The Quickshift
- Kawasaki Europe just announced its 2025 Z650RS and Z900RS
- No hardware updates, but paint and graphics look stellar
- Throwback graphics recall the heyday of Kawasaki Zs of the 1970s
Kawasaki Europe just showed off its 2025 Z650RS and Z900RS, and we'll give you the bad news first: If you were hoping for serious updates, there aren't any.
But if, on the other hand, you think the Z650RS and Z900RS are pretty great as is, and you were just hoping for some choice new retro paint and graphics, then you're probably going to like what you see. To be fair, they're both pretty great packages, so why fix what isn't broken, right?
Let's start with the 2025 Kawasaki Z650RS, shall we? In Europe, it will come in your choice of three colorways: Ebony, Ebony/Green, and Ebony/Yellow.
Kawasaki is an interesting company, in part because it's got the unique range to do something as mad as the Z H2 while at the same time, it's offering you exquisitely crafted modern classics like the Z650RS and Z900RS.
Arguably, part of why it succeeds so readily in the modern classics department is because it understands what enthusiasts who like these bikes want. These bikes are for people who love the colorways and styling of the Kawasaki Z classics from the '70s, but want the modern conveniences and safety features that you can find on bikes 50 years into the future.
That's it. That's the secret sauce.
And by all the gods, it works. I mean, just look at these things. If the Z650RS color options up above didn't convince you, have a look at the 2025 Z900RS options.
The attention to detail is so good, including that absolutely perfect vintage logo font found on the tanks of all six of these Zs. But even more to the point, it's cool to see that the same Ino Red colorway that we saw earlier in the year on the 2025 Kawasaki Z900RS release in Indonesia is now making its way to another market halfway around the world.
Following on from that thought, though, you may note that the stunningly gorgeous Z900RS Cafe is nowhere to be found in Kawasaki Europe's 2025 announcement. Still, the colors that Europe gets on the RS are quite nice.
Which one is your favorite, or are you holding out for a Z900RS Cafe Ebony colorway that may never come? Let us know in the comments.
