We probably didn’t really need to compare the Honda CB1000R and Kawasaki Z900RS Cafe since they’re polarized enough in the looks department to make it appear that potential consumers will be drawn to one or the other – and their performance and mission statements both are close enough on paper to make them more or less interchangeable, aren’t they? I think we really just wanted an excuse to ride both of them again, they’re both such charismatic motorcycles. Everybody wants to hang out with them. What is a café racer? One that flits from Starbucks to Starbucks? Close enough for us.
2018 Kawasaki Z900RS Cafe Review
2018 Honda CB1000R Review – First Ride
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First, let’s assess your needs: Where’s your cafe? One of our favorites is Crystal Lake Cafe, 5200 feet up in the San Gabriels, atop your classic winding mountain road. Mostly the pavement on the way up there is smooth, and the Kawasaki doesn’t mind it one bit, swooping gracefully from side to side and thanks to a pretty short trail figure, 89mm, steering lighter and quicker than you might expect from its ’80s looks. Once on its side, the Kawi feels super stable, though, and holds its trajectory easily and smoothly until the order is countermanded. Or steered. Its tires stick fine at footpeg-feeler scraping lean angles, and its nice suspension units erase ripples and small bumps. Ergonomically, the Cafe’s slightly lower handlebar than the vanilla Z900RS’s puts a smidge more weight on its front contact patch, and gives it a slightly more confident feel when attacking curves – but it’s ergos are still way closer to “standard” than they are to “sportbike.” Just right, really, for nearly all human body styles.
Another big difference with the Cafe is its throttle response: Where the RS could be snatchy, the RS Cafe’s power comes in way more smoothly from closed throttle. Kawasaki says the boys in Japan tell them nothing’s changed and part numbers are same-same, but obviously some retuning of the ECU has given the Cafe a much more refined and smooth throttle. What it feels like is really perfectly-tuned carburetion – a virgin vinyl record album as you drop needle gently onto disc on your expensive turntable… On this one, you don’t need to be dragging the rear brake when you want to get back on the gas leaned all the way over, just open it. There’s also KTRC traction control to keep you from spitting yourself into the weeds, but the Cafe doesn’t feel like it needs it on dry pavement on fresh rubber.
Brakes, dual 300mm discs, are plentiful, and on a bike this long and heavy, the rear’s really useful too, especially since both ends have ABS. Hack it into the tight corners, cheep cheep cheep…
All in all, though the Kawi Cafe is semi-styled after Ed Lawson’s racer, 1982 never had it nearly so good. I could ride this all day, but I won’t – because there’s a cheeseburger with my name on it up top at the cafe.
Hopping onto the Honda…
… you’re immediately informed that your knees are higher and the handlebar is an inch closer, at just about the same height as the Kawi’s. It’s the same semi-standard ergonomic layout, but the CB’s is just that much more compact and sporty. The Honda is 0.8-inch shorter of wheelbase (57.3 inches), 0.4-in higher of seat (32.7 inches) and 28 pounds lighter (467 lbs); 7mm more trail means it doesn’t steer quite as lightly as the Kawasaki, but the tiny bit of extra muscle required is payed back in increased road feel, which also comes back through the soles of your feet and the Honda’s knurled aluminum footpegs. The Kawi’s pegs are rubber. Speaking of rubber, the Kawasaki Cafe’s handlebar clamps are mounted in the stuff, where the Honda’s bar bolts up solidly and transmits more tactility but also more vibration at all rpm.
Are you getting the picture? As a sportbike the Honda’s a little sportier than the Kawasaki, with sterner suspension components at both ends to back it up. More sophisticated damping means the Honda is more confident at full lean through bumpy corners. If the Kawi feels a little analog, the Honda is fully digital: Its throttle response is a bit more abrupt, its reflexes are a bit quicker, it’s all-in-all a more lively, spry ride than the Kawasaki.
And even if the CB does suffer from a bit of a flat spot in the meat of its powerband, it still always feels more powerful everywhere than the Kawasaki, because it is, and because it’s 28 pounds lighter. But you have to work harder for it on the Honda, because its 68.5 lb-ft of torque doesn’t get there until 8300 rpm; the 50cc-smaller Kawasaki only makes 64.1 lb-ft, but it does it at just 6600 rpm. The Kawi makes it easier to be lazier if you want to be. Even its clutch pull is a tad lighter than the Honda’s, and its gearbox is 7.3% more lubricious.
On tight roads, there’s really not much in it. On faster ones where you can let the Honda unwind, its 121 horses at 9800 rpm will wave sayonara to the Kawi and its 96 hp at 8600. But that’s seldom the case on public roads.
It’s sort of like their sporting personalities are summed up in each bike’s instrument layout: The Honda is digital, edgy, modern and ready for battle.
The Kawasaki’s got a big dollop of that too, but it also recalls a less frantic, more comfortable humanist era.
But all-out sporting use isn’t either bike’s primary mission, though both are really good in that role. If that’s your priority, you want the Honda. It’s quicker, faster, better-suspended and sharper-handling. For a more relaxing, 80% pace up the mountain, possibly with passenger, it’s the green machine you want.
For rolling around town and on the freeway, the Kawasaki’s softer side comes to the fore. Compared to the regular ZR, Kawasaki stuffed a bit more foam into the seat, and when you lean slightly more forward to its lower grips, that foam provides a lovely nest for your huevos rancheros.
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