Kawasaki Z900RS / Cafe
Reviews page
Here are Z900RS reviews taken from my facebook page, private email, and other public sources....
Reviews are in date order...
Comparison reviews are marked with *********
https://www.facebook.com/Ivans-Performance-Products-163052890467739/
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Scotty Baccus
recommends Ivan's Performance Products
.
Sept 24, 2020
I shopped around before picking someone to tune the ECU on my new Z900RS. I called a couple, including Ivan, asking some questions.
Ivan was happy to answer, and his complete approach to tuning my particular model was very detailed. I was sold.
I followed his directions for air box mods, chose a compatible pipe and sent him my ECU. I shipped it on Monday and had it back on Thursday!
My first ride was a real eye opener! He delivered on everything promised. Truly, it runs as it should have from Kawasaki.
I'm a big fan!
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Linton Small
recommends Ivan's Performance Products
.
Sept 24, 2020
The Kawasaki z900rs is an amazing bike in every way except for a major flaw, and that's the snatchy throttle.
It has an on/off jerky feel anytime you disengage or reengage the throttle in any gear.
You learn to live with the problem by feathering the throttle input but it never goes away, and is especially apparent when navigating corners.
Any accidental input of too much throttle in a corner could throw you off your line or worse; needless to say, not confidence inspiring.
After doing some research I came across Ivan's Performance and decided it was time to get my ECU flashed.
My trusted bike shop mechanic did all Ivan's recommended upgrades to get my z900rs up to it's full power potential.
I got the air box mods and Akrapovic headers. I didn't know what to expect when I picked my bike up but boy, was I pleasantly surprised.
It's was like I was riding a brand new bike.
The jerky throttle was completely eliminated, the power was smooth and linear from a stand still to cruising speeds, and cranking on the throttle
to redline was brutally quick.
It just kept pulling past the 8500-9000rpm that I was use to in the stock configuration.
Ivan's Performance really gave my bike a new lease on life.
Instead of having to settle for the poor performance that was the snatchy throttle, getting my ECU flashed was the
best investment in my z900rs I ever made.
It doesn't matter if it's straightaways or in the twists, I love riding my z900rs all over again.
All I can say is wow, bravo Ivan, thank you!!!
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Jax Black
recommends Ivan's Performance Products
July 15, 2020·
Ivan flashed the ECU on my Z900rs and my oh my what a huge drivability and performance change.
It only took a few days for my ECU to make it’s way to him and back.
For reference these are the mods on my bike: full akrapovic exhaust, pair block off plates, Ivan’s airbox mod and sprint air filter.
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Tolly Crump recommends Ivan's Performance Products.. (Posted on Z900RS Owners)
5-2, 2020·
Just put mine back together yesterday and took it out for the first ride. Ivan's tune, Akro header, K&n filter, and full air box mod.
My god, the difference is unbelievable! It is soooo smooth, shift so nicely, and the power! It really is a whole new bike.
I would classify Kawasaki's factory tune as garbage compared to the way it runs now.
Going to have a beautiful sunny 80 degree day today, and ill be on it all day. I'm so glad I had it done.
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Steve Langen recommends Ivan's Performance Products.
April 27 2020 ·
I put on Akrapovic headers with the factory can and got an Ivan's Performance ECU flash. Throttle issues are GONE.
Still good gas mileage. The power improvement, while really not needed, is stunning. Most of the power comes from the header according to his dyno charts..
The throttle fix is 100% the Ivan tune.
His tune kept me from selling the bike over that throttle twitch in groups, twisties, and mountain switchbacks.
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Scott Jones recommends Ivan's Performance Products.
11-9 2019·
Just installed the Akrapovic Header and Ivan ECU flash on my z900rs cafe.
No more Jerky Throttle and even traction mode 1 you can't keep the front wheel on the ground.
I already love the bike but this was the icing on the cake.
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********* Comparison review *********
Online post on the Z900RS forum from flynbulldog·
« on: November 07, 2019, 10:45:04 PM »
Entire thread topic is here:
https://www.z900rs.co.uk/index.php/topic,2329.0.html?PHPSESSID=b07a062d335652c8ab4fe00e347c1b43
flynbulldog
Z900RS Pro
***
Posts: 383
Bike: lotobikes
Town / City: Greensboro NC
Country:
Some of you who’ve read my posts before know that I’ve been pretty outspoken about the horrible throttle snatchiness on the Z900RS.
From the beginning I’ve held on to the idea that the problem is caused by Fuel Cut which is when the fuel is completely shut off on deceleration causing a feeling (to me) that
someone has reached over and switched off the ignition. And then on opening the throttle again a very abrupt re-ignition occurs causing a jerky lack of control and coordination.
Because this condition has been so bad I’ve not ridden the bike much and I’ve even put it up for sale which is a shame because in every other way I really love the bike.
I’m not one to go for band-aid solutions that mask the problem and don’t address it directly, so I’m not going to use a throttle tamer or try to nullify the harshness by going for softer gears.
These solutions in my opinion only numb the performance of the bike so you feel the problem less; they do nothing to correct the issue.
Against my better judgment the first solution I tried was more like the shotgun approach. Rather than trying to tune the ECU “let’s just throw more fuel at it everywhere and
see how it goes”… But the Booster Plug was the first thing available and so many people called it a magic bullet.
It is no magic bullet but it didn’t hurt and maybe it might have been just a ghostly whisper better than it was stock.
So I left it on the bike until a remap was available.
I really wanted to flash my bike with a tune by Ivan because he has a reputation of being able to do wonders with a lot of these bikes with this exact problem, and he’s been
in the business of offering performance tunes for many years.
I installed one of his carb jet kits on my 2003 Yamaha FZ1 way back in the day and the transformation was nothing short of amazing.
But he was taking too long to get this tune done and I was just about to toss my RS over a cliff, so I ordered the 2Wheel Dynoworks flash hoping it would be the solution.
The 2WD flash was a huge step over the Booster Plug as it should be, because it is designed by identifying and adjusting problem areas in the fuel and ignition tables. The 2WD flash also
disables the fuel cut feature so I had high hopes that this would be the cure.
Along with the 2WD flash I also installed the Akro header with the stock muffler. The guys at 2WD were super cool to me and have great customer service.
I think they are a good company to do business with. The bike was much improved with a noticeable increase in pep all across the rev range and a much smoother running engine
if you can even imagine that with how smooth the Z is in the first place.
The fuel cut felt like it was finally disabled but to me that wasn’t enough, the jerkiness was slightly less but still too harsh.
And although at this point I could ride around the problem I had to work at it and it was constantly the focus of my ride. That just isn’t going to do.
I gave up on a flash from Ivan and I put my Z900RS up for sale, but just here on this forum and nobody comes here looking to buy a bike, they come here after they’ve already
purchased one. So I guess I didn’t try too hard to sell it…
Last week I got a message from Ivan that the tune for the Z900RS was ready.
The tune from 2WD was super nice but at this point I was pretty disillusioned with the bike and with the fuel cut already disabled,
I wasn’t sure that anything was going to make it better. And who wants to throw another $350 at the bike on a prayer?
But the other option was to give up and sell the bike or trade it in on something else. There are too many great bikes out there to live with this thing the way it was. So I decided to do it.
Yesterday I made the three and half hour drive to South Carolina with my ECU in hand and today I took the bike out on our beautiful twisty North Carolina back roads for a test run.
Ivan tells you to adjust the idle to 1200 RPM. I didn’t need to do that with the 2WD flash but when I first started up the bike after Ivan’s flash and warmed it up it was idling at about 1600.
I’m guessing there were some adjustments to ignition timing and possibly fuel tables even at idle.
The adjustment is a small silver knob just behind the frame rail near the side cover on the left side, you can easily access it by hand to make the adjustment.
I’ll be the first to say that for me this flash was by no means a play for power, the bike is no beast and I have other bikes that are far more powerful so it made no
difference to me that the increase that this flash gives the bike along with the Akro header goes from 102 HP stock to 116 HP at the wheel with this flash.
That should be more than felt by the seat of the pants dyno.
It’s been a few weeks since my last ride with the 2WD flash so any seat of the pants feeling of an increase in power is hard to determine.
One thing is for sure – with Ivans flash the bike rips a lot harder than it does stock and the power is everywhere in the rev range.
And as with the 2WD tune I can feel no flat areas, no burbles or lulls in delivery, the engine is superb through the rev range.
The miracle here is in that tiny spot just off of closed throttle; that instant that you crack the throttle open. Before, it was abrupt and harsh like an on/off switch with a distinct
lack of control. But now the opening is smooth and with variation and control, the control area is minute mind you, but it is there and it is usable, and that is all new.
This has been the missing part of the solution that the 2WD flash didn’t address but it isn’t the entire equation that encompasses the jerky throttle problem.
The other half of the problem is the harsh deceleration, which is much improved with Ivan’s flash but if you are ham fisted it can still be felt.
On my ride today I was looking for negatives and if you look hard enough you can usually find them.
But I noticed that while I was concentrating on the ride and the throttle control and the shifting and cornering and coming off and on the throttle, suddenly I was going fast,
I ride these roads weekly but now I was riding them a good 10 or 15 mph faster than I normally do on this bike.
Was it because I was trying so hard to find the foibles, or was it because the bike was so much easier to ride that I just went faster?
I’m not really sure but I do know that those twisty North Carolina back roads were a whole lot more fun today. And there’s no doubt that the bike is better than it’s ever been.
I suppose that had I gone from stock to where I’m at now the difference would have been tremendous, but because I made small improvements along the way and had incremental
steps it’s much harder to discern all of the changes. The bike is finally at a point that to me feels like the way the bike should have been from the factory.
I reserve the right to add to this review when I get more time on the bike but for now I think I’ve finally gotten to a point that I can live with and I look forward
to more spirited rides on the Z900RS.
Just to let you know I paid full price for my ECU flash from both Ivan and 2wheel dynoworks and have no affiliation with either of them.
This review is strictly my own point of view