advrider Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 Is Kawasaki working on a new Z400 RS retro machine? That appears to be the case if Japan’s Japanese Language Young Machine magazine is correct. The mag has been a pretty reliable source for news on Japanese motorcycles in the past. With the Z650 RS a hit, launching a smaller version of the retro machine could make sense. Its present lineup includes both a Z650 RS and a Z900 RS so that a Z400 RS would fill the company’s lower displacement gap for an RS model quite nicely. Young Machine seems to believe that a Z400 RS would be a hit. Enough for them to put a rendering of the potential machine on its latest magazine cover. Could a Z400 RS retro bike be coming from Kawasaki? Image credit: Young Machine With Kawasaki saying that they are concentrating on “greener” alternatives, smaller displacement machines could be part of that strategy until they can bring their promised electric and hybrid motorcycles to production. There is online discussion about Kawasaki planning to overhaul its 400 cc range of machines. Recent patent documents show a new ZX-4R type bike, so perhaps some of those rumors have some truth in them. Obviously, internal combustion engine bikes are currently a significant part of Kawasaki’s immediate future. While the company has said that it will launch 10 new electric / hybrid motorcycle models by 2025, internal combustion machines will have to support the lineup for a fair amount of time. Sport and retro machines are a large part of Team Green’s DNA and have been so for a long time. And though the company is committing to alternative forms of “motive power,” could some inexpensive, smaller, and easy-to-ride machines be the formula to keep people interested in Kawasaki’s newly launched “Rivermark” company until then? Vezi sursa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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