[twocoolgliders]

Well...you are correct on the genetic lineage of the W650....

but it still "looks" like a Bonneville..at least to my eyes and to many others.  Of course, that genre of bikes ALL look alike to some degree, unless you get out your microscope.  (long thread on this a while back)

So the "w" was a copy of a copy.....like many bikes are...

https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/kawasaki-w650-and-triumph-bonneville/


Many articles like this one, comparing the W650 to Bonneville...probably because, by that yea,r BSA was long gone was never heard of again.


Cookie

BSA

They are not really related to the Bonnie, they are actually based on the W1 which was a 50's BSA A7  ripoff.

It is a slightly convoluted story. Kawasaki bought out Meguro way back when, and Meguro had a licence to make BSA products. This enabled Kawasaki to build the BSA look-alike WI in the late 60's.

Decades later the BSA based W1 became the inspiration for the W650 and W800.


Kawasaki W1:




BSA A7 :

[GlennF]

Well...you are correct on the genetic lineage of the W650....

but it still "looks" like a Bonneville..at least to my eyes and to many others.  Of course, that genre of bikes ALL look alike to some degree, unless you get out your microscope.  (long thread on this a while back)

So the "w" was a copy of a copy.....like many bikes are...

https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/kawasaki-w650-and-triumph-bonneville/


Many articles like this one, comparing the W650 to Bonneville...probably because, by that yea,r BSA was long gone was never heard of again.


Cookie

No doubt the Bonneville was also an influence. it is kind of a stylised hybrid of the generic British bike of the 60's .

To be honest the W800 with that bevel gear overhead cam "looks" to me personally more like a parallel twin version of a 60's Ducati single then anything else

[twocoolgliders]

Uhhhh...well that tube for the cam drive "looks" similar...

Other wise that Ducati looks EXACTLY the same as a W650, except for the engine, seat, frame, handle bars, tank, wheels, brakes, tires, chain, fenders, light, carburetor, rear set, exhaust....

But other than that...dead ringer!

Kidding. just kidding!


Cookie

To be honest the W800 with that bevel gear overhead cam "looks" to me personally more like a parallel twin version of a 60's Ducati single then anything else

[CaffeineRacer]

Not a fast bike at all but torquey and full of life its quite heavy really but the slim tyres keep it nimble I guess. my 1970s honda eats it for breakfast. but around town its perfect.

[twocoolgliders]

Did a 200 mile ride an Thursday...twisty and winding roads....20mph over the speed limit most of the way....70 mph at times....saw one trooper...lucky he wasn't in the mood....and there was plenty throttle left...

weight...1/2 the weight of a Harley....hmmmmm....


So what would your old Honda do?  30 over the limit?  40 over.....what's the point?

RE650 for "around town" is a complete waste of a good motorcycle....this is a road machine...(I ride my Super Cub "around town" but also on 100 milers on open roads too)

If you bought a RE650, you obviously wasted your money!  This is not the bike for you...


Sorry for the "attitude"...I'm kinda known for that....I say what I think....




Cookie

Not a fast bike at all but torquey and full of life its quite heavy really but the slim tyres keep it nimble I guess. my 1970s honda eats it for breakfast. but around town its perfect.

[ace.cafe]

I noticed that my old 1977 500 Ducati kept up with the typical 650/750 crowd of the old 1970s days just fine in most cases.
Tyically at speeds reached on the "fun roads", most mid-size bikes can produce enough power to go as fast as is safe on them. So, a bike with maybe double the peak hp might not run away from me too much on roads like that. On flat straights where they really goosed it hard, I would lose some ground, but could usually catch back up in the curvy bits.

Most modern bikes have too much power to really use on today's streets, and the power is more for bragging rights than useful riding.

[gizzo]

Was that a 500cc P twin? Not many of them around anymore.

[ace.cafe]

Was that a 500cc P twin? Not many of them around anymore.

Yes, parallel twin 500 GTL.
Bought it brand new from the showroom in Alexandria Virginia in 1977 for $1800 USD cash, and the dealer included a Bell Star helmet and some Napoleon mirrors. Orange with silver stripe. I wanted a 750 at the time, but the 750 was $2400, and I didn't have enough cash at the time. So, I bought the 500.

It was a great bike. Put a huge number of miles on it. Extremely reliable, reasonably fast, could do The Ton, handled great. I loved it.

The only issue it had was burning up the condensors which were located in the distributor housing. Once I re-located the condensors on to small tabs near the ignition coils where they could get some cooling, no problems after that.

I know that model is the "Odd Duck" and gets little respect among the Ducatisti, but most of them never owned one. I have also owned two of the round case 750 twins, and although the 500 is not in that classic vein, it is a very nice bike in its own right. Parts are now very hard to get, so it might not be a great choice for a daily rider today.

It looked exactly like this one:

[gizzo]

I think they look nice. Almost bought one some years ago for cheap but decided the crank failure problem made it not worth it. You must have got lucky with yours or did you do the cam plug mod before they fell out? A lot of those 500's came to Australia, there's none left. All broken.

I've owned my pantah for nearly 30 years now, since I was a kid. That one's been bombproof too. And the Monster has also proved reliable. Ducati FTW!

[ace.cafe]

I think they look nice. Almost bought one some years ago for cheap but decided the crank failure problem made it not worth it. You must have got lucky with yours or did you do the cam plug mod before they fell out? A lot of those 500's came to Australia, there's none left. All broken.

I've owned my pantah for nearly 30 years now, since I was a kid. That one's been bombproof too. And the Monster has also proved reliable. Ducati FTW!

I never did any engine mods of any kind, and never had any engine problems. Just the condensors going bad, and after that was fixed, it was fine. I put Conti silencers on it after the LaFranconis blew out.
I rode that thing on thousand mile interstate trips without any worry. Never left me stranded. Rode it in heavy rainstorms, freezing rain, city traffic in 3 inches of snow in Washington DC (Georgetown), many Skyline Drive rides, DC to Tampa straight run, etc.
Probably ended up not far from 100k miles on that bike. Not sure, speedo died at some point and I just used the tach. It was clapped-out when I sold it, but it was still running and rideable. If parts were available, I would buy another one.

[gizzo]

That's pretty amazing. They have such a poor reputation. Half your luck!

[retro-rex]

Cookie, 200 miles? You should have come by Jumboland so we could see your new toy. There was about 15 of us and they had the window open for take out. Picnic tables were usable also. You and your crew should try to make it next week.

Retro-rex

[twocoolgliders]

Cool!   I was wondering what the deal was going to be this year...could not find anything mentioned on the net...

Even if it is not "official" bike night..so what?...so some bikes just showed up for take out....cool..

If I didn't need to go somewhere and then get home, I would have stopped by...we passed very close to there earlier.  (I gassed up at Ross' Corner)

I'll be there next Thursday, weather permitting!  I'll see if I can get the guys form Milford NJ to come too...I found out there is a guy who lives like 3 blocks from me who has a 1970 Interceptor 750...but he is scared of the virus, and won't come out for a while......if I'm riding, I figure the virus can't catch me!

BTW...last Sunday, I rode to Van Sant Airport...another bike hang out on weekends..maybe 30 or so bikes...everybody kept their distance...but good to see riders out...



Cookie

Cookie, 200 miles? You should have come by Jumboland so we could see your new toy. There was about 15 of us and they had the window open for take out. Picnic tables were usable also. You and your crew should try to make it next week.

Retro-rex

[retro-rex]

sounds good - Looking forward to seeing you and your new bike. Hopefully the forcast will hold.

Retro-rex