Kawasaki Z900 Standard

Take a look at the current offerings in the middleweight segment, and the Kawasaki Z900 Standard ranks high among all of them with all of its muscle and edginess in the design. It looks like a contemporary looking evolution of the Z800, which revolutionized the middleweight category of roadsters with its muscular appeal.

At the front, the Sugomi design influence from Kawasaki is evident in the fascia of the Z900 Standard. The edgy looking cowl accommodates the attractive all-LED headlamp setup, which is accompanied by sleek daytime running LEDs on the lower chin of the headlamps. At the top of this aggressive-looking front fascia, the Z900 Standard gets a tinted black cowl with LED turn indicators on either side.

The muscular appeal and extreme sharpness in the design of the Kawasaki Z900 Standard are in the best form when you see the motorcycle from the side profile. The bulky-looking fuel tank is well complemented with the presence of edgy tank cowls, which partially cover the huge radiator from the sides. Another thing which makes the Z900 Standard very muscular is its black-themed engine, the beauty of which is further enhanced by the four exhaust pipes emerging from the cylinder heads. These exhaust pipes merge into a single-sided exhaust pipe, which also looks chunky and gets silver inserts on the tip and shield.

The Kawasaki Z900 Standard starts gaining sleek treatment beyond the fuel tank, with a green-coloured trellis frame supporting the split seat arrangement and slim looking angular tailpiece. This pointy tailpiece has a Z-shaped clear lens LED tail lamp. The five-spoke alloy wheels look simple, though the contrast green striping job around its circumference lifts the appeal of the wheels.

The Kawasaki Z900 Standard gets a modern, fancy full-TFT instrument console, which supports Bluetooth compatibility and features all the essential data like speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, temperature gauge, clock, gear indicator, real-time MID and more. This Bluetooth-operated instrument console can be paired with Kawasaki’s Rideology app to track and monitor the riding behaviour and performance of the motorcycle while on the go.

The high tensile steel trellis frame of the Kawasaki Z900 Standard is well-accompanied by 41mm upside-down hydraulic telescopic forks with 120mm travel at the front and a horizontal back-link mono-shock with 140mm travel at the rear. Both the suspension units at the front and rear feature adjustable spring preload and rebound damping for optimal handling and cornering ability. The ride quality is slightly on the stiffer side, but the riding agility of the motorcycle makes up for it. The motorcycle rides on a 120/70 ZR17 tyre at the front and a 180/55 ZR17 tyre at the rear. The combination of dual 300mm discs at the front and a single 250mm disc at the rear take care of braking duties.

The Kawasaki Z900 Standard is powered by a four-stroke, liquid-cooled, inline-four, 937cc engine, which is easily one of the most refined and powerful engines available in the higher end of the middleweight roadster category. Paired to a 6-speed transmission, this engine offers excellent refinement and power delivery and produces 125 PS of maximum power and 98.6 Nm of peak torque output.

The Kawasaki Z900 Standard is power-packed with amenities like dual-channel ABS, two power modes – Full power and Low power, four riding modes – sport, road, rain and custom, traction control, quick-shifter and slip and assist clutch.

There is hardly any fault in the overall package of the Kawasaki Z900 Standard. This motorcycle punches above its weight and can even give some of the litre-class sports bikes a run for their money with its performance. It feels premium in every sense while staying true to its purposes of offering impeccable refinement and performance with its engine and riding dynamics.