2026 Kawasaki Z900RS SE First Ride Review | Old School Style, New Tech

What I have here, the Kawasaki Z900RS SE. A lot of letters, a lot of numbers, but if you know the Z900, you'll know the naked bike that that bike is based off of. That's a very modern looking, very aggressive, Kawasaki calls it Sugomi styling, modern day naked bike. But like a lot of Japanese brands are doing, they're taking a lot of their naked bike platforms and making like a vintage version out of them to kind of have two bikes from one platform. And the Z900RS SE behind me is exactly one of those bikes. Now the SE is not a new bike, but the 2026 version behind me is an updated version of that platform. Now obviously the Z900RS SE takes its design cues from Kawasaki's legendary Z1 and I think it does a pretty good job. But what makes this 2026 model updated and new for this model year? Let's go take a look and find out. So here we have it, the 2026 Z900RS SE from Kawasaki. Let's take a quick second, no words, no talking, and just take a quick look. Admire the looks of this motorcycle because I think it looks good. Okay, time's up. So what makes this new Z900RS SE so new and updated for 2026? Well, a lot of the changes you can't really see from the outside and some of them are pretty major. Let's start with what I think is maybe the biggest one and it's all right here. You have ride-by-wire throttle. There's no more throttle cables on this guy. It's all electronic that then leads down into the butterflies that are down there which you really can't see from this angle because all these cables and wiring is in the way. But what the beauty of throttle-by-wire gives you, well there's a lot of things. You have different power modes you can take advantage of, the traction control which we'll get into in a second can work better, the different rider aids that will function off of this. Throttle-by-wire gives you the ability, I mean I guess you've had cruise control in the past, but for this bike this is new. Cruise control is new for 2026 and that's thanks to the throttle-by-wire. The other big thing is the six-axis IMU from Bosch. Again, you can't really see that from here. It's all, it's a tiny little device hidden underneath the bike. You know what it can do and it enables a lot of functionality for the rider aids to function better and more predictably than before whereas previous versions of rider aids would be more reactive to what the bike is doing. Now with an IMU the bike can be more predictive and help stop things before they even happen or at least help calm things down at an earlier phase of the uh-oh moment. More changes, yeah inside the engine here it's a good looking engine. You've got the four into one exhaust down below. Inside the engine there's revised internals so you got a different camshaft and you also have higher compression so the cams give it more mid-range and more top-end punch with more lift and duration. The compression ratio is up a point from 10.8 to 11.8 so you get a little bit stronger of a bang when the fuel and the air and the fire goes pop. I'll put the numbers for the horsepower and the torque up here on the screen for you in just a second here. And then you also have a lighter crankshaft a 10% lighter crankshaft for a little bit quicker engine revving that's always a good thing. And then the close ratio gearbox so the ratios are a little bit tighter space so you get more you're shifting a little bit more but it also feels like you're in the right part of the power band more often and for longer periods of time. And then you can also see here this is not new but you have the Ohlins S46 shock you have the preload adjuster right up there but then on the inside right there that collar over here gives you rebound adjustment as well and then over here that guy is the preload adjuster. Now you'll notice that what this shock does not have is compression adjustment so yes it is an Ohlins shock it's not new like I said there's no compression adjustment. Now the fork you do get a full adjustability there so that's nice. And then you have the Brembo brakes and gold wheels. I personally love gold wheels I think gold wheels look great on on pretty much any bike. Yeah you've got this classic retro seat here's the rear wheel also looks pretty darn good if you if I do say so myself. The exhaust because the engine internals have been revised a little bit Kawasaki took it upon themselves to change the exhaust a little bit revised you know internals a little bit longer length of it too a little bit cleaner burning helps with the power output right where they want to put it as well and as far as the gauges go keeping with that retro theme you have old school clocks you got a needle for the tach you have a needle for the speedometer then turn it on and you have a digital LCD display right there you can see on the top you have traction control which again is helped by the IMU gear indicator time and then your trip meter odometer all those things fuel gauge on your left temperature on your right the basics that you need just to ride the bike which in this day and age of all these fancy electronics and displays and huge tft screens which you know have their place and I like the simplicity of this is actually pretty nice the quick shifter the up and down quick shifter that is now standard for the works really well in both directions even from first to second and second to first that used to be really really it still is for a lot of manufacturers really really hard to nail down because the ratio gap is so big from first to second and second to first but you hit it just right in the sweet spot of the rpms and the shift is really smooth that's really impressive good stuff so there in a nutshell is the new kawasaki z900rs se updated for 2026 uh little changes but good ones that should improve the ride quality just the overall experience and since you can tell that i'm wearing a motorcycle jacket and i'm out here on the streets in the canyons it's probably good that i give it a rip and tell you how it is so come on let's go for a ride all right let's give this a go and see how it works okay let's go for a little stroll i hope you can hear that that engine noise and the pop when the gear shifter changes with the quick shifter i like it a lot i think it sounds good and as we roll through these turns here hopefully you can get a better idea of what the sound is like it can handle these twisty bits just fine sitting position is very neutral not too far forward not too far backward the handlebars give me some good leverage to turn the bike left and right like right here for a turn like this left hand sweeper and then a quick transition to the right here the bars make that super easy let me just say that the 100 and whatever 20 horsepower that this engine puts out is such a sweet spot of power and the torque output like this is such a fun little engine the sound is great where the power is placed i'm currently at 6,000 rpm in fourth gear it sounds so good and it has just the right amount of power to have a good combination the synergy of power to noise output is so refreshing it's so nice and it's so exciting to ride this bike you know i like different engine configurations just as much as the next guy but there's something so sweet about an inline four that's just ripping you know and this one does that the power there's a nice spread of power throughout the torque why don't i put it a high gear just to see what it's like so fourth gear coming down to about 3,000 rpm on this turn lower than that and it pulls out pretty good that's a byproduct of that close ratio transmission let's back it in here a little backer in little backer in action yeah that close ratio gearbox even if you're in the wrong gear most of the time it's okay you'll have enough power there to pull yourself out of it so that's nice again i've already said it a few times but i really dig the styling of this bike in fact i'll go as far as to say i like this bike more than the regular z900 the regular z900 i feel cramped on of course the engine's the same but the ergonomics are different and i feel cramped on that bike this one with the more open single seat design uh the more relaxed ergonomics yeah it's just to me this is a more comfortable and just as fun platform to ride oh i love that sound of the shifts you can hear that sounds so good and the other thing about this bike which may sound silly but it looks very passive looks very unintimidating which if you're motorist car driver or maybe even along you're not immediately going to get negative glances and people being suspicious about your intent and like you know this bike can call if you want it to so yeah i struggle to say the spring break to stop in the back it might be for some people just the way this shock presses quickly all you can do to fight it is the rebound it but again for everyday road riding it'll give you a good ride the brakes they were not the most powerful thing but at least they have skill for the lines this is one of those situations where more aggressive brake pads if that's your thing more aggressive brake pads would really change the characteristic of the brakes on this bike you know you could do a different master cylinder if you wanted don't think it's necessary you do have adjustable levers by the way so that's nice we just such an enjoyable bike so fluid so far doing rides like this through the canyons and whatnot i'm getting fuel mileage just under 40 probably like 35 to 37 miles per gallon you can clearly see i'm not exactly cruising let the engine sing a little bit so probably get better mileage at a more mundane pace obviously obviously talking about a motorcycle on canyon roads is one thing but how does the bike work just in normal situations like this well i can say that a lot of the things that i liked about the ZNB Canyon are also things i like about the bike here on just regular roads primarily the seating position i mean these handlebars put me in a nice neutral position i'm just a little bit smooshed over uh tilted forward but nothing too bad pegs are in a good spot it feels pretty comfortable they're not too far forward they're not too far backwards not too high they're not too low it's good for everyday riding this seat do you think about the regular Z900 the naked bike that i don't like was i felt cramped in this seat i really couldn't move forward or backward a whole lot but with this and i have this giant huge single seat here that i can move back i could move forward i could move all the way around i just have more options to move around i don't feel so constricted like i did on the regular Z900 and i really like that about this bike the power is just really well suited for street riding the power is accessible down low there's a pretty good broad mid-range punch i mentioned the fact that the levers are adjustable but the clutch pull is actually pretty light it's a cable actuated clutch it's so convenient it's not at all intimidating which is so refreshing about this bike uh what else these mirrors oh yeah very retro inspired circular mirrors that may not win any design awards but they're actually pretty functional which i would say is more important than looking good of course looking good and being functional would be the perfect combination but they fit the mold of this retro styled bike like i said you can actually see a pretty good amount of stuff out of them from what's behind you so that's nice i found that harleys and these retro bikes get reactions out of people usually in a positive way i've never seen anything like it yeah so on the freeway this upright sitting position gives a pretty good view of the road ahead i'm not so cramped in a sport bike like position to where my neck is straining to tilt up to see ahead of me uh you know that's an exaggeration you know what i mean do i have complaints about the z900rs se yes i do my primary complaint like it has been with a lot of modern-day kawasaki is yes i like how simplistic the gauge cluster is no i don't like the button presses that are required to shoot this screen they're not the most intuitive set of button presses to get around i mean yeah the cruise control is pretty obvious with these modes they're kind of a pain to figure out like tapping them versus holding them down for how long there's the select button there's the reset button and this is actually a pretty simple bike with traction control so it's not a very difficult bike to figure out but on other kawasaki's where there's more things and more menus to scroll through the combination of button presses taps and holds this that is pretty confusing so not a fan of that i'm sure if you owned this bike or you're just familiar with kawasaki's button presses we figured this out just fine that's my primary complaint about this um the other complaint now this is a super nitpicky complaint again but i had to change but i changed tires on this bike for a separate test i'm doing on the on the street and the valve stems are awfully close to the spokes on the wheel especially well not both front and rear the valve stems are pretty close to the spokes so it makes getting the core out a real pain in the butt but that also makes it a pain in the butt to check tire pressure to reinflate the tires you really have to like bend the rubber valve stem to meet your air pump or your tire pressure gauge that's annoying so yeah i found it to be really annoying actually but i suppose some 90 degree valve stems would fix that those are pretty cheap so yeah i would change that uh my other gripe yeah this shock just because it says oh leans on it doesn't mean it's suddenly the best thing in the world i just can't quite get comfortable with with this shock i'm gonna keep tinkering with the limited settings i do have but yeah it's uh for the fun roads kind of have to anticipate that it's going to be a bit more bouncy than maybe you'd like yeah overall i would say relatively minor gripes otherwise pretty sweet little motorcycle i'm really enjoying my time with this z900rs se so there it is the highs and the lows of the kawasaki z900rs se and truth be told there really aren't that many lows the suspension i was talking about the shock travel and the the compression and the rebound of the shock yeah i'm talking about it in a negative way but in the grand scheme of the entire bike it's not that big of a deal it's just one of those things we always need something to complain about with one of these bike reviews right and that happens to be mine but again 99% of riding situations it really isn't a big deal overall this bike is comfortable it's capable it looks awesome but it still has all the modern technology that you expect and you want from a bike you're not fiddling with carburetors you're not fiddling with points you're not fiddling with a kickstarter everything works the way it's supposed to on a modern bike but you've got that cool style just the other day i was putting gas in this bike and not one but two people gave me a compliment and started talking to me about their bikes that they used to have one of them even had an old kawasaki so be prepared if you do get a bike like this one or other retro inspired bikes from other manufacturers be prepared to have conversations about people's bikes that they used to have whether you're an extrovert or introvert that might be a good or a bad thing personally i just love the way this bike looks the gold wheels match with the gold forks these retro colors on the bike all of it just ties in so well and it looks classic and timeless it's weird because like the inline-four engine other manufacturers have kind of been moving away from it just to add some variety i love variety as much as the next person but it's still a really good engine the power comes on nice it sounds killer it just works really really well basically this bike is everything you need and nothing you really don't there's lots of options out there in the modern retro category and if you're in the market for one of those bikes i really think you should give this one a look because it's really good