THE RIGHT RETRO?

I enjoyed Frank’s Kawasaki W650 ride in RC201, although I was a little surprised that overall you seemed to think the bike was retro motorcycling vanilla. Now well into my 70s, I started motorcycling in 1960 on a plunger BSA Bantam. I progressed through many British bikes (mostly parallel twins), a number of single-cam Honda fours, some 1970s Guzzi 850s (Eldorado, 850T, Mk II Le Mans) and a Honda 900 Hornet. The Matchless G12 was the first big bike I restored from basket case condition in the early 70s and I’ve regretted selling it ever since. The Norton is a MKIIA Roadster that I changed to an Interstate.

Recently I decided to revisit my earlier motorcycling experience and bought a couple of retro bikes rather than embarking on any more restoration projects. The first was a Royal Enfield Electra X and the second was a Kawasaki W800. I initially considered a Hinckley Triumph T100 Bonneville which was quite impressive to ride but I was annoyed that the tachometer and centrestand were regarded as extras. Compared to a 1970 T120 Bonneville, the Hinckley Triumph didn’t look quite right.

Next was the Kawasaki W650, the bike that ‘looked more like a Triumph than a Triumph’. It came with the additional eye candy of a distinctive (if not in your face) bevel drive camshaft which was a wonderful piece of one-upmanship by Kawasaki, who did it just because they could. I soon discovered that this machine had become a bit of a cult bike in Australia, they’re relatively rare and fairly pricey – in fact I was able to buy a low mileage immaculate W800 for not much more money.

The W800 is more than just a slightly bored out, fuel injected W650 without a kickstart. The still well under-square engine has similar power to the 650 but delivers peak torque from 2500rpm, giving it a pleasantly meaty midrange. It’s this tractability that reminds me of the Matchless G12 and the Commando twins in my past.

The W800 is not perfect. It could do with a more aggressive exhaust note (they seem to have managed that on the RE 650) and the rear shocks are not up to the job, especially with a pillion passenger.

The shocks are an easy fix (Ikon or Hagon) but because the exhaust is manufactured with each pipe and muffler in one piece, replacement mufflers are not a simple fit. Any reduction of back pressure seems to upset the O2 sensor, changing the mixture when idling or on the overrun.

I guess it’s different strokes for different folks when it comes to retro bikes, but for me the W800 is about as near as I’m going to get to the rewarding experience I once had when riding a classic British twin. The Kawasaki W800 is my current parallel twin ride – the bike will probably outlast me but I’m going to enjoy it for as long as I’m capable of riding it!

Thanks again for a great magazine. Keith Mckechnie