Kawasaki Z900RS retro-styled bike unveiled

Kawasaki unveiled its latest Z900RS - a retro-styled naked bike at the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show. The Kawasaki Z1 from the 1970s inspires this bike.

While, the Z900RS is based on the Z900, the chassis has been tweaked to suit the bike. It gets a classic circular headlamp with chrome trim and modern LEDs. The twin-pod analogue instrument houses an LCD display in the middle. The cluster gets chrome bezels, while the 4-1 exhaust also gets a chrome finish. The teardrop-style fuel tank features classic livery with the Kawasaki logo to go with theme. Even the cylinder heads have been designed to look like the classic air-cooled unit.

It gets a leather seat and raised handlebars for an upright riding position. The handlebars are 30 mm wider, 65 mm taller and 35 mm closer to the rider. The rider's foot pegs have also been moved forward and have been lowered by 20 mm compared with the Z900.

The Z900RS uses a similar suspension setup as the Z900. At the front, it gets adjustable 41-mm inverted forks and an adjustable horizontal back-link, gas-charged shock absorber at the rear. It rides on new cast wheels that are designed to look like wire-spoke ones.

The new bike uses the same 948cc, liquid-cooled, in-line 4-cylinder engine as the Z900, but it has been re-tuned for better mid-range. It produces 109 BHP and 73 Nm of peak torque and is paired with a 6-speed gearbox via a slipper clutch. Kawasaki claims that the gear ratios have been tweaked. The twin-floating discs handle the braking duties with 4-piston radial calipers in the front and a single disc at the rear.

The Kawasaki Z900RS comes with traction control and two riding modes. It is offered in orange, black and a matte green colour options.