RETRO STYLING DONE THE WAY IT SHOULD BE
Kawasaki has jumped on the retro-bike bandwagon with a fervour. Hipster chic? Check. New-rider friendly? Check. The 2019 Kawasaki W800 Street looks every bit the bike that
Rosie the Riveter would have ridden to work, and that, in this particular era of the sport, is a very positive thing.
At $9,999 before tax, the 2019 Kawasaki W800 Street is accessible, and I don’t mean only in price point. The banana handlebars and mid-mount pegs, coupled with the low(ish) 770-millimetre seat make for authentic vintage styling, but more importantly, excellent ergonomics.
The comfortable riding position and wide bars help make the 220-kilogram chassis shrink in heft and presence.
The assist and slipper clutch tames the five-speed gearbox, and the 773-c.c. parallel twin is civil no matter where you are in the wide powerband. That’s not to say it’s equally smooth all the way through. It’s not. Above 6,500 r.p.m., the W800’s big twin is buzzy, and it lugs below 4,000. Some folk seem to enjoy this chug-a-lug at low revs personality; I suppose, for them, it’s a reminder of a simpler time.
Between 4,000 and 6,500 r.p.m. though, the W800 power plant is positively silken. There’s a pleasing sense of presence and adequate speed, coupled with the whistle of its fairly unique bevel-gear cam drive (think early Ducati supersports here). Throttle off quickly and you get a dull burble in the traditional peashooter tail pipes.
There’s a cafe racer version of the W800, but the higher handlebarred Street is the better esthetic fit. And if style and fashion matter to you, exclusivity probably does as well, so it’ll probably be appreciated that you can’t get the Street version in the U.S.
The birdcage heel protector ties well visually into the side stand, which frustrated me as I consistently used the wrong piece of metal to try to lower the stand. Owners will get past this issue quickly, but as a temporary rider, I found it annoying. The twin analogue gauges are easy to read and operate, but even the Z125 has a fuel gauge and the W800 needs one, too.
The bevel-gear cam drive is set off in chrome on the side of the engine, and it’s this detail more than any other that really drags the W800 firmly into nostalgia land. The rubber fork gaiters contribute, and help disguise the 41-millimetre conventional forks, their beefy size, which helps handling, a bit much for a supposed retro.
The twin rear shocks are also an appropriate esthetic choice and come with adjustable preload I wish I’d adjusted a click or two. On bad roads, the rear suspension of the new, firmer and stiffer cradle chassis was a little too hard. The 18-inch bias-ply tires left little to the imagination, and on uneven roads took a little getting used to. They conduct every imperfection to the handlebars with high fidelity.
That firmness betrays the modernity of this bike, but so do the mirrors, albeit in a more positive way. The mirrors are crystal clear and effective at all speeds, never vibrating or blurry. Whoever damped these mirror stems needs a raise.
A single front disc is period appropriate, though at 320 mm it’s happily larger than the original W bikes. The 270-mm disc at the back would have been a pretty soggy drum back in the day; sometimes authenticity is best left in the parts bin. These brakes are worthy of the street, with decent feel and acceptable power. ABS is standard as well.
The W800 has no pretensions to modern sportiness. It’s just good at what it’s supposed to do, which is be a retro bike that feels like a retro bike while remaining enjoyable — and easy — to ride. You can get retro in a lot of places, but I think Kawasaki has done a better job of matching esthetics to spirit and authenticity.