Four stroke,
parallel twin cylinder, SOHC, 4 valve per cylinder
Capacity
676 cc / 41.2 cu-in
Bore x Stroke
72 x 83 mm
Cooling System
Air cooled
Compression Ratio
8.7:1
Lubrication
Wet sump
Induction
2x Keihin CVK34 carburetor
Ignition
Digital with K-TRIC
Starting
Electric
Max Power
50 hp / 36.5 kW @ 5000 rpm
Max Torque
56 Nm/ 5.71 kg-m@ 5500 rpm
Transmission
5
Speed
Final Drive
Chain
Front Suspension
39
mm telescopic fork
Front Wheel Travel
130 mm / 5.1 in
Rear Suspension
Twin shocks with 5-way
spring preload adjustment
Rear Wheel Travel
85 mm / 3.3 in
Front Brakes
Single 300mm disc 2 piston caliper
Rear Brakes
160mm Drum
Front Tyre
100/90-19
Rear Tyre
130/80-18
Rake
24°
Trail
108 mm / 4.2 in
Dimensions
Length 2180 mm / 85.8 in
Width 790 mm / 31.1 in
Height 1075 mm / 42.3 in
Wheelbase
1465 mm / 57.6 in
Seat Height
790 mm / 31.1 in
Dry Weight
195 kg / 430 lbs
Wet Weight
216 kg / 476.2 lbs
Ground Clearance
126 mm / 4.9 in
Fuel Capacity
15 Litres / 3.96 US gal
While it looks anything but, the W650 is one of
Kawasaki's most recent designs. Launched in 1999 it uses the retro styling of
Kawasaki's Wl, first built in the 1960s. Its air-cooled parallel twin engine has
rounded cases and fins designed to recreate 30-year-old styling, and uses a
bevel drive shaft to operate the overhead cam. The rest of the bike also harks
back to the past. The fuel tank wears rubber kneepads, the low-slung silencers
use a classic peashooter design, and the rubber fork gaitors and kickstart would
almost convince the casual observer that this was indeed a bike from the 1960s.
The W650 isn't totally devoid of modern components though. The engine has
electric start, and the front disc brake is decidedly up-to-date.
Kawasaki W650 And Triumph Legend TT -
There Are Two constants in motorcycling that we take for granted. One, the
British motorcycle industry lived and died on charismatic twins and singles
(and, OK, the occasional triple) that stuck to mature technologies to the bitter
end. Brit bikes are either attractively iconoclastic or rotting and unreliable
old sleds, depending on your point of view and tolerance for warm beer. Two, the
Japanese motorcycle industry lives and dies on the incessant march of
technology-even if it's sometimes liberated from other places-and would rather
turn to making beaded moccasins than appear to be behind the times.
These are fine generalizations, facile and easy to digest, but they run
increasingly against the grain. How's that again? Well, consider these two
motorcycles as the levers that pry such preconceived notions right off the
pavement.
Kawasaki is hot on retro bikes-modern motorcycles designed to look and,
sometimes, feel like old ones. Its Eddie Lawson Replica replica, the ZRX1100, is
selling like saddlestitch jeans to adolescent girls. And there's no
misunderstanding the inspiration for the deep-fendered Drifter cruiser; it, too,
is rolling out of showrooms at good speed. Retros are well into fever pitch in
Japan, so Kawasaki figured to try them here and is cautiously dribbling some
into the States in limited numbers.
Triumph has grasped its own history delicately between finger and thumb,
selecting bits that are evocative but not precisely retrospective. Under John
Bloor, the company has chosen to look ahead and make much more contemporary
pieces. These converging paths lead to the Kawasaki W650 and the Triumph Legend
TT: A Japanese bike that's convincingly British in character and performance,
and a power cruiser from Hinckley that, for its polish and somewhat-anonymous
styling, could well have Far Eastern roots. They share modest prices-$6499 for
the W650 and $7699 for the Legend-and an acknowledgement that they won't be
volume leaders. Think entry-retro.
Kawasaki W650
First things first. This is a Kawasaki, it says so right on the tank and seat,
but it's trying hard, really hard, to be a 1960s Triumph Bonneville. Yes,
Kawasaki can honestly say that the W650 traces its roots to the firm's own W1
and W1SA parallel-twins of the late 1960s and early '70s; but those bikes were
pretty shameless knockoffs of Brit models of the time. And that's the point.
Kawasaki wants everyone from motorcycle know-nothings to seasoned riders who
were there the first time to see the W650 and think Bonneville. The shape of the
W650's tank, fenders, seat and engine all evoke-and in some cases closely
replicate-the original's. From 20 feet, most nonenthusiasts would mistake the
W650 for the real thing. And even those not easily fooled by Kawasaki's clever
design (redesign?) staff, the overall impression is one of homage more than a
calculated theft of someone else's history. (Could also be that Brit-bike fans
are more sanguine about copies than harley nut jobs.)
One ride on the W650 will drag you back, perhaps writhing and groaning, into the
netherworld of 1960s moto tech. The bars are wide and graceful, and the bike
feels quite small and light for a 650-even though, at 453 pounds wet, it's not
exactly in need of eating-disorder counseling. (Do you remember your daddy
telling you that a 650 was a big bike?) The hard, strangely shaped saddle
(replete with white piping) places you high above the bike, perched as though on
a barstool. It's an odd impression for riders used to stumpy, dense sportbikes
to teeter atop a thin, tall motorcycle. And it works fine in the city, but at
speeds on the far side of 70 mph the W650 quickly becomes tiring to ride thanks
to a losing proposition of upper-body strength against aerodynamics.
From this tippy columbarium, you stare down on instruments that, should you have
no memory of the actual pieces, may remind you of wiggly needled Smiths clocks.
(We eagerly await some hacker successfully programming faux waggle into the
electronic gauges.) At the handgrips are switches you've probably not seen since
Mach III days-all totally appropriate for the W650. (Can you imagine how awful
modern switchgear would appear?)
Look behind your right leg and, yes, it's a kickstarter! We seldom used the
electric assist and got the 676cc parallel-twin chuffing on the first or second
prod every time. At idle, the massively undersquare (72.0 x 83.0mm) air-cooled
twin thrums almost silently and barely raises its voice when being thrashed.
Despite having four valves per cylinder actuated by a single overhead,
bevel-driven cam, the W650's powerplant produces only modest power-44.8 hp at
6750 rpm. At least the 360-degree-crank engine-both pistons rise and fall
together-carries its torque well, staying above 35 foot-pounds from 2000 to 6500
rpm. Thanks to 34mm CV carbs fitted with a throttle-position sensor and an
accelerator pump, the engine is reasonably responsive, seeming only to work
against a lot of flywheel effect.