How much is a used Kawasaki Z900 worth?

A 2023 Kawasaki Z900 in good condition with around 9,000 miles is worth roughly £6,700 (typical range £6,050–£7,400). Dealer asking prices sit higher than private sales, and a full service history, no crash damage and an unbroken theft record are what hold a bike at the top of its range.

How quickly does the Kawasaki Z900 depreciate?

We don't yet hold model-specific depreciation for the Kawasaki Z900. Our default estimate for machines of this kind is a loss of about 30% over three years, against a 25–32% norm for bikes generally — treat it as a starting point rather than a measurement of this model. Bikes hold value considerably better than cars, which typically lose 40–50% over the same period.

Can you ride the Kawasaki Z900 on an A2 licence?

No. The Kawasaki Z900 needs a full category A licence — 125 PS puts it beyond what A2 allows, and it isn't offered as a restrictable model.

How much does it cost to insure a Kawasaki Z900?

Expect around £580 a year to insure a Kawasaki Z900, typically £420–£820. That assumes age 35, full license, 5yrs NCB, suburban postcode. Bike premiums move far more on licence tier, rider age and postcode than car premiums do, so treat this as a starting point rather than a quote.

What goes wrong on a used Kawasaki Z900?

The wear and failure points we track for the Kawasaki Z900 are: chain & sprockets (around 10-14k mi, £220); front brake pads (around 8-12k mi, £90-110); tyres (dunlop sportmax stock) (around 6-8k mi rear, £280 pair). We don't publish a reliability score for bikes — the MOT dataset behind our car scores doesn't support one at model level — so treat these as the specific things to inspect rather than a verdict. A full service history and a fresh MOT without advisories remain the best protection.

What does a Kawasaki Z900 cost to run?

Expect around 45 mpg, about £485 a year in fuel or energy, £280 for an annual service, £300 a pair for tyres every 7,000 miles, £270 for a chain and sprockets every 17,000 miles. Figures assume 3,000 miles a year, the UK average from DfT travel and traffic statistics, and current DESNZ pump prices. The cost-of-ownership table on the profile breaks this down per year and per mile.

Is the Kawasaki Z900 likely to be stolen?

The Kawasaki Z900 is a high theft target. Z900 is high on UK most-stolen sportbike lists — light, valuable, strong parts demand. Ground anchor + chain + disc lock all essential, garaging strongly recommended. Theft is concentrated in E, N, SE, SW, M postcode areas. A Thatcham-approved chain and ground anchor, a disc lock and a tracker are what insurers look for, and secure overnight storage moves a premium more than almost anything else.

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NakedLicense A (Unrestricted)3,000/yr UK

Kawasaki Z900

Kawasaki's middleweight super-naked — 948cc inline-four, 125bhp, aggressive Sugomi styling. UK from £9,900. Sweet-spot for experienced riders wanting big inline-four character without sportbike posture. 2024 update added cornering ABS, traction control, three rider modes, and TFT dash standard. Lighter than the rival Yamaha MT-09 inline-triple while offering smoother inline-four power. Not A2 restrictable in stock form.

Engine: 948 cc
Power: 125 PS
Weight: 212 kg
Seat height: 800 mm
A2 licence: —

The short version

47/100

Forecourt score

Value 50 · Insurance 52 · Theft 35

The Kawasaki Z900 costs about average to insure (around £580/yr typical). Theft risk is high. The main thing to check on a used one is the stator (rare). We don't yet hold model-specific depreciation for the Kawasaki Z900; our default estimate is around 30% lost over three years.

A bike-specific blend of value retention, insurance and theft risk (weighted 40/35/25). Bikes carry no MOT reliability data, so reliability isn't scored. Higher is better. The value pillar uses our default estimate for this bike, not a model-specific figure.

Pick your version

Estimates are tuned to the version you choose.

Engine

Petrol · 948cc

Power

125 ps

Torque

98 Nm

Weight

212 kg

Seat

800 mm

Transmission

6-speed manual

Economy

45 mpg

Standard Z900 — 948cc inline-four, 125bhp, full electronics suite from 2024 (KCMF, KTRC, IMU-based ABS). TFT dash. Not A2 restrictable.

Tell us about the one you're looking at

Year of registration2023

20172026

Mileage on the clock9,000 mi

0Expected: 9,00060k

Conditiongood

PoorFairGoodExcellent

Tidy and well looked-after for its age — the typical clean bike.

Estimated market value

£6,719

Range £6,047 – £7,391

HIGH CONFIDENCE

When new (2023)£9,599

Age-based value£6,719

Mileage adjustment+£0

Condition adjustment+£0

Holding value

Bikes hold value far better than cars — typical motorcycle 3-year depreciation is 25–32%, against cars' 40–50%. Some bikes (Hayabusa, Gold Wing, classic Z1000) actually appreciate in the 7–15 year zone as cult demand outstrips supply.

New

£10,499

At 5 years

£6,299

At 10 years

£4,410

Value loss by phase

Each band shows the share of original value lost during that window — not cumulative. Appreciation (green, marked +X% gained) is real for bikes that develop cult status.

Years 0–3First-owner depreciation30% lost

Years 3–7Used-market sweet spot18% lost

Years 7–15Stable / vintage-cult zone26% lost

After year 3: 70% retainedAfter year 7: 52% retainedAfter year 15: 26% retained

UK new price by year

How we estimate this

We don't yet hold model-specific depreciation for this bike. The figures above are our default estimate for machines of this kind, currently applied to 34 models in the catalogue — treat them as a starting point, not a measurement of this model. Bike residuals depend heavily on theft history, service-stamp count and crash-damage signatures. Figures assume a clean, fully-stamped example.

What it costs to own

Over

Indicative running costs at 3,000 miles a year — the UK average from DfT travel and traffic statistics. Chain-drive bikes carry a chain/sprocket consumable line; tax (typically £25–£100/yr) and depreciation are excluded — see the section above for value retention.

3-year total

£2,913

Per year

£971

Per mile

£0.32

Servicing£840

Tyres (pair)£386

Chain & sprockets£143

MOT£89

Fuel / energy£1,455

Service costs assume independent specialist labour and OE parts. Tyre intervals reflect typical UK road riding — track-day usage burns through rear tyres in <2,000 miles. Fuel uses the variant MPG at the current DESNZ pump price of £1.60/L (week commencing 03/08/2026). Electric bikes are costed from battery capacity and published range at the current domestic electricity price; where a bike has no published range we show no energy line rather than guess. Lower-mileage riders see proportionally lower totals; higher-mileage commuters pay roughly linearly more.

Estimated insurance

ABI motorcycle scheme · Comprehensive · 5 yr NCB

Indicative annual comprehensive premiums for this bike. Bike insurance is far more sensitive to licence tier and rider age than cars — pick the combination closest to your circumstances.

Licence

Age

No-claims bonus

5 years

0 yearsBaseline: 5 years15+

Risk profile

Estimated annual premium · typical, age 30-39

£580/ year

Roughly £48 per month

Typical

Suburban postcode, 3+ years NCB, standard security (Thatcham chain + disc lock), no recent claims.

Age band	Lower risk	Typical	Higher risk
Age 17-21	£957	£1,276	£1,786
Age 22-29	£587	£783	£1,096
Age 30-39Selected	£435	£580	£812
Age 40-49	£383	£510	£715
Age 50+	£348	£464	£650

How we estimate this

Premiums combine licence tier, rider age, no-claims bonus and a risk-profile multiplier on top of a bike-specific baseline. Bike insurance is materially more sensitive to licence tier (CBT / A1 / A2 / A) than car insurance, and young riders pay considerably more than older riders even on the same machine. Always get individual quotes before buying.

Theft risk

Bike-specific · Met Police + insurance reporting

UK bike theft rates are an order of magnitude higher than car theft. Nakeds and supersports lose more to professional gangs; large adventure bikes and tourers are statistically much safer.

Theft risk score · 1 to 4

3/4High risk

1 — Low2 — Medium3 — High4 — Very high

High risk

Frequent theft target — appears regularly on UK police hot-lists, especially in London. Expect insurers to demand Thatcham chain + ground anchor + disc lock; tracker can knock 10–15% off premium.

Theft hotspot postcodes

ENSESWM

Postcode prefixes only; full London hot zone runs across E, N, NW, SE, SW, W boroughs depending on the model.

What this means for you

Z900 is high on UK most-stolen sportbike lists — light, valuable, strong parts demand. Ground anchor + chain + disc lock all essential, garaging strongly recommended.

How we set this band

Bands derived from Met Police bike-theft reporting (most-stolen lists) cross-referenced with insurance industry underwriting data. Model + postcode are the two biggest factors in motorcycle theft risk in the UK, materially more than vehicle value.

What goes wrong

5 known issues · sorted by severity

Documented failure modes from UK owner forums, dealer service bulletins, and aggregated mechanic feedback. Mileages are approximate — different riders see different intervals depending on use and maintenance. Always address "high"-severity items before resale.

High severity

Medium

Low / cosmetic

Severity	Part / issue	Typical mileage	Cost
high	Stator (rare) Charging issues from a failing stator — checked at service 30k+ mi	30k+ mi	£400-600
medium	Chain & sprockets 10-14k mi	10-14k mi	£220
medium	Cam chain tensioner Rattle on cold start known on older Z900s — automatic hydraulic tensioner replacement 25k+ mi	25k+ mi	£300
low	Front brake pads 8-12k mi	8-12k mi	£90-110
low	Tyres (Dunlop Sportmax stock) 6-8k mi rear	6-8k mi rear	£280 pair

How we score severity

High — strands the bike or causes consequential damage if left. Medium — service item that affects ride quality or risks failure. Low — cosmetic or minor inconvenience. Costs are independent-specialist UK rates for parts and labour together; main dealer prices typically run 30–50% higher.

Safety recalls

Manufacturers occasionally issue safety recalls to fix a fault free of charge. You can check whether the Kawasaki Z900, or your exact vehicle, has any outstanding recalls on the official DVSA service.

Check on GOV.UK

Opens the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency recall checker. Choose the make, model and year of manufacture — no registration needed.

All variants

Trim	Engine	PS	kg	Seat	A2-restrict?
Z900default	Liquid-cooled DOHC inline-four, 948cc	125	212	800	—
Z900 SE	Liquid-cooled DOHC inline-four, 948cc	125	213	800	—

Strengths

+Inline-four character + smoothness rare at this price
+Light for an inline-four (212kg wet)
+Full electronics suite from 2024 — cornering ABS, KTRC traction, modes
+Cheaper than rival Triumph Street Triple 765
+Strong used market — easy to sell on

Watch-outs

−Theft target — high on UK most-stolen sportbike lists
−Insurance high (~£580 typical)
−17L tank short on long rides at ~150 mi between fills
−Not A2 restrictable

Value this bike All bikes

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Common questions

Kawasaki Z900, answered from the data

How much is a used Kawasaki Z900 worth?: A 2023 Kawasaki Z900 in good condition with around 9,000 miles is worth roughly £6,700 (typical range £6,050–£7,400). Dealer asking prices sit higher than private sales, and a full service history, no crash damage and an unbroken theft record are what hold a bike at the top of its range.
How quickly does the Kawasaki Z900 depreciate?: We don't yet hold model-specific depreciation for the Kawasaki Z900. Our default estimate for machines of this kind is a loss of about 30% over three years, against a 25–32% norm for bikes generally — treat it as a starting point rather than a measurement of this model. Bikes hold value considerably better than cars, which typically lose 40–50% over the same period.
Can you ride the Kawasaki Z900 on an A2 licence?: No. The Kawasaki Z900 needs a full category A licence — 125 PS puts it beyond what A2 allows, and it isn't offered as a restrictable model.
How much does it cost to insure a Kawasaki Z900?: Expect around £580 a year to insure a Kawasaki Z900, typically £420–£820. That assumes age 35, full license, 5yrs NCB, suburban postcode. Bike premiums move far more on licence tier, rider age and postcode than car premiums do, so treat this as a starting point rather than a quote.
What goes wrong on a used Kawasaki Z900?: The wear and failure points we track for the Kawasaki Z900 are: chain & sprockets (around 10-14k mi, £220); front brake pads (around 8-12k mi, £90-110); tyres (dunlop sportmax stock) (around 6-8k mi rear, £280 pair). We don't publish a reliability score for bikes — the MOT dataset behind our car scores doesn't support one at model level — so treat these as the specific things to inspect rather than a verdict. A full service history and a fresh MOT without advisories remain the best protection.
What does a Kawasaki Z900 cost to run?: Expect around 45 mpg, about £485 a year in fuel or energy, £280 for an annual service, £300 a pair for tyres every 7,000 miles, £270 for a chain and sprockets every 17,000 miles. Figures assume 3,000 miles a year, the UK average from DfT travel and traffic statistics, and current DESNZ pump prices. The cost-of-ownership table on the profile breaks this down per year and per mile.
Is the Kawasaki Z900 likely to be stolen?: The Kawasaki Z900 is a high theft target. Z900 is high on UK most-stolen sportbike lists — light, valuable, strong parts demand. Ground anchor + chain + disc lock all essential, garaging strongly recommended. Theft is concentrated in E, N, SE, SW, M postcode areas. A Thatcham-approved chain and ground anchor, a disc lock and a tracker are what insurers look for, and secure overnight storage moves a premium more than almost anything else.

Answers are generated from this bike's Forecourt data — curated specifications, our valuation model and the week's DESNZ fuel and energy prices — and update with the weekly data refresh.