Kawasaki W800 2020 

Tom Williams -This is definately the perfect bike for what you describe.

Piekny klasyczny Japonski motocykl.Poniewaz znam bukwy to rzucilem tekst innym jezyku slowianskim pozdrawiam wszystkich slowian zwlaszcza na motocyklu

My Yamaha XS650SE has a 360 degree crankshaft. Runs and sounds amazing.

John Campbell Yes,I had two times a Yamaha XS650(a nice bike also!)What I wrote is that only Kawasaki has no today with their W800 a parallel twin with a 360 degree crankshaft/firing order.The advantage of the Kawasaki W800(with balance shaft)is the fact that it sounds(surely with aftermarket silencers)as a 360 degree parallel twin from the past,but without the vibrations about 4000rpm like your XS650 or Triumph 750 T140 (1978)in my garage.Al the new parallel twins with 270degree firing order run nice(with balance shaft too)but the exhaust sound is familiar with a 90degree V-twin. About kickstarting,in mine opinion a real basic motorcycle with not more then 1or 2 (4stroke cilinders)should have the possibility to also kickstart the bike which belongs to the style of a pure motorcycle,which demands a bit power and technical brains off the rider.Best wishes and a good ride with the Yam XS!

Hub and John - Good choice, the Yamaha XS650s are legendary. In the day I came very close to buying a new '78 XS but decided to give my Honda CB550 a needed engine overhaul instead. I do love a Brit bike style air cooled vertical twin with 360 degree firing order. The W800 is the only bike you can get with these features. Thanks for mentioning the engine balance shaft. It gives smooth power with a hint of throb, more from the sound of those beautiful pea shooters than the engine actually. It also prevents the bike from shaking itself apart as sometimes was a 60's Brit bike malady. Having said that, I certainly wouldn't mind having a '68 Triumph T6 along with my W800 Street.

The music is called, "The Party After Work" by Influgrant...courtesy of Shazam

Perhaps the seat is designed for rider AND pillion comfort, unlike most bikes these days.

That is a proper seat designed for rider and pillion. Its a pity more motorcycle aren't like this as they used to be. Too many motorcycles today are designed with a lovely Pilots seat and the pillions seat is rubbish jacked up approx 6" higher with very few comfort's in mind. The modern day motorcycle is based more on style rather than on practically hence rubbish pillion seats front mudguards that are so small the one thing they don't stop is mud/crud and very few motorcycles have a main stand anymore. It's the same daft logic that car manufacturers follow like no spare wheel Crazy !!!!! Progress.

I had a 2012 w800. Beautiful bike but excruciating seat after 2 hours riding...

Unlike the carbed W400 and W650, the W800 is fuel-injected. If the battery is very weak or worse, flat, no amount of kick-starting will bring the engine to life, since no fuel is delivered to the combustion chambers.

@@azlanmramli I guess the solution is to not let the battery get very weak or flat. If it *did* get very weak or flat, there certainly wouldn't be enough juice to crank the engine over....let alone power up the fuel pump, ECU, and injectors. In other words....it's pretty much a non-issue.

@@brokenot Yup. A non-issue since it's not a problem, in the first place... so i'ts more of a "prevention" rather than a "solution". ;) Being a Japanese bike, I have no worries about the battery holding its charge. I have a 2012 W800SE, btw... and recently it went two months without being started at all throughout the period (and no battery tender was used), and it fired up nicely at first push of the button. Not riding the W for two months straight is very very rare for me. I was very busy during that period...

Azlan R my Royal Enfield 500 Classic single cilinder is fuel-injected and has electric and kickstart too!A retro motorcycle like the Kawasaki W800 should have a kickstart too,while it belongs too the style that you also can kick your engine!But just like the new retro Triumph twins the engineers don’t understand that many retro motorcyclists wish an electric and kickstart too!

My Yamaha XS650SE has kick and electric start, but never need to use the kick.

Helen - I bought a 2019 W800 Street and I can report that the finishing is top notch and something you notice right away. The fuel injection is perfect and the tall gearing is spot on for the available torque. A pleasure to look at and ride.

But then they would have probably had to upgrade just about everything to deal with the extra horsepower and it wouldn't look like that at all anymore..

Just get a Bonneville.

@@havok531 Na, this is a more Triumph, Triumph.

Inspiration for "Livin in a ghost town"!!!!!!!

Paradise Road Exactly.

Paridise Road - The bike is a pleasure to ride just as a well sorted Triumph or BSA from the 60s (only the Kawi stays that way!). Its like riding one of those bikes (as apposed to tinkering, or fixing one of those bikes) only with much closer tolerances, perfectly set up fuel injection and powerful disc brakes.

Paul Crocker,the Honda CB1100EX is just like the KawasakiW800 a tribute too the good old Honda CB750 in-line four cilinder and the old Kawasaki W1and W2 650 parallel twin(who was actually a copy from a BSA A7).The difference with the Honda four(a beautiful bike too!)is the 360degree parallel twin who is smaller in cubics than the Honda,but sounds and feels more like a basic motorcycle who don’t need more then one or two four stroke cilinders,but that is a question of personal taste.I’m glad for the various offers of motorcycles!

@@hubdormans5709 Both are desirable bikes but they are very different bikes in their approach, with a different price also. At least here in Canada.

YES! But in metallic red. I've seen one, and it is gorgeous.

Thats a mystery. Like all the other stats About this bike.

and is sucks, big time.

I know. But. You can't have just one bike. Right?

I don't think that the W 800 was designed to be ridden on Autobahns .

لا يمكن لكن الوكيل في بلدك يستطيع ان يجلبه لك

I find the displacement more than enough to have a blast solo or with a passenger.. I for one have had enough of the power and displacement wars.

Why? Is there somewhere it can't take you as is?

it should be the W logo on that.

Tank racks known to remove man's junk in a crash

You can get them on line with high strength suction cups (so no drilling the gas tank) in black or chrome.

Only with closer tolerances and better metalergy making better reliability, disc brakes, stronger frame and fuel injection. That's if you are talking about the Bonnies of the 60's and '70s. There are also major differences between modern Bonnies and the W800. Just depends on what features you like.

It was in the style of an early 60's BSA.

Because they do it better than Triumph!

Didn't they buy BSA licenses back in the sixties?

Royal Enfield -biggest selling bike in India -no radiator!

@@grahambutcher5083 True for the mono but the twins have an oil radiator.

I've never heard of any over heating issues with the air cooled W series engines (even in hot climates).

It's far from pointless. It's supposed to show how the bike looks. A video is worth a thousand pictures. Not everyone needs commments, some people are able to analyse what they see. It was a common skill before youtube and vlogging came up.