19 January 2011 Update:
For confirmed Kawasaki W800 pricing, please click here.
Kawasaki has unveiled its retro W800 at the Cologne Intermot motorcycle show.
There are a few differences between this production-ready version and first image of the W800, which was released last month. The most obvious is that the limey-green paint has been ditched, replaced by a much more attractive dark green and silver metallic colour scheme.
Other changes include the seat unit, which looks a bit plusher but loses its contrast piping around the edge. There are now knee pads on each side of the fuel tank, too, that sit just behind very large chrome ‘W’ emblems.
No surprises in the engine department - it’s an air-cooled twin with a capacity of 773 cc, driving through a five-speed gearbox. Unfortunately Kawasaki hasn’t released any power or torque figures yet, but given that its W650 predecessor managed to get 49 bhp (37 kW / 50 PS) from its 675 cc, somewhere approaching 60 bhp (44 kW / 60 PS) shouldn’t be an unreasonable estimate for the W800.
Front suspension is taken care of by a 39 mm telescopic fork unit, which comes complete with rubber gaiters. Meanwhile, at the rear, there are twin shocks and five preload settings for the springs. The frame is a double-cradle item, made from high tensile steel.
Although the W800 gets a single 300 mm disc brake with twin-piston caliper at the front, the arrangement for the back wheel remains very old fashioned - it only has a 160 mm drum.
Ready to ride with all fluids and a full fuel tank, the W800 tips the scales at 216 kg, which is not bad considering that Kawasaki has tried to manufacture as many of the components as possible out of metal, rather than plastic. Seat height is 790 mm (31.1 inches).
Probably the one thing that most potential customers want to know about is the price but, in the UK at least, Kawasaki is keeping quiet about that for now. Seeing as the main rival for the W800, the Triumph Bonneville, costs £5,899 (or £6,699 in even more retro T100 guise), that surely has to be the kind of price that Kawasaki is aiming to sell the W800 for?
