Kawasaki has unveiled the 2020 version of the Z900RS and Z900RS Cafe. These motorcycles feature new paint schemes and that’s all that differentiates the new from the outgoing models.
The 2020 Kawasaki Z900RS gets a new, candy-green colour scheme with contrasting yellow stripes that run along the fuel tank and the tiny tail section. The green shade looks properly retro and matches the motorcycle's theme. It's also available in an all-black paint scheme.
The Z900RS Cafe is the café-racer styled version, distinguished by its mini-fairing, blacked-out wheels and body-coloured wheel stripes. For 2020, the Z900RS Cafe gets the same lime-green colour with a white paint stripe as seen on the 2019 version. However, the top half of the fuel tank is painted black to add some contrast. Besides this colour, the Z900RS Cafe is also available with a grey-blue paint scheme with a white stripe running from the fairing to the tail piece.
The 2020 Z900RS and Z900RS Cafe will go on sale in international markets and we expect Kawasaki to launch them in India by the end of 2019.
The Z900RS and Z900RS Cafe are inspired by the Kawasaki Z1 – a four-cylinder motorcycle that was introduced in 1972. Some of the retro-themed styling bits include the fuel tank, flat seat, stainless-steel exhaust pipes and the twin-pod instrument cluster.
Both motorcycles are based on the Kawasaki Z900 street-naked and share the same 948cc, liquid-cooled, in-line four-cylinder engine, albeit in a different state of tune. While the Z900’s engine produces 125hp at 9,500rpm the Z900RS’ motor produces 111hp at 8,500 rpm.
While the Z900RS and Cafe are both retro-themed bikes, they are equipped with modern day features such as traction control and two riding modes.
The Kawasaki Z900RS is currently imported to India as a CBU from Japan, which is why the price tag is an exorbitant Rs 15.7 lakh (ex-showroom). This makes it a lot more expensive than other retro-themed motorcycles in the market, like the Triumph Thruxton R (12.15 lakh ex-showroom).
Vishal Venugopal
Ved Janve
Azaman Chothia
