That Zephyr-replica tank is surprisingly wide. Never mind the unsightly seams at the bottom, which aren't as noticeable on the black model as they are on the brown and orange one, it's the sheer width of the thing that blew me away. What with the stupendously tall seat and that bloated tank, I felt like I was on a much larger bike than the Z900RS really is. Again, the shorter seat may help there, as it might just position my knees against a narrower portion of the bodywork, down lower.
-Gorgeous headlight. On or off, it's beautiful. Love the larger size, love the LEDs.
-Ditto, the turnsignals. I know a lot of people in America are po'd that once again we don't get the cool Euro-spec narrow LEDs, but I think the ones we do get complement the bike very well. They look great. They're floppy as heck, but they look fantastic.
-I like the look of the exhaust. Small, tidy, purposeful. The giant cat box at the bottom blows goats, though. Too bad they couldn't come up with a more elegant design to hide the thing, like Triumph and Honda did with the T120 and CB1100.
-Not a fan of the fake aluminum support pieces on either side of the front fender. Besides the fact that they don't belong there in the first place, they're plastic. Come on, Kawasaki, don't skimp there. Even Yamaha uses real aluminum for its trim pieces on the XSR900.
-Love the overall view from the seat. The cockpit is nicely finished. Nice top triple clamp, no mess of exposed wires anywhere, attractive mix of textures. So much more appealing than, say, an old ZRX1200 cockpit.
-Bungee hooks everywhere! All sorts of room, including mounting attachments, for soft luggage, Excellent.
Overall, as I said earlier, I found the Z900RS to be a very impressive piece, and probably a bit more nicely finished than the $2400 cheaper Z900. Still, once I bopped back on over to the Honda store to check out the '17 EX again, these two bikes are clearly not in the same league, in terms of fit and finish and attention to detail. From stem to stern, the Honda looks like it ought to cost many thousands more than the Kawasaki. It's no contest, really. It's difficult to put my finger on the exact difference, except to say that the Honda looks absolutely of a piece, like a painting or sculpture created by a single artist committed to one, pure design ethos, while the Kawasaki seems to be more of a cobbled together clash between the stylists, the bean counters, and the go-fast millennials in the CAD-CAM room.
In that sense, the Z900RS is reminiscent of my XSR, which also lacks the singular purity of the Honda. Park either the Z900RS or XSR900 beside a CB1100 EX, and the Honda immediately stands out as the most beautiful machine, and the best example of timeless, classic design.