This last Christmas Santa brought me a 2019 💚 Z900RS CAFE 💚 I've been a good 62 year old kid no switches and coal this year . I'm in love with a living legend ,growing in lore and reputation itself. Sure to be another Kawasaki time capsule of looks sound and power. 42 years of riding over 2 dozen motorcycles, and this is without doubt my new favourite 💚🎯😁

There's a guy on YT that races an RS in Retro class. He's putting 130 hp to the wheel with Z900 cams. Cleans up on R9T's, Speed Twins and various Ducatis. He says his RS pulls XSR 900's in the straights. He has raced it in tons of events and has yet to have a failure. Great bikes.

This and the Triumph 1200 twins are great modern takes of older bikes 👍🏻

I drool 🤤 over my neighbors Z900RS... but he won't let me ride it. 😢 *maybe ur video will help(?), I'll give it a shot

I owned a 2021 Z900RS in the green/yellow color combo- just stunning. It's the ultimate modern UJM and the most beautiful bike built by any manufacturer in the last 2+ decades. It's just gorgeous from every angle. Outside of enjoying its overall performance, I could just sit in my garage and stare at it. The stock exhaust was fantastic sounding. The bike's only flaw was that it lacked cruise control but a Kaoko throttle lock was a sufficient replacement. I modded it into a lightweight ST and loved every minute of ownership. Sadly, it was not a good 2-up bike and had to go, but I had tears in my eyes when selling. Of all the bikes I've owned in the last 45+ years of riding, this is the one I wish I still had. Perhaps in the future another will occupy the limited space in my garage.

Great Review, how would you compare this bike Z900 against the ZRX 1200 that you use to ride, from the standpoint of power and handling on both bikes

I'm glad you reviewed this one, because I've been really curious about it for a while now. I like that they did this as a blend of the old athletics aesthetics with modern technology actually, with a modern mono shock rear suspension and water cooled engine. I'll probably stick with my '79 Yamaha XS 11 for a good long time, but if there was one new production bike that is tempting to me it's this one.

Beautiful machine , I would argue with myself whether to install KERKER or Supertrapp exhaust .

Beautiful bikes, on my wish list for the future…

Really like that model as well as the Z650. Tell your buddy to get a G2 Throttle Tamer for it. MUCH more affordable than a remap of the ECU, and an easy install. It will completely transform the abruptness of the throttle. Trust me on that! And they make them for most bikes.

Nice looking bike, Jon. I would love to hear the sound of a Kerker or Delkavic. Enjoyed the video,Jon and RIDE SAFE OUT THERE!

thanks for the review, about the only newer bikes that spark my interest.and sure its ALOT better than my old magna in every catagory.

Couldn't have said it better myself. My '22 blue RS is about 5 feet from me in the foyer- no more room in the garage. Took it last August on a 2500 mile ride to the Sierras with just a tailbag and my brother on a VStrom packed to the gills. All in all everything I want in a bike. It only has about 10k miles on it but never a problem. My friend's RS has 60k on it and runs perfect. These bikes have unbelievable low end grunt for a 4 banger. Come around a corner in 4th at 10mph and pulls away so smoothly. All in all very happy and it gets more compliments than my HD Low Rider S 117.

Another great video as always. I've always been a fan of the older Big bore Kawasaki and many years ago owned a 78 LTD 1000 and 80 LTD 1000... I think they've done a nice job with blending modern technology with the earlier styling as much as they could.

looks are everything awesome review and motor great perfect for the road ! thanks

perfect for road twisties performance 130hp max for road to use all of it ! thinking getting one -Quick light and fun .. all you need great

I've seen them at the dealership. They're nice. I wonder what would happen if they built the original Z1 900 again. I bet people would buy it big time. 6/22/24.

I have the z900. The looks grow on you. But for the life of me I don’t understand why Kawasaki didn’t use the same tune z900 engine in the z900 RS? They detuned the RS engine and charged several thousand more for the RS. Great bikes.

I have the 2018 z900rs. Stock they are horrible with twitch throttle. Ive had my ecu reflashed and 16t front sprocket. Its rides somewhat better but still not great.

This is a really beautiful bike. Eventually I'll have one, some day... The cafe version with the little head fairing, dark grey with green stripes is my favourite. Though the naked version with dark blue colour looks amazing as well. Thanks for the review... will you ever go back on an 80ies bike after this?

If they made them with dual rear shocks, I would have bought one, when first released.

Great review on an retro classic, I would like to hear your thoughts on the 2014 Honda Cb 1100. Thanks for showing

Hey Jon, I've been really looking forward to this review. This bike has been on my short list for awhile. My thoughts were leaning more towards an upright sport-tourer to add to my collection, but I know that I would love to see this in my garage as well. I enjoyed the review and video. 👍 Eric in NC

good job Jon , thx for sharing

Sounds like an excellent rendition of the original !

Would be great to see how you rank all these bikes to one another.

Great bike. I don't like chrome handlebars or clocks, that's all for the negative stuff.

ECU flash fix the low rpm abruptness -- fix averthing ecu flash hp++ and smooth

180 what I want for rear, and that bike is fantastic, the problem with old standards is the mushy weak brakes and in this age especially I want serious brakes.

Good review. Is the 'abrupt throttle response' @3,200rpm a lean spot due to emissions?

It look squeezed together.

great vids jon and superb bikes you are reviewing, but theer is a "missing link" betwin the original z1 and the z900 rs and this is the ZEPHYR, i'd like to see your opinion about it( wich i own of course) greetings from france

8.2 seconds, from 40-80? That bike is "injected" I'm sure, you've riden/tested some of our "OLD" favorites that were quicker that that, weren't they? (i.e. Yamaha XS1100)?

A Power Boost will fix that problem.

to turn off KTC you will need to come to a complete stop.

Iuuuhhhh it’s actually 109HP.

Sorry Jon, but for me the radiator kills it . I remember Zephyrs coming out in the 90's .....thought back then "why ride retro when you can ride the real thing" .....same feelings now. It's probably a great bike , but to me it's just a pale imitation . There was only one Munroe ....copying icons is kinda naff and shows how lazy bike marketing has become . Looks better than Suzuki's 2019 "Katana" tribute nonsense , about best I can say .

Mono shock rear end, inverted front forks ain’t very retro 😅