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Kawasaki Z900 2025 Review (Baujahr 2025)

What can the new Streetfighter from Kawasaki do?

08.04.2025

Photos: Motorradtest.de

The new Kawasaki Z900 has received a lot of updates: QuickShifter, lean angle sensors, large TFT display, new airbox, new design, voice control, etc. Reason enough for Volker and Dietmar to take a closer look at the new Streetfighter bestseller - and to start it!

Finally - the new Z900 !

That's it, the new Z900. In black and green. Actually, there has to be at least a little bit of green, after all, it's a Kawa. However, we also find the very black one really tempting. The Sugomi design has been carefully refined, but the machine is still instantly recognizable as the Z900 even seven miles upwind.

As an SE, the Z900 costs just under 12K and is only available in this one color combination. Super chic!!

The machine is also available as an SE variant with Öhlins suspension and Brembo brakes, but then it costs 11,745 euros, which is about 2,000 euros more than the standard Z we drove. This costs 9,845 euros (10,245 euros incl. overpass) and is still available as an A2 variant with 70 kw or 35 kw. We think it's great that Kawasaki is also thinking of the many A2 riders, who are certainly already rubbing their hands because they get to ride such a motorcycle!

Color selection of the "normal" Z900 vintage 2025. We would take the whole tie.

By the way, we were provided with a Z900 with a performance package from Heller & Soltau as a test machine for this test. The Performance package costs 1,450 euros extra and includes a tinted flyscreen, a pillion cover, a very effective screen protector and the rear silencer from Akrapovic including heat protection. Do you have to have that? We think not, but if you have the money - it's a nice bonus.

Dimensions and seat test

In the photo below you can see Volker and Dietmar sitting together. As unfortunately almost always with naked bikes, the pillion comfort is not good, there is simply too little space and only an alibi strap. Admittedly, you don't want to drive regularly in pairs on such a machine, so this is certainly not a no-go - and by the way, not better with the competitors either! The rider, on the other hand, sits well on the Z900: Nicely integrated into the machine, with enough space and a very wide handlebar that falls into your hands almost automatically.

By the way, the seat height has been increased to 830 mm, much to the delight of Dietmar with his long legs. Strangely enough, however, this booster seat does not make you feel like you are sitting "on" the machine. The bike weighs 213 kg ready to ride. Yes, the Yamaha MT-09 and KTM 990 Duke are noticeably lighter, but the four-cylinder competition weighs just as much or little. In any case, the machine can be manoeuvred fluffily and thanks to a narrow seat, even short-legged people can safely put their feet on the ground.

This is how it sits for the driver and front passenger. Driver top, passenger well.

360 degree tour around the new Kawasaki Z900

New technology in the new Z900

Most of the updates were in the technology. There is now a QuickShifter with blipper, lean angle sensors, cruise control and a large, easy-to-read color display as standard. Ride by wire, three riding modes (Sport, Road and Rain) and traction control coupled to them have remained. The cockpit is easy to operate and runs via four switches on the left handlebar.

The Kawasaki app is not in order. By the time it could be properly and permanently coupled with the machine, we had almost lost our nerve. And then the disappointment: Where is the announced arrow navigation that you should be able to put on the display? Either the function is not yet integrated into the app or we were too stupid to find it. Kawasaki, that's not okay! Please revise the app, thank you.

Without an app, however, we feel right at home on the new Z900 in terms of operation and cockpit. Except for the missing turn signal reset, everything is on board that belongs to it these days. We find the cornering ABS particularly cool, a real plus in safety.

The lighting comes entirely in LED. At the rear, Kawa has replaced the Z signature in the rear light with a continuous light strip. Very, very chic. And from the front, the new Z900 looks just as evil as ever.

On our Performance Z900 roars an Akrapovic rear silencer - designed for Z900. Roar.

This is how it drives

The soundcheck exceeds our expectations! The Akra hisses and roars and lets the typical 4-cylinder concert sound. We forgot to write down the dbA value for the stationary noise, but it doesn't matter: The Z900 sounds strong and we just assume that it's no different with the standard exhaust. However, the look is a little old-fashioned, but that's why there is the Akra and other bags from the secondary market.

So, let's go out on the street with the device. It's wonderful how the Z900 feels even on the first few meters. Safe, stable, yet willing to curve and somehow mature, it makes its tracks. Nothing wobbles or shakes and above all the clutch is a poem: super easy to pull and very nice how it comes and grips. In addition, a wonderfully smooth-running gearbox - do you even need a QuickShifter? Not necessarily, but this one is also very successful. You can shift clutch-free without jerking, which is fun and also fits a streetfighter if you want to let the road glow. However, the QuickShifter only works according to the old rules: tap up under throttle, step down without throttle.

Engine of the Z900: A work of art, and not only visually.

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Nissin brake system on the Z900. Radially bolted 4-piston fixed calipers with very good braking performance.

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Sure, design is a matter of taste as always, but we like it very much.

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Result

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