W800 coming to Canada | GTAMotorcycle.com

W800 coming to Canada

TK4

Well-known member
Press release:

"The original icon is back. Packed with all the craftsmanship of the 1965 W1, the new 2019 Kawasaki W800 comes with its distinct bevel-gear-driven-cam Vertical Twin engine, a crafted iconic exhaust note, and modern touches like ABS and LED headlights that will earn the respect of fellow riders and pedestrians alike."
 
This thread badly needs pictures!


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The timing is very good, will be less than a bonneville and be what a Royal Enfield should be (running)
 
I like retro but was under the impression that they didn't sell well.

my perception as well

just MHO, but I think price point is a problem
they are really just commuting bikes
or sunny Saturday afternoon bikes

for that type of riding you don't need to spend 10K or more
 
my perception as well

just MHO, but I think price point is a problem
they are really just commuting bikes
or sunny Saturday afternoon bikes

for that type of riding you don't need to spend 10K or more

Cycle World magazine says $9799 (USD) for the Café. It only comes there in one colour and they won't be getting the Standard.
 
I must have emailed Kawasaki Canada a dozen times over the last bunch of years asking for this bike to come to Canada! Now they finally bring it here with the blacked out engine and flat paint? Bollocks! I wanted the original Green/silver W800 with the chrome and brushed metal, not the blacked out crappy looking one! Seeing as how I've only had my ST for just over a year I probably won't be trading it for this one but a nice, comfortable standard for sunny day rides through the back roads of the Kawarthas would suit my riding time better than my Pan-European! I'm always a little bummed when my ride is only 500km on the ST1300!
 
I must have emailed Kawasaki Canada a dozen times over the last bunch of years asking for this bike to come to Canada! Now they finally bring it here with the blacked out engine and flat paint? Bollocks! I wanted the original Green/silver W800 with the chrome and brushed metal, not the blacked out crappy looking one! Seeing as how I've only had my ST for just over a year I probably won't be trading it for this one but a nice, comfortable standard for sunny day rides through the back roads of the Kawarthas would suit my riding time better than my Pan-European! I'm always a little bummed when my ride is only 500km on the ST1300!

Interesting marketing concept. It didn't sell well originally so they made it uglier. Why not camo and you could pretend to be a WWII dispatch rider?
 
Brown and dark grey don't seem very Britishy to me, even if it's a Japanese bike. Like I know they expect boring middle-class people to buy them, but would a bit of colour really frighten them off? Still, it's a kooky air-cooled p-twin and it's on display. Also: real clocks instead of godless screens. These sorts of things are getting rarer in the age of plastic.
 
...but a nice, comfortable standard for sunny day rides through the back roads of the Kawarthas would suit my riding time better than my Pan-European!

Go find yourself a nice, used Bonnie.
 
The original W650 was a poor seller although a good used one will run you close to what it cost new due to the rareness now. I personally really liked the W650. The W800 looked great in the original green/silver with chrome and metal engine instead of blacked out. There were a few other colours over the years that looked great too. Its a fun, standard motorcycle. It isn't going to be fast, or handle great or cross the continent in luxury. It is just meant to be a pleasant, neutral riding bike that does a lot of things good but nothing exceptional. There used to be plenty of these before bikes got so specialized.

As for buying a Triumph, that's a no go for me. I'm a Japanese bike guy. Always have, always will be. The only place to get parts for the Triumph is an hour away from me and I'm not much of a mechanic beyond the basic stuff, so I don't want to have to deal with taking it to a Triumph shop. I want a bike that every shop around can get parts for and repair easily. I know a few shops that aren't dealerships that can't seem to even order Triumph parts directly. They have to order them from GP, pay full retail and then either make no markup on the parts or pass the cost on to the customer which usually scares them off to the dealership. I really love the old style but not the exclusivity of a Euro bike.

C'est la vie. If I ever get the time and money to have two bikes maybe I'll search out a nice used W650 and have fun kicking it!
 
i used to own a W650, fantastic bike for what it is. It is 100% a neutral, putt around bike. Doesn't excel at anything besides maybe ease of service and generating compliments from a certain demographic. I wanted something that would feel a bit more, shall we say composed, while going 120+ for extended periods or taking a corner. It was a basic frame with a lot of flex. $10k+ is a lot to ask for the W800.

I think it was totaled with the next owner.
 
Kind of interesting:

"According to Kawasaki Heavy Industries, it received a report from a Japanese distributor in April, 2020 regarding improperly tightened exhaust pipe nuts. It spent the following months troubleshooting, including investigating potential manufacturing errors, tightening torque errors, and virtually everything engineers could think of. No such errors were found to exist, no matter how many simulations and tests were run.

Finally, in September, 2021, Kawasaki reported that “It was found that the tightened torque value of the exhaust pipe nuts were decreased drastically, when the exhaust pipe nuts were tightened without the temporary tightening of the muffler body bolts. (The temporary tightening of the muffler body bolts was necessary before the tightening of the exhaust pipe nuts with specified torque.)” Order of operations in tightening can make a difference, as it did here. In October, 2021, Kawasaki initiated this recall to address the issue. "
 
What's the point of the bevel drive with out a clear window to watch the gears spin? Kawi is famous for installing a site glass in the crankcase, but when there's actually something to see......
 
  • Haha
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