For the first time since 2007 – Street Triple R mk 1 – I’ve gone out and actually bought a new bike: many are called, but few are chosen.
The 0% Kawasaki were offering on the bike (and a discount) tipped me into ownership on a 900RS Cafe, or Caff (to give them their original North Circular Road etymology).
It’s a Cafe in name only, which is a great thing, because in my experience Cafes suck – all the disadvantages of sportsbike ergonomics without the protection – whereas this thing’s a honey. It looks the part, the lower and narrower bars vs its naked brother improve the front end feel, and that bikini fairing actually works. The motor is smooth and sweet, the gearbox uncomplaining and the suspension at least adequate. I ditched the OE rubber for for some Metzeler 01SEs and whacked on some dainty SW Motech luggage which aesthetically suits the bike. I don’t know the extent to which the Metzelers are contributing – it’s too early to say – but the machine handles superbly. Beyond adjusting the suspension slightly – less compression damping for the Lagos like road surfaces to be found in West Dorset – there are only two other mods I’d consider. One is strictly optional: down two teeth on the rear sprocket to fully unlock the stylish sports tourer that I suspect lurks within the RS. The other is a must do, and it’s more a fix than a mod.
The RS takes ages for the idle to settle down, depending on ambient conditions. It’s frankly ludicrous to have to wait for three minutes before a bike warm idles, but try riding it before that and she wont throttle back properly. This problem seems confined to specific RS machines, not all of them, and nothing else in Kawasaki’s current range leaves you waiting in the wings in the same way. What’s the solution?
Although Kawasaki are happy for you to play with the warm idle adjustor (visible below the left side panel), they really don’t want you to remove the panel and get 7 & 10mm spanners out to adjust the neighbouring cold start mechanism (see pic below). I rang Kawasaki UK to find out why.
They told me that adjusting the cold idle also effectively alters the throttle stop position and any issues should be referred to the dealer. On the other hand, plenty of people claim that minimal adjustment – like a 0.25 turn – solves the problem. My advice is to get the sensor inputs checked out by the dealer (under warranty), and if the problem remains, consider applying minimal adjustment as described, taking care not to dislodge the mechanism. Restart and wait for the bike to settle to a warm idle, ie three bars on the temp display just to make sure. Once you get there, set the warm idle speed to 1100.
With just the side panel off the adjustment is more tricky to get at than it looks in the picture above, and you’ll need thin spanners to do the job. The adjuster is adjacent to a lot of important gubbins, and anyone ham fisted need not apply. If you have any doubts at all, insist that your dealer gets it sorted.
More on the bike and luggage etc to come.
Interesting that you’ve chosen the Z900RS. Is there some brand loyalty after the ZRX?
I love the look of the non-cafe ones – I too have owned a few kwaks including older zeds and ZRXs. However, I am gravitating towards the Yam XSR900. Was it in the running for you?
Just discovered your site by the way. Enjoying it.
Cheers.
That’s weird Any, I was pretty sure I’d replied to this before but hey…. either way, no the XSR wasn’t really what I was looking. I kind of prefer focussed bikes, in the sense that I like em to be either road, track or dirt. The XSR 900 is really a road bike dressed up like a scrambler. I’m sure it’s good fun but not for me.
In 2017 I bought the new z900. When I arrived home from the dealer the first thing I did was to find out how and lower the cold idle. I dropped it from 2500 or so to 1500 rpm. The bike starts and runs fine. Warm idle is about 1100 rpm.