New 2026 Kawasaki Z900RS Updates Announced: 11 Things To Know!

Today Kawasaki announced the 2026 update for their beautiful Z900RS Retro with its first significant improvement since its introduction back in 2017. So in this video we'll go through all of the details with the 11 key things that you need to know about it. Now at the heart of this brilliant retro bike you've still got the 948cc inline-4 although i do believe there are some slight changes to the performance figures with 114 horsepower peak now at 9300 rpm and a little less peak torque with 98 newton meters at 7700. Still it's one of the standout features of this bike with that lovely inline-4 character that helps to set it apart from the competition which is largely made up of twins and triples. To be honest though one of the few things that i used to find a little problematic when reviewing the Z900RS was the on-off throttle response which was a little bit choppy to say the least. That made it a touch unpleasant to ride at lower speeds as well as a bit unnerving when you're just cracking the throttle open a little bit mid-corner. Now owners report from what i've seen online a significant improvement with a remap but i guess my question would be whether that should be necessary as soon as you've just bought a brand new bike. So i'm hoping it'll be massively improved for 2026 with the introduction of new electronic ride-by-wire throttle valves. This means ditching the somewhat outdated traditional cable throttle of previous generations as was also the case earlier this year on their more modern looking Z900 naked with which of course the RS shares a lot of its components and architecture. Now Kawasaki say the newly equipped electronic throttle valves enhance controllability in the low to mid rpm range where riders spend most of their time and so not only should this help with on-off snatchiness but it also opens up the possibility of some other modern day features. For example cruise control which now comes fitted as standard on the 2026 Z900 RS. Now to be fair it's not a bike that absolutely must have cruise control. It's more of a good-looking sunday blast kind of bike than it is a long-distance tourer but it is 2026 after all and every now and again a bit of cruise control on those occasional motorway stints can indeed be a nice little convenience. Naturally the switchgear has been redesigned to accommodate this new feature and while they don't exactly look retro well i don't think it'll do too much to compromise the overall styling of what is a very nice looking bike indeed. On top of that you also now get their KQS quickshifter fitted as standard which i believe you would have had to have gone to the aftermarket for previous iterations. That means clutchless up and down shifts which should pair nicely with the inline-four which despite being tuned for usable mid-range still has a bit of fun to be had when you get it singing. Now another bit of modern tech that effectively trickles down from the Z900 is the introduction of an IMU or inertial measurement unit. This feeds lean angles back to the bike so they can be used to deliver the optimal response from its rider aids even when the bike is banked over mid-corner. This means they can deploy their KCMF tech or kawasaki cornering management function which is used to enhance traction control for example which gets three settings for different scenarios from dry roads through to wet slippy conditions. Interestingly though these settings are usually tied into some broader riding modes which also affect the level of abs response and the sharpness of the throttle but that doesn't seem to be the case with this new Z900RS or at least from what I can gather from the fairly brief press release. So lots of new tech for this bike for the new model year and so the only other thing to mention with regards to the engine is the exhaust system which has been reworked. They say it gets a newly tuned silencer and also reshaped headers which apparently helps to give this new bike a more expressive appearance and sound. The rest of the bike though remains relatively unchanged with the frame, the adjustable upside down fork, the adjustable horizontal backlink shock and also the radially mounted 4-pot Kawasaki branded brakes. Then there's also still the SE version which gets Brembo brakes, a gold anodized fork and also an Ohlins shock. Then the riding position appears to be the same too with the 835mm seat height for the standard bike, the 845mm for the SE and while the wet weight figure does come in a kilogram heavier so 260kg, well it's still fairly competitive and should help to make this bike feel perfectly manageable out on the road. In the cockpit though well I should point out there's now connectivity on this bike with the ability to communicate with the Kawasaki Rideology app. Fortunately though this hasn't meant slapping a big TFT dash on the bike and so I think many of you will be happy to hear that it still gets the twin analog clocks with the LCD dash set in between. This means I guess that you don't get the same level of functionality as some other connectivity systems but you can still see the bike's data like the odometer, the fuel level and the service schedule on the app along with riding logs if you so wish and you get notifications for calls and messages on that simple dash. I think on a retro that's probably a compromise that many customers are more than happy to make in order to preserve the more classic aesthetic of the twin clock cockpit. Now a new model year also brings new paint with three options to choose from across three distinct models. The standard Z900RS for example comes in candy tone red which has a deep sort of burgundy look to it but nicely accented with the gold and white graphics. Then for the standard bike there's also a black ball edition which is pretty much fully murdered out including some of the hardware like the side panels and part of the exhaust heat shield and in my opinion, well it won't be for everyone but I do think it looks pretty cool. I think though the best would probably be this SE version which on top of the gold fork and the yellow ohlin shock gets the gold wheels and a metallic black spark finish perfectly complemented with a block of red flanked by the pinstripes. All of that combines for a very special looking bike and I think this is one of my favourite finishes they've ever done on this particular line of bikes. Now no price as of yet on this one but last time around the standard bike was just under 12 grand the SE version just over 13 and so I'd expect similar although probably a few hundred quid more as motorcycle prices generally creep up. To be fair as well you do get quite a bit more tech and hopefully well we'll find out when we ride one but you might save a bit of cash on not having to get it remapped. Perhaps though the new CB1000F from Honda presents a bit of a problem here with similar performance, cool retro looks and a 10.5 grand price tag. I will say though the Kawasaki still has probably the slightly better looks and is also a proven performer out on the road whereas we've yet to ride the new Honda. Then there's also the XSR900 from Yamaha to consider if you're looking for a quick retro which comes in at about 11 grand although it's probably the least convincing of the bunch when it comes to the styling with a lot of modern componentry on show inherited from the MT-09 naked. The Speed Twin 1200 from Triumph is also probably a good shout although it is a little more spendy at £12,695 for the standard bike and £14,695 for the upspec RS. Lastly the BMW R1290 also fits this kind of cool but fast mold but realistically it'll be the most pricey of the bunch at £14,420 before you even think about the accessories catalogue. So what do you think is this update enough to keep the Z900RS fresh or could they have done a little bit more and also which would you pick out of the current fast retros available on the motorcycle market? Do let us know down in the comments below and also I'll put my review of the previous gen SE on the screen now in case you missed it so you can give it a click and give it a watch. Do hit subscribe for more of the latest motorcycle news and reviews right here on Motobob. A massive thanks for watching today and we'll catch you in the next video.