Motorcycle specifications Kawasaki900 Z1 1972 The best enemy of a certain CB750 FOUR...

Late 1968. Kawasaki was about to strike a blow. For two years, the company had been working on a project called the N600. This motorcycle was to be simply the best: an air-cooled in-line four-cylinder with double overhead camshafts and... mass-produced!

Everything is ready, and San Tanegashima (the father of the whole project) has done an excellent job. The green firm is on the verge of achieving one of the greatest feats in its history. The launch was scheduled for the following year: 1969.

At the 1968 Tokyo motor show, Honda presented a machine that would forever be engraved in motorcycling history: the CB 750 FOUR.

Worldwide fame now turns to Honda. All Kawasaki had to do was digest this cruel twist of fate, which was played out in a matter of months...

Honda in the limelight and Kawa in the shadows... Or rather, in the shadows, as the green brand enjoys an excellent reputation in terms of performance thanks to its two-strokes, and is taking advantage of their success to take a breather. The drawing boards are pulled out and the work begins again.

For three years, everything was reworked and Kawasaki wanted to bring out a machine even better than the CB 750 FOUR, using customer feedback on the Honda. In short, frustration gradually gave way to a tremendous opportunity to avoid repeating the mistakes of its competitor, and at the end of 1971, a proto was born: the 900 Z.

After testing in the U.S.A., Kawasaki decided it was time to make up for lost time, and in September 1972, the 900 Z1 was officially launched, to great success!

The result? An extraordinary roadster: 900 cm3 of breath, 252 kg of strength, 82 horsepower, an exemplary finish and a look that's as devastating as it gets. Owning this machine makes you a biker in a class of your own. And, to top it all off, it's easy to handle and easy to ride: The wide, slightly high handlebars, coupled with a 19" front wheel, make cornering intuitive. If you're a little wide in a bend, you'll drop the throttle slightly to tighten up, and when you want to get out of the way, a twist of the right hand will make a deep, throaty sound that will propel you along at over 200 km/h like a cannonball.

Reliability, balance, power and handling well above the standards of the time. That's what's come out of the Kawasaki factories. And if you doubt it, ask the lucky owners of this historic piece: they'll tell you the same, and maybe even more.

More expensive than its competitors, it nevertheless offers a more flattering image to its lucky owners. A career that lasted only five years, since the model was discontinued in 1977.

But those five years would forever mark the great adventure of the two-wheeler. In the end, perhaps its finest role was that of being the CB750's best enemy, for if the Honda had been the only one at the top level, it would only have been an exception. But with the Kawasaki at its side, vying for the top spot on the podium, another chapter in the story began, fuelled by a race for "ever higher". For a great saga, you need a first at the top and a second just below; except in the case of the CB750 and 900Z1, several decades have still not made it possible to determine the real place of each.

CB750 FOUR and 900Z1, two stars propelled to the firmament of history. But while they climbed towards the future, others sank into the past, and it was in the shadow of the Japanese lights that the French and English grandes dames departed.

alexandre B. - Manufacturer's photos