VOL. 55 ISSUE 46 NOVEMBER 20, 2018 P41
K
awasaki has announced
they will be bringing the
W800 Cafe Stateside
next year. The W800 has been
a feature of many other inter-
national markets but hasn't
been featured here—the W650
has—so Kawasaki now has a
retro-themed roadster to go up
against bikes like the Triumph
Bonneville range.
Powering the W800 is an
air-cooled, SOHC, bevel gear
cam drive 773cc parallel-twin
wrapped in a steel double-
cradle frame. The motor gets
a bore and stroke of 77.0 x
83.0mm, a heavy flywheel, fuel
injection, 34mm throttle bodies
and long intake funnels, a five-
speed gearbox and a slipper
clutch.
The mufflers are reminiscent
of 1960s British twins, long and
straight and should emit a lovely
deep note on acceleration. The
suspension comes in the form
of conventional 41mm forks and
twin rear shocks, brakes are
single caliper jobs front and
back with ABS, and the ergos
are designed to put you in that
cafe racer stance without break-
ing your back too much.
Kawasaki has used classy
analog clocks with a small digital
readout on the left speedo for
trip readings, but overall, the
cockpit looks almost as old as
the bike this W800 Cafe is repli-
cating in the 1966 Kawasaki W1.
The 50-state-legal 2019 Ka-
wasaki W800 Cafe is available in
Metallic Magnesium Gray/Galaxy
Silver and will sell for an MSRP of
$9799. CN
