The Forgotten Kawasaki That Still Challenges The Best

The retro motorcycle market continues to grow as we see more and more throwback motorcycles getting launched each year. Nostalgia is a powerful marketing tool, and modern retro bikes certainly are able to scratch a certain kind of itch. While owning a genuine classic can also be fun, keeping up with the maintenance needs of an old bike can become tedious. You also have to face the simple reality that it will eventually let you down at an inopportune moment.

Kawasaki was one of the first brands to sell a genuine retro UJM back in the early 00s with the ZRX1200R, which offered a modern sports bike engine in a pretty simple frame. It drew inspiration from the Z1, which sold well through the 70s. Kawasaki certainly refined this idea over the years and while it doesn’t necessarily hit the same performance heights of that old liter-bike, it hits all the right design notes.

The Kawasaki Z650RS ABS Still Challenges The Best Retro Bikes

MSRP: $8,999

Kawasaki

Out of all the middleweight bikes that have been redressed as retro roadsters, the Z650RS is by far and away the most convincing. Aside from its rather unsightly underslung exhaust, the bike is a dead ringer for the old KZ650 which was produced in the late 70s and early 80s. While other bikes riff off of old designs or simply offer a modern interpretation, Kawasaki nailed the lines of the old UJM.

Ducati

Ducati’s Scrambler range has been hugely successful over the past decade. While most of the bikes are significantly more expensive than the Z650RS, the Icon Dark is only $1k more expensive and certainly within range. It offers a different riding experience with its more authentic air-cooled twin, but its design is certainly a modern interpretation of the old scramblers and, while tasteful, won’t appeal to everyone.

Yamaha

Yamaha has the XSR700, which might well be the most like-for-like alternative. It costs $400 less and while we can certainly see why people would opt for this over the Z650RS, the design is just missing something. At the other end of the spectrum, we have Honda, which seems to have just phoned in the design for the CB650R “neo café racer.” Underneath the rather unflattering design effort is a genuinely good motorcycle, and it is the only legitimate inline-four we have in this space.

Rivals

• Ducati Scrambler Icon Dark
• Yamaha XSR700
• Honda CB650R

The Z650RS Has Kawasaki’s Trusty Parallel-Twin Engine

Power: 67 Horsepower

Kawasaki

Right off the bat, this is not the most exciting powertrain. The Z650RS shares a platform with the regular Z650, Ninja 650, and Versys 650. This is no bad thing, as the Versys in particular has proven capable of accumulating huge miles without a fuss. In many ways, this is the ideal engine for a retro bike because it automatically takes care of the reliability aspect. It is a bike that will be affordable, and easy to maintain, too.

Kawasaki takes it a step further by marketing it as a “beginner-friendly” option, something we don’t necessarily agree with. While it has a low seat and comfortable ergos, 67 horsepower is still plenty for a lightweight motorcycle like this. A little too much for a new rider to handle in many respects. A retro bike like this is not really the best place to start, because dropping this bike will be both incredibly frustrating and potentially costly.

Specifications

Modern Sophistication Meets Old-School Charm On The Z650RS

Quite Simply Retro Done Right

Kawasaki

Kawasaki actually does a great job of keeping it pretty simple with the Z650RS. It is not a feature-rich motorcycle, and nor should it be. It comes with ABS as well as traction control, but we absolutely love the fact that Kawasaki resisted the temptation to add a TFT dash. We have now gotten to the point where it actually might be more costly to use an analog dash, and we certainly appreciate that this little touch has been retained. As the rider, this, as well as the tank, is what you will see while you are riding the bike and if you are always staring at a giant TFT, then the whole feeling of the bike changes – this might be what we tried to allude to with the Yamaha XSR700, its round TFT feels out of place.

Kawasaki

By using this 650 platform, Kawasaki were able to make the bike ultra-slim, which might seem odd, but that is precisely how a UJM should feel. The suspension is adequate without being incredible, but the conventional non-adjustable forks certainly add to the retro aesthetic. A happy accident, one might say. The rear suspension is only preload adjustable, but is modern and also can be found on the Ninja 650, so it is not awful. More importantly, it is both comfortable and easy on the eye. The Z650 is a fair bit cheaper, but will only appeal to those that both like the latest design, and somehow actively hate the Yamaha MT-07.

The big thing holding the Z650RS back – and why it has been forgotten – is not some other bike from another brand, but rather another Kawasaki. The Z900RS is almost $4k more expensive, which is not an insignificant amount of money, but in return you get a lot more bang for your buck. It is way more powerful, and looks almost exactly the same, unless you spring for the Café trim, which actually looks even better. It is easy to see why Kawasaki wants to market this to new riders, because if you are not a new rider, it will be pretty hard to look past the bigger bike.

Chassis, Suspension, And Weight Specifications