Changing the wheels on your motorcycle can pay dividends when it comes to handling and power delivery. This is especially true if you’re a sporty rider looking to get the most performance out of your machine. Most mid-to-premium level street and sport bikes are equipped with cast aluminum wheels which, for the average rider, are perfectly fine for most rides.
However, for those looking to set their bikes apart, be it for style or function, aftermarket wheels usually made of forged alloy or carbon fiber, are usually the go-to. That said, for Kawasaki owners, particularly of the Z900RS, a new set of flashy, lightweight wheels from Ultimate has hit the market. Recently launched in the Japanese market, Ultimate’s new wheels are under the Lavorante brand and are called Sfidare, which means “to challenge” in Italian.
The Lavorante Sfidare features a lightweight and robust forged construction, as opposed to a standard cast wheel. It’s not made of carbon-fiber, meaning it’s just a tad heavier than fancy carbon wheels, but is better suited for the street where potholes and unforeseen obstacles can really do some damage to carbon wheels. That said, according to Ultimate, one of the benefits of the Lavorante Sfidare, apart of course from its lightness, is the fact that it can easily be repaired in the event it gets bent from a pothole or striking debris on the road.
Apart from the Z900RS, the wheels are also available for the ZRX1200 RS and ZRX1200 DAEG range of bikes which were sold from 2001 to 2016. Only 20 sets for each model will be produced as part of the first batch, and each set retails for the hefty sum of 460,900 Yen, which translates to around $3,306 USD. From a technical standpoint, the front wheel weighs in at 3.2 kilograms, while the rear wheel tips the scales at 5.6 kilograms—just over half the weight of the bikes’ stock wheels. The Lavorante Sfidare is available in either green, black, or gold color options, and carries a JWL certification for use on the street.
