According to the Kawasaki marketing material, they?re starting a ?retrovolution? with the new Z650RS. Or a retro evolution, in English. Although on paper the specs aren?t really anything to get too worked up about, it?s a model that?s based heavily on the Z650 (a bike I actually really like), so I was looking forward to the opportunity to take one for a spin. And that opportunity came at the press launch in Marseilles yesterday. Bonus.

First of all, let me tell you exactly what we?re dealing with. Really, this bike is a Z650, with some bits and bobs to make it look more ?old school?. Like the standard ?Zed?, it has a 649cc parallel twin motor, with a slipper clutch, 67bhp and 64Nm of torque.

The main differences between this and the Z650 are the front brake disk, the wheels, the clocks, the tank, the seat and the rear subframe, which have all been designed to hark back to the old Z650 B1, released back in 1977.
Eye of the beerholder

All the bikes on the launch were green, which if I?m being honest, I didn?t particularly like; but everyone else there seemed to get hard over them, so it was probably me that was wrong. I can see why they did it, because it?s a bit of a retro Kawasaki-green, but I think I just prefer the more modern Kawasaki-green. Anyway, that?s irrelevant, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and all that. There?s a black one and a grey one that you can have, if you prefer (the black?s actually the cheapest).

The first leg of or test r...