WHY THE KAWASAKI Z900 WAS EVEN CREATED?
- Utprabh Mishra
- Sep 2, 2021
- 4 min read
I have said multiple times on the channel and the Blog that the Kawasaki Z900 is one of the best big bikes money can buy in my opinion and this time we are going to be talking about why I think that way.
So, in the world of performance machines bikes are more affordable than cars and they provide more performance per dollar than anything on the planet. A 17 Grand Kawasaki ZX 10R can keep up with a 500 Grand Aventador SVJ in acceleration, top speed, and around the track as well.
The same is the case with the Z900, it’s a street bike that has been created to be used as a daily rider, can keep up with Supercars and if ever needed can do some awesome track days as well.
Starting from the design of the Z900 you can see that it’s very compact, for a bike with a 948 CC engine it’s very impressive. The design is not too aggressive but it’s not boring as well, it’s a perfect combination of beauty and aggression.
The lines flow very smoothly from the front to the end and there aren’t any weird angles on the motorcycle that don’t make sense, everything is there for a purpose.
The best part for me is the overall muscular looks that form when you consider the whole bike and due to that, it adds a bit of an intimidating look to the bike.
We have all seen manufacturers who cut costs of making a vehicle by compromising on the quality, but not Kawasaki they have given LED lightning on the Bike all around. The Seats have been made in a way to be as ergonomically suited to the rider and the pillion.
The price range in which the Z900 falls is a segment where manufactures don’t focus that much on the tech package on the bike except a few, well with the Z900 you get a TFT Display screen that gives you the ability to toggle between your desired power modes and lets you control the traction to the level you want; it also comes with Bluetooth connectivity feature.
Now, let me tell you a story of why and how the Z900 was created. So, before the Z900 even existed we had the Kawasaki Z800, a big street bike that was just 200 cc shy away from being a liter-class bike.
It used to be a favorite among the enthusiasts and the riders because of its versatility and value for money but it was a quite heavy bike, at 234 Kgs, it was the heaviest street bike in its category, but it still sold in good numbers, it had a production run of 4 years from 2013 to 2016.
But it was still not a liter-class bike, so Kawasaki thought of making a liter-class street bike and they named it the Z1000.
Finally, after years of Kawasaki making street bikes, here was the one that stood as the pinnacle of them all.
But but but, it was not as great as we all thought it to be, despite being a liter-class bike, it was the least powerful among all and with a weight of 221 Kgs, this made it quite slow compared to the other street bikes of its time. Torque was okayish, but it didn’t make up for the competition.
After this, Kawasaki decided to take the best of both z800 and z1000 and created a bike, that became the most desired bike among the enthusiasts.
The Z900, it’s not significantly small to be competing against the mid-segment of bikes and it’s big enough to go against the big boys, so it has kind of created a segment of its own.
The Inline 4 engine of the Z900 is a result of the years of work that Kawasaki has put into making their bikes. The kind of engine which delivers performance to the best and is reliable as well.
Being a bike that strikes the perfect balance between the Z800 and the Z1000 it’s not as insanely heavy as its predecessors, it’s 24 kgs lighter than the z800 and the 11 kgs lighter than the z1000.
Kawasaki saved weight by using a trellis frame on the Z900 and made the swingarm lighter to cut some more weight.
Another interesting that I got to know about the z900 is that the styling through which the z900 has been designed called the Z sugomi styling has some key elements and you can easily recognize if it’s a Z bike with these elements, the elements are crouching stance, low positioned head and an upswept tail, the Z800 and the z1000 had these styling elements too.
Having a fuel tank capacity of 17 liters and a mileage of about 15-18 kmpl, you get a range of about 300kms, which means that the z900 can be used for touring purposes as well.
The assist and slipper clutch on the z900 will aid the rider in quick upshifts and downshifts.
Even the taillight on the Z900 is the shape of the letter Z, in case you forget the model of the bike you are riding on.
Previously, the instrument cluster on the Z900 wasn’t that good and for a bike in its segment, it didn’t suit it and looked kinda cheap but now it looks like a proper modern-day Kawasaki.
If we talk about the competition that the z900 has to face, it’s in the form of one of the finest motorcycle manufacturers in the world, triumph.
The triumph street triple is the only bike that I think can give serious competition to the z900, it has not got as much power and torque as the z900 but the tech and the quality it offers are top-notch.
For riders who are confused between these two, should take a test ride. Anyways, you can’t go wrong with either one of them.
Except that there is no other bike that can compete with the z900 yet. Having a seat height of 795 mm means that the z900 is welcoming to most of the riders.
There are some awesome accessories available with the z900 that intrigued me quite a lot, these accessories are only going to make the bike more desirable for riders.
The handling of the z900 is one of the areas which Kawasaki thinks will attract buyers.
Till then
Ciao
