Well, I’ve had the Z900RS for just over a month now. At first I didn’t get much opportunity to ride it, so a couple of weeks ago, I went to Devon to take a ride out with my father and his bike club, so put around three hundred miles in, which gave a me a feel for how I needed to set the bike up.
Okay, so I knew a naked bike at 70mph along the motorway was going to be harder work than tucking down behind the screen on the RT, but I wasn’t sure just how well I’d cope with it. Better than expected, frankly. However, my hands ached from having to hold onto the bars, so I decided a small screen to take some of the wind pressure off would make sense. I’ve gone for a Puig screen that covers the instruments and gives some wind protection for my chest.
I’ve also put the lower seat on. I can cope with 831mm with the balls of my feet on the ground, but dropping it to 800mm brings it inline with my two BMWs and I can get both feet flat on the ground, so it’s just that bit more comfortable to move around dead-weight and at low speed.
I strapped a roll bag on the seat for the trip with my overnight stuff in. Which was fine, but getting on and off the bike was awkward, so I decided that a carrier was in order. Again, I wanted something that wasn’t too overt, so opted for the Hepco and Becker tubular rack. Small enough not to detract from the lines of the bike, but it means I can strap a bag to it and swing my leg over the seat.
Finally I fitted a mounting clip for my Givi tank bag – as I use it on both of my other bikes, it makes sense to be able to clip it onto this one, which again means nothing on the rear seat of the bike. I know a lot of riders strap bags to the pillion seat, but I found it too cumbersome. What works for one doesn’t work for another, I guess.
Anyway, with this slight customisation, it’s fitting me perfectly – now that I’ve ironed out the little niggles that I wanted to find and sort before taking it on any long trips once the weather improves.