This
beast calls itself a Kawasaki z900 RS. That is a vast hunk of motorcycle
here in Thailand, where anything over about 175 cc is considered a
“big bike.”
Isn't
it a beauty? We used to call a bike like this a “general purpose”
model. It's nimble enough in traffic to use as a daily-rider; it's
comfortable enough that you can ride it all four hundred miles north
to San Francisco in one day; the riding position is back and low
enough that you could race it at Laguna Seca; you could probably even
ride it across the occasional open field if the situation called for
it. General purpose. Those bullet bikes can get pretty uncomfortable
in traffic, or after a few hundred miles of mostly highway.
You
don't need all of those Ninja body panels and the super-low riding
position under about 120 mph anyway. This bike has nice flat bars and
rear-set foot pegs, but not low enough to hurt your feelings.
How
fast would it be? People used to ask me that about my Yamaha 650
Seca, which was a similarly laid out general purpose bike. My answer
was always, “I don't know.” I had had it up to 100 mph a few times,
and that was fast enough for me. Regarding acceleration, this Kawi
would have what I call, “the speed of thought.” If you're going
forty, and your mind forms the thought, “go seventy-five,” bang!
You're there. Zero to fifty or sixty would only be a negligible few
seconds, and the acceleration would practically throw you off the
back of the bike.
Man,
if I were thirty years younger, I'd buy one of these. Oh, and I'd
have to be back living in California. There's no place over here to
ride a bike like this. But it's a beauty, that's for sure. If I owned
one, I'd drain the fluids and park it in my living room.
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