The new café is what connects me to my love affair with the café look - and that is the "Mad Max" look. So that is what I bought 250 miles ago! 40+ years of riding and easily my favorite bike of all time. My long-time Harley friends of which I was, well heck, we all old and just happy to still be on two wheels.
Your instructions were invaluable - mine are in Japanese only! Simple tips like removing the grommet, which tools to get ready before starting, not over-tightening screws on the screen - everything made for an efficient and painless install - thank you!!
Changed the bike to perfect, Lowering it by two inches, lowered seat, hugger, that for me has put a completely different look to the bike, now you are sat down in the bike rather than parched on top of it,very happy bunny😘👍
That "welding helmet" wisecrack was priceless! Every time I see a Z900RS its random clutter of silver bits stand out: the front fender brackets, radiator side covers, middle trim panels, and heel guards. I think an already beautiful motorcycle could be enhanced by color-matching the entire front fender to the bike and blacking out those remaining pieces. None of those parts are inherently pretty anyway so murder 'em out.
Yes there are quite a few who say the same thing. I don't mind them, but you can get blacked versions (depending on the colour, they come like that), or like most, black em out yourself. Removing the rad trim and a few other parts is easy to do. For me, I'm not a completely black out a bike type of guy, but I know those that are have already done what you suggested. Cheers.
wow that is cool i have had mine for a little over a year with a lot of ideas on what to do seeing what you have done to yours has truly has given me a place to start please keep us updated
Appreciate you doing this video. Mine came yesterday and only had 1 page of diagrams, not the multiple sheets with photos and your install instructions are super helpful! Thank you. ❤
Been seriously considering this as a 2nd bike, don’t like the like green color of the cafe but want some minor protection, also saw this company’s site & wasn’t sure how legit they were being over seas. Look is great & solid quality, glad to know the option exists, thanks
Thanks, this really helped! The written instructions were not so great, and I probably would’ve missed the bracket below the cowl. It was your video that convinced me to get it, and I’m SUPER happy with it. Cheers!
Really enjoyed this video and appreciate your aesthetic on the cowling. Now I want to hear what you have to say about it's practical effect. Subscribed btw.
I'm looking at trading my zrx1100 for one of the bikes and I had the same upgrade ideas. Then I stumbled across your channel. Great bike and great vid. 🇨🇦
@@BlueMarbleRider A lot ! At least half less wind, feeling more relaxed at fast speeds and a one bonus thing : the bullet shape fairing throws the sweet engine noise louder back at you
I bought my z900rs this past weekend, and I plan to mod it as well. I think the Chic Design fairing is probably the best one on the market. There is one on Pazoma that looks amazing, but there's no telling if it will actually fit the z900rs. Thanks for the very helpful video.
@@BlueMarbleRider Just installed a Yoshimura fender eliminator, Driven grips, Sato Racing bar ends, and Sato Racing front axle sliders. All subtle changes, but I can still see a difference. Next is Sato Racing frame sliders. After that I'm not sure, but it certainly is fun working on the z900rs.
Funny, just saw your video. I did exactly the same thing on my z900rs last month. I have the 2018 root beer and orange version, got it from the same place samurider (i was on a 10 weeks waiting list) the bike looks amazing. This is definitely one of the best mod to add to a z900rs. I also went with metalic orange clutch and front brake levers, everything fit together. Great video for those buying this great fairing.
Looks so good I want to buy this same color bike. I like the Z900RS Cafe but prefer the Black over the bright green. Did you order the Metallic SPARK Black or the Metallic Diablo Black for your fairing paint color?
Thanks, OG. Metallic Spark Black to match the bike. I agree - I was looking at the Cafe, but the colour wasn't quite to my liking. Also I felt it was no really a cafe - more a 70s sport bike replica with a great fairing. But they have grown on me since. Cheers.
I don't know if you will see this post (shadow banded). My question is I do not like the fairing on the cafe, if I took it off would it look just like the standard Z900rs or is there brackets I would have to take off, or even cut off. It seems like there are a lot of used cafe's for sale and I don't want to buy one if I can't take it off and have it look like the standard. The only standard z900rs seem to be new if I can get a cafe for half the price and look almost like the other by taking off the fairing I would do it. Thanks
I am pretty sure (but not 100% certain) that the Cafe has brackets and they are removable. The bars on the cafe are lower too than the regular RS. Some cafe cans are brushed rather than shiny. Seat is different on Cafe, but can be swapped as it for the RS, that is, the pans are the same and fit both bikes. But yes, I've seen more cafe's for sale than the RS. There is nothing significantly different about them though. That is, it would be easy to go from a Cafe to an RS. I believe footpegs are the same. Cheers.
I hope you do a review of the fairing only thing holding me back on this fairing is because some riders report the fairing shake excessively at highway speeds
there is an example on how to fit this on the z900rs forum, someone made a set of brackets. didn't do it yet since my installation was last month and it's winter here, i wanna ride it first.
The turning radius is no different from stock. I changed the reservoir for cosmetic reasons at the same time I did the fairing and the bars. If I remember correctly, there was no problem with the stock reservoir and the Samurider fairing; Chic design the fairing for the stock bars and oem brake reservoir. Cheers.
Good to hear from a Yorkshireman - you've got some lovely roads up there...hope to explore those one day. Cheers. (And if you're a Leeds fan - then good luck - want to see them back in the Premier League. If you're not...sorry!)
Hi Ulli: I found it on Amazon somewhere - not too expensive either. $37 Cdn from www.amazon.ca/AjaxStore-Cylinder-Reservoir-Kawasaki-NINJA1000/dp/B07QQLPW7F/ref=sr_1_77?dchild=1&keywords=z900rs+brake+fluid+cap&qid=1605394308&sr=8-77 Cheers.
I love the Kawasaki z's....something yummy about them (Lane) I'd love to mod my bike but it's a Repsol that's not produced here anymore and won't be due to our exhaust laws.....I guess I need to buy something else I can play with instead .....or rather as well as :D
It looks really good. I might get it myself if it relieves some pressure off my chest. I will be road tripping it this summer. Would this fairing help on the highway? I personally want a little more square in the design. I found one made by vertia in japan, but I think it was a one-off.
I'll be out and about on mine in the next few weeks. I'll let you know what I find regarding the pressure on the chest. Riders on the Z900RS forum are reporting that it does help, but I can't confirm that...yet. Cheers.
Hi BMR, This is just stunning. Did you have to go through an inspection/approval by authorities? If yes, what docunentation did you have to provide? Was a declaration of conformity required? Did the manufacturer help with documentation? Thanks a lot and greetings from Germany, Thomas.
Hi, Thomas - thanks. No, in Canada, there is no such requirement to tell the authorities about customization/upgrades. If this is needed in Germany, then probably contacting/emailing Samurider.com and speaking to Takashi himself would be the best bet. Good luck! Takashi TAKASE yourbase.llc 4-11-13 Ebisu Shibuya-ku Tokyo Japan 150-0013 E: contact@samurider.com T: +813-6423-2865 F: +813-6423-2866 www.samurider.com facebook.com/samurider.fanpage
Hey Blue Marble, wondering if you have heard if there’s any difficulties in taking the z900 cafes front hood off and just having the single headlight like the stock rs. I prefer the color way and handle bars on the cafe but would like to remove the hood if I choose to and ride with just the single headlight look
Hi, Nick: I haven't heard too much about it, although some do it. It cannot be hard to do, as many have modified colours of the cafes, including taking off the fairing. Check out the Z900RS Worldwide Community Forum (they include cafes in this forum). There will undoubtedly be a chat about exactly what you are taling about. www.z900rs.co.uk/index.php?board=4.0
@@BlueMarbleRider grt thank you. I just put in the order with my dealer for the 2023 gold/black cafe. Waited a long time for this bike, your top 5 mods video was very insightful and I plan on utilizing that info.
@@nickdefreitas Congrats! I'm sure you'll love it, as I do. The 2018 black and gold was the low key model, but for me it stood out as the one to get. It's great Kawi are bringing it back as a cafe. Cheers.
I have a 2019 Z900RS Cafe. I liked the fender extension from Powerbronze. You can barely see it on the Cafe. I'm very happy with how well it keeps the pipes free of debris. I decided to change the windscreen as well. Powerbronze offers a lime green so I purchased that as well. It looks good and has the same shape as the factory windscreen. I'm sending my ECU to Ivansperformance.com to get a reflash. I'm leaving the intake and exhaust stock for now. The ECU flash is just to give the Z900RS better rideability. Thanks for the information and ideas.
Sounds like you're already down the road of farkling the bike to your taste. Ivan is just returning my ECU as we speak: I chatted with him the other day - and have done the same as you: no airbox, exhaust mod, just ridability in hotter weather etc. You get free reflashes if you mod the airbox and exhaust later (although you pay for post and packaging - about 50US with insurance). Cheers.
Hi, Santo, if you click on the "show more" in the description under the video, you will see the link. Good luck and tell Takashi you saw it at BMR. Cheers.
As a lifelong motorcycle enthusiast, I need to ask the following questions. 1.) What idiot decided that hacking a rear fender off a street bike that is driven in possible rain, mud, or road tar, was a good idea? I've always wanted to make the rear fender longer, and more robust. 2.) Who decided that round mufflers should be replaced by triangular poop clumps? Why is this a thing? Why is every manufacturer copying the same shitty design as everyone else? Are they intentionally ruining motorcycles? 3.) Who decided that square sharp edges look good? They have never looked good, not now, and not ever. 4.) Why does no motorcycle today except the perfect Royal Enfield GT650 have an overdrive gear? 5.) Why are gear ratios on modern motorcycles the same as they were in 1981, despite engine power increasing by 50 to 100%. 6.) Why does the Triumph Rocket have a car engine, without an overdrive gear? Why did they create a 6th gear at all? 7.) Why are modern motorcycles so ugly that they are putrid and morbid, with square hard angles, and triangle blobs for mufflers, with nearly invisible hidden headlights that are almost totally obfuscated among the rancid 1980's bodywork? Why? 8.) How come the only nice looking motorcycles on the market right now are the Z900RS, the Yamaha R3, the Royal Enfield (all of them), the W800, and all the cruisers. How come every sportbike, sport touring, and street fighter bike, looks like it was drawn by a person who has never seen a motorcycle before? 9.) Why is Royal Enfield the only company building EXACTLY what people want? Hint: Low price, overdrive gear, counterbalanced engine, beautiful solid colors and no ugly graphics, and beautiful round mufflers! 10.) Why don't the major manufacturers listen to consumers? Are the major companies even run by Humans? I say no. #reptilians #alienspaceships
Hi, Ritalie: some very good questions - unfortunately I don't have the answers to all of them. I think the modern transformer-insect angular looking bikes with "interesting" colour schemes are designed to attract new users. I'm afraid, to some degree, the modern aesthetic is bikes that look angry/dangerous rather than streamlined, well proportioned and beautiful. But, the good news is, the pendulum will swing back...I hope!! Cheers, and well said.
@@BlueMarbleRider I went for a Delkervic full system which is good price and sounded great 450mm Carbon end can ,Yes louder and the pops on over run sound brill . Doddle to fit . Claimed about 10 hp increase . If you go this route do it before remap although I didn't remap and had no probs.You could go for just the decat link but that means you have to butcher your own headers and personally I thought the std. can with Decat sounded too tinny .
Thx for sharing. I am looking forward to hearing about Wind Protection and buffeting. If you will consuder different rider heights when testing that it Would be much appreciated (i’m 6’1) ; ) thanks Shaun.
Does it give you any wind relief at freeway speed?? I put a MRA windscreen on my Z900RS and it does help, especially around the torso, without too much turbulent air to the helmet. I hope this works for you...cause if it does, then I will certainly consider it...keep us updated!!! Love the Z900RS...best bike I have ever had
Hi, Michael: I haven't had chance to test it that fast yet - it's a winter project bike right now, but I did give it a quick buzz up my local and at 50mph/80kmh there was no buffet. I will get her out for a fast blast sometime in the next month or so to check out whether it gives any wind relief and whether there is any turbulance/helmet buffet...Despite how good it looks, it will come off it that is the case (I cannot deal with buffet!). I'm definitely going to do a quick review vid then of its performance, any issues and my overall opinion in Spring sometime as the new crop of motorcyclists emerge from the winter hibernation. :-)
I'm sorry to hear that CC C. I don't know and can't see the code, but if you contact Takashi at Samurider.com he will know the codes. Tell him BlueMarbleRider sent you. Cheers. BMR.
Ooh. That's a hard one. The vstrom is more flexible and allows me to more types of riding - it's surprisingly good. But the Z is a focused bike which gets my pulse going...beautiful and fast. If I had to choose, then the Z would stay; it brings me pleasure even when static...
@@BlueMarbleRider I’ve considered doing a lot of the same mods. Unfortunately the company that makes the road comet fairing doesn’t come with the paint match for my colors ”my bike is too new“ so I’m planning on whenever I order it I’ll also order the fender extenders. And take them all to get painted at the same time
Sorry for the late response Abdul: RU-vid must be down on manpower as your comment only just showed up. Yes here's the link: www.samurider.com/?p=28024 However they're out of stock. So give Takashi an email and tell him BlueMarbleRider sent you. He will be able to tell you when they're back in... contact@samurider.com
It would be hard. The first thing I would look at would be the diameter of the two headlights...if that is the same, then it's a question of where the fasteners can attach and bar clearances. Honestly, I'd contact Samurider and ask them. Good luck. Cheers.
G'day BMR, I purchased the exact same fairing from Chic design for my 2007 GSX 1400 last year. The colour coding was perfect. What an incredible difference it makes!! The Kwaka 9 looks shit hot brother.
Chic make them for most of the stock colours (I see the new green and gold is out on the chic samurider.com website), and would probably custom do one for you. Worst case scenario, get the unpainted version, then get it painted by a custom shop close to you. Cheeers.
Yes the mudguard extender is good but shame on motorcycles manufacturers for not protecting the exhaust , it’s a con to make people buy the extender , when I was on bikes wow be tied Kawasaki if a proper mudguard was not fitted.
Agree - it's just another way of cost cutting. All bikes used to come with centre stands too... Would rather they left off the rear sets if they want to save money and give us a proper hugger and fender set. Cheers.
I just don’t get it, you guys whined and complained about all the plastics on a Sportbike, and wanted a naked bikes. But here we are in adding plastics.
I'm going to sound like an A-hole, but I disagree with your reasons for not going for the Cafe model. First, the Z900RS Cafe is not really a real Cafe racer bike like the Triumph Thruxton. The handle bars are not low enough and the riding position is almost identical to the regular RS model, meaning, it's upright with just a slight leaning. Second, the look of your bike after the installation of the bikini fairing is almost the same as the RS Cafe model, seriously, they look extremely similar. And third, the height difference between the regular RS and the Cafe model is hardly noticeable. The handle bars height, yes, you can kind of notice, but the height difference between the two bikes is pretty much meaningless. They're like 20 mm from each other. Again, not trying to be an A-hole, but you said you didn't want a Cafe model, but then, made your bike to look like the Cafe model. That kind of confused me. Anyway, it's your bike, so obviously you're free to do as you please, and it looks pretty bad ass. You did a fantastic job. For the record, I own a 2020 Cafe with the Green, white and black color like the one at 3:58, and tested a regular RS model at the dealership. I got to say, I just love riding this bike. More than once people have looked at me at the traffic light and gave me a thumbs up after looking at my RS Cafe. Safe riding, my friend.
Not at all vegarosa: everyone is entitled to a say. I fell in love with the black while (just my taste) the green and white stripe at the time was too garish for me. But, there's no denying I have ended up with a bike that looks close to a stock cafe...I never conciously thought of going that route, yet here I am! Maybe Kawasaki will take a cue and produce a black cafe: I think it would sharp. Cheers.
@@BlueMarbleRider Oh, that's a good idea. A black Cafe model would look pretty cool. But I always wanted a Kawasaki bike in green and when I saw mine at the dealer, I knew I had to buy it.
I think you underestimate my age, Donna - likely I was a motorcyclist before you were a fertilized gamete. I have been riding every sort of bike for 40 years including and enjoying more than 20 naked bikes. I love your passion, but I guess we agree to disagree on that one. Give it time.
Can’t believe you want to fit a fairing , it supposed to be a nacked bike , why did you buy it , you should’ve bought a faired bike. Don’t understand you people who do this afraid of a little wind 👎👎👎
Hi, Donna - thanks for your feedback. I bought it for looks, not because I wanted air deflected. I've owned many naked bakes and don't have a problem with wind. I didn't like the cafe version's fairing - too round, or the colours. So I decided to by a regular RS and customize it myself - that's half the fun. Come on a little part of you must think it's a beauty?! ;-)
Take that fairing off your no longer riding a naked bike , how can you show off those beautiful clocks Kawasaki designed now you’ve covered them with a weak fairing , horrible , horrible 👎👎👎😡
