The Kawasaki Z900 is a sports naked motorcycle from Kawasaki. It was launched in 2017 and is still on sale. Naked and roadster bikes pair a lively engine with an upright riding position and little or no fairing, which makes them easy to live with every day. With a 948 cc engine it sits in the big-bike, 800 cc-plus class.
Power comes from a 948 cc 4-cylinder liquid-cooled fuel-injected engine that makes 125 PS at 9,500 rpm and 98.6 Nm of torque at 7,700 rpm. Its bore is wider than its stroke (73.4 mm x 56 mm), a short-stroke layout that generally favours higher revs. Divide power by kerb weight and it has about 590 PS per tonne; by that measure, its performance is at superbike level and rewards an experienced rider. The claimed top speed is 195 km/h. It has electric start.
It has a 6-speed manual gearbox with a 1-down, 5-up shift pattern, and a chain carries drive to the rear wheel. It uses a wet multi-plate clutch.
Its frame is trellis, high tensile steel. At the front, the suspension is Ø 41 mm inverted fork with rebound damping and spring preload adjustability, wheel travel - 120 mm. At the rear, it is horizontal back link, gas charged shock, rebound damping, and spring preload adjustability, wheel travel - 140 mm. Braking is by twin 300 mm discs at the front and a 250 mm disc at the rear, with dual-channel ABS. ABS on both wheels keeps either tyre from locking under hard braking. It rides on 17-inch alloy wheels with tubeless tyres — 120/70-17 at the front and 180/55-17 at the rear.
The seat is 830 mm off the ground, which is on the tall side, so shorter riders may want to try it first. It weighs 212 kg ready to ride, which is on the heavy side, so moving it by hand takes some effort. Ground clearance is 145 mm — adequate, though tall speed breakers need care. It is 2,065 mm long, with 1,450 mm between the axles. Its 17 L fuel tank and claimed mileage of 15-15.26 kmpl work out to roughly 259 km per tankful on paper; real-world range is usually lower.
Equipment includes a digital instrument console, an LED headlamp, turn-by-turn navigation, call and SMS alerts, distance-to-empty readout, gear position indicator, mobile app connectivity, cruise control, quickshifter and daytime running lamps, among others. Safety equipment includes side-stand warning, engine kill switch, traction control, low fuel indicator and malfunction indicator. It has three riding modes: Rain, Road and Sports.
The manufacturer's warranty is 2 years or 30,000 km. For the Kawasaki Z900, Mechiee offers a fixed ₹13,999 doorstep service.
It is best suited to riders who want performance with an upright, everyday-friendly posture. With this much performance, it is better as a step-up bike than a first bike.
Recommended tyre pressures are 36 psi front and 42 psi rear, solo or with a pillion. Its chain drive needs regular cleaning, lubrication and slack adjustment.
