New (to Me) 2000 Kawasaki W650

If you are talking about my Ky to Cali trip it was excellent. 4700 miles of perfect riding conditions. No rain...70's to 90's temps. I took a very Southern route. US80 in Arizona almost to the New Mexico border was beautiful. I went South down through Rodeo, NM and up to Tombstone and Brisby. The 650 did wonderful. The trick for me is the Corbin seat. I definitely overgeared the bike with the 16 tooth countershaft sprocket. With the windshield and big GIVI E45's which are way wide it struggled if I had 30+ miles per hour headwinds which I did through West TX, NM and Arizona.

I'll post just a few pics over in Ride Reports this morning later. I'm loaded up and headed to Northeast Florida in the morning. When I get back I will have recorded over 11000 miles on this bike in about 7 weeks! My miles for the year will be about 55,000 total. That will be my highest miles year ever and stangely enough it still doen't feel like I have ridden enough.
Barry

Here is one that I like. I spent one night in Tombstone, Arizona. Love that town.

Found a 2000, just like yours, this summer in the NOVA area. 5200 miles, $2100. Didn't hesitate. Wife almost killed me--now have 5 motorcycles and 3 bicycles of mine in the garage . . . .

Hated the stock plow-handle bars. Tried drag bars, now have Bikemaster Superbike bars. Feels really good.

Air screws at 3 1/2 turns out. Blocked the vacuum and put one shim under each needle. Need to balance the carbs but I'm too lazy. Warms up better now, seems to run better with no flat spot. Haven't had it out on a long ride since the shims were installed. So far that's been the key, and made the most difference.

Also put Hagon shocks on the rear and replaced the (awful) old fork oil with 15W. Better, but I may spring for Race Tech springs and emulators.

Stock gearing's working great so far. Longest day on it was about 200 miles.

Here's with the drag bars.




Another with the drag bars. Had to put risers on because the switch gear hit the tank with the drag bars on. That's not a problem with the Superbike bars, but no photos of that yet.




It's not as versatile as the Wee Strom, and the XR eats logging roads for lunch, but the Dub is so much fun to ride--wunnerful bike.

Here is a shot of mine. It was a left over 2000 model I bought new in 2003. I have put 24K on it and it still runs just great. I have also done all the mods to improve the carbs and the suspension.

Mr Expat, that bike was a gift from heaven. I hope you told your wife it's worth at least twice what you paid.

I did. Not sure she believes me!!!

Still my favorite all round ride. Mods include Black tank repaint, OEM low bar kit, OEM rear rack, Corbin solo seat, 5 Stars side racks, GIVI 21L bags, Dart flyscreen, Hagon shocks and Race Tech fork mods. Engine is stock with idle mix adjusted and exhaust air plumbing blocked (no decel popping).

Still rides and handles like an old school bike and makes soul stirring sounds from the stock exhaust. I'll probably take this bike to the grave.

Another NOVA dubya owner here.....as ACAP650 mentioned, putting a marble or similar in the exhaust air injection hose will stop any backfire on the overrun.

Got #38 pilot jets in mine too, makes then less apt to plug with the ethanol fuel in the "commonwealth".

fried okra

Love these bikes. They are very few around here. A couple I work with has a pair of them and ride them everywhere. I had a brief ride on one a couple of years back and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Has anyone done the "Scrambler " routine with one. I always thought it would have worked well ( maybe even better than the Triumph ), being a bit lighter than the Triumph. I think if I could do that, I'd buy one for sure................If I could find one.

A guy down the road has one that he barely ever rides. I talked to him about it at the post office one time and I see it in his garage when I go by, hoping it will have a sign around its neck one of these days.

The W650 Shop in Germany sells a scrambler-type high pipe for the W.


Link added; http://www.w650shop.de/Scrambler/scrambler.html

This the one I like (only pic of this I ever found). Not sure of the pipes, maybe from Japan.

We found this:


In a friend's garage. He sold it to us this summer for $3000. I bought it for my wife to ride. I have taken it out and had so much fun that it has me rethinking my ride. This thing is awesome. It had updated tires, 2 seats, and a mag tankbag. I put a Slipstreamer Spitfire w/s on it.

I love the LSL W650

That is exactly what I was talking about. I wonder if that would have sold better than the version they did bring to North America? I don't know if I'd trade the Vstrom for it, but I would sell all the other stuff in the garage for it. I don't smoke, but I would probably have have a pack rolled up under the sleeve of my shirt.

This one can't decide what it wants to be-vintage or modern. The brakes and shocks ruin it for me.

I like it.

The wrapped exhaust and silly front fender are not to my taste, but otherwise, it looks pretty cool to me.

- Mark

What's wrong with the fender? It doesn't intrude, it doesn't offend.

And it doesn't look good. It looks like something Paul Tuttle Jr. would put on one of his choppers.

No offense, just my subjective opinion. We're talking looks here, no right or wrong.

- Mark