KAWASAKI W800 CAFE
Back Street Heroes|February 2020
WHEN, BACK IN 1999, KAWASAKI LAUNCHED THE W650, IT WAS ARGUABLY THE VERY FIRST PROPER RETRO TO BE OFFERED BY ANY OF THE BIG MANUFACTURERS AND, IN 2001, WHEN TRIUMPH (HINCKLEY) LAUNCHED THEIR FIRST, 790CC, BONNEVILLE, MORE OF A BONNEVILLE THAN THE TRIUMPH.
NIK
KAWASAKI W800 CAFE

The W650, you see, was smaller than a new Bonneville (Bonnies were traditionally always a smaller bike than a lot of their rivals), felt lighter, made a nicer noise, and actually looked more like a Bonnie than the Triumph did. Performance for both bikes was about the same, and both bikes were actually very good, but the Triumph won the sales battle by having the more evocative name.

Kawasaki continued to produce the W650 (named after the very first full-sized bike, the 1965 W1, also a 650, to bear the Kawasaki name – the earlier Meguro K 500 was a joint venture between the Kawasaki Aircraft Company and the Meguro company) until 2007, when it was replaced with the larger capacity W800, still a bevel gear-driven cam engine like its smaller sibling. It’s now a 773cc twin, air-cooled, and internally it’s been upgraded with new pistons, but it remains A2-licence compliant with a quoted 47bhp at 6,000rpm, and 46.39lb-ft of torque at 4,800rpm. Top speed is quoted as being 105mph (we’ll talk about that in moment), and fuel consumption is apparently 55mpg which, given the 15-litre tank, equates to around 180 miles per tank.

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