#z650rs

The California Air Resources Board has issued an executive order for what we expect to be an updated Kawasaki Z650RS for the 2024 model year. The update is expected to be relatively minor, adding traction control to the Z650RS.

“I’m not a fan of the Darth Vader looks.”

After a brief teaser campaign, Kawasaki has revealed the new Z650RS, its third “retro sport” model following the Z900RS and Z900RS Cafe. The 2022 Z650RS is based on the Z650 model but is styled to resemble the 1977 Z650-B1, a.k.a. the “Son of Z1”. At the moment, the Z650RS has not been confirmed for the U.S. market, but we expect it will be part of a larger launch event planned by Kawasaki Motor Corp. U.S.A. for Oct. 5.

Kawasaki Motors Corp. U.S.A. announced on its official website that it will be revealing six new 2022 vehicles on Oct. 5, with another three motorcycles to be revealed Nov. 23 (which would fall during EICMA).

Kawasaki has released a video teasing a new retro model across its social media channels. The video shows two riders in open-faced helmets and offers just a glimpse of the bike’s mirror stalks, but we expect the mystery model to be a new Z650RS. As of this writing, the video has been posted to Kawasaki’s European, Australian and Canadian channels, among others, but not yet to its U.S. channels. Nevertheless, we expect the 2022 Kawasaki Z650RS to be coming to America as well.