Kawasaki W800 - Fresh From The Box

Loop · 09-18-2012, 05:51 PM

Well I recently traded in my tired old Bandit for a lovely new Kawasaki W800 and what a fantastic bike it is. Picked it up Friday but was working over the weekend so no chance to use it other than for commuting but I now have a week off so I took it out today and yesterday to play a little. Took it down my favourite back-water roads and along some light trails and had a whale of a time. Here are some pictures:

Through the woods:

Further through the woods:

Along some broken up back-roads:

And again:

And by some waste ground:

Hardly high adventure I know but it's my new bike, humour me. :P

dave6253 · 09-18-2012, 06:00 PM

Lovely bike.

ScottRS · 09-18-2012, 06:03 PM

Wow! She's a real beauty. Wonder if the W800 will make it to the US market.

jrunberg · 09-18-2012, 06:06 PM

Doubt it, unfortunately...

gumshoe4 · 09-18-2012, 08:50 PM

What a beautiful machine...

Wish they'd bring it here...

Glad you have it and are having such a great time on it...

ZZ-R Rider · 09-19-2012, 03:17 AM

My God that is one gorgeous motorcycle!! Wonder if we could get Kawasaki to introduce it to North America if we started an email campaign?

Scrivens · 09-19-2012, 05:52 AM

One of the nicest bikes I've owned out of 60-odd, and just about the perfect big twin if you grew up riding British iron. I put over 6000km on mine in the first 7 weeks I owned it - then slowed down a bit while recovering from a minor accident on my Sportster. I'm currently rolling up about 1200km a month, but it has been a very wet winter. Fantastic economy, handles nicely and it is small and light with a lot of torque. I look forward to getting on mine every day - even riding to work is a blast.

I run Dunlop K70s on mine now as I do a lot of gravel roads and they work far better than the TT100s. K70s handle well if you are used to them too.

The one thing they do need is a decent sound - easily got by taking a hole saw to the muffler tail-pipe and cutting out the band around the inner pipe. (If you don't have a high quality hole saw you can use a small drill bit and simply make a lot of holes in the band and the cut it out with a small punch.) Once that is cut through the baffle simply wiggles out. Remove the remains of the band from the end of the baffle - and inside the tailpipe if you didn't cut it right to the metal - drill a small hole about 1 1/2" in from the end, and a corresponding hole in the underside of the tailpipe, slide the baffle back in and use a short self-tapping roofing screw to hold the baffle in place. Takes a bit of fiddling to get the inner pipe central in the tailpipe as the self tapper bites and screws fully in, but only a couple of minutes. That gives a low burble at idle and a deep burble underway. If you want to go for a slightly louder, deeper sound drill 8 x 1/4" holes about 2" apart in 4 equidistant (ie, quadrant) rows down the baffle. Neither of these make the noise level obnoxious - it is about on par with a standard BSA or Triumph system, and sounds very similar. Leaving the baffle out entirely doesn't make it overly loud, but the sound is a bit harsher. You might also want to stick a marble in the air injection hose between the cylinders as it causes a lot of popping on the overrun as the air goes into the exhaust. (Sounds similar to a badly leaking exhaust gasket.) Not worth removing all the bits and using block plates, and the EFI requires the air-injection electronic unit under the tank to be connected anyway or the error light will come on.

TonyKZ1 · 09-19-2012, 06:22 AM

Congrats on the new bike, it looks great!
Tony

internalcombust · 09-19-2012, 06:53 AM

Looks like a lot of fun.

dilandau · 09-19-2012, 07:59 AM

what the new bonnie should have looked like.

Wolfgang55 · 09-19-2012, 08:36 AM

How much does that 800 cost?

Loop · 09-19-2012, 11:15 AM

Just a polite question but why was this moved? Considering there are more than a few photos, some off-road, I thought pics pics pics was the correct place. Enlighten me so I know the difference for future reference. Thanks.

sargev55 · 09-19-2012, 12:32 PM

omg,

the possibilities

chance of getting it in the US = low

sargev55 · 09-19-2012, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loop

Just a polite question but why was this moved? Considering there are more than a few photos, some off-road, I thought pics pics pics was the correct place. Enlighten me so I know the difference for future reference. Thanks.

maybe it was done so all the roadwarrior peeps can lust over it

625SXC · 09-19-2012, 12:52 PM

Sweet bike! But.... How much does that GIANT license plate kill your top end speed?

09-18-2012, 05:51 PM	#1
Loop ^OP Mechanicess from Mar Joined: Dec 2011 Location: Southern UK Oddometer: 15	Kawasaki W800 - Fresh From The Box Well I recently traded in my tired old Bandit for a lovely new Kawasaki W800 and what a fantastic bike it is. Picked it up Friday but was working over the weekend so no chance to use it other than for commuting but I now have a week off so I took it out today and yesterday to play a little. Took it down my favourite back-water roads and along some light trails and had a whale of a time. Here are some pictures: Through the woods: Further through the woods: Along some broken up back-roads: And again: And by some waste ground: Hardly high adventure I know but it's my new bike, humour me. :P __________________ "I'm fine thank you Susan."

09-18-2012, 06:00 PM	#2
dave6253 ad-ven-cher-uhs Joined: May 2006 Location: Phoenix, Arizona Oddometer: 2,537	Lovely bike. __________________ My 25 Ride Reports! dave6253.smugmug.com

09-18-2012, 06:06 PM	#4
jrunberg Adventurer Joined: Jul 2008 Oddometer: 98	US bound? Doubt it, unfortunately...

09-18-2012, 08:50 PM	#5
gumshoe4 Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Feb 2007 Oddometer: 457	What a beautiful machine... Wish they'd bring it here... Glad you have it and are having such a great time on it... __________________ Bob

09-19-2012, 03:17 AM	#6
ZZ-R Rider Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Jun 2011 Location: Hanger 18 Oddometer: 174	My God that is one gorgeous motorcycle!! Wonder if we could get Kawasaki to introduce it to North America if we started an email campaign? __________________ Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by arseholes ...

09-18-2012, 06:03 PM	#3
ScottRS n00b Joined: Apr 2012 Location: Maryland Oddometer: 8	Wow! She's a real beauty. Wonder if the W800 will make it to the US market.

09-19-2012, 05:52 AM	#7
Scrivens Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Jun 2011 Location: South Australia Oddometer: 293	One of the nicest bikes I've owned out of 60-odd, and just about the perfect big twin if you grew up riding British iron. I put over 6000km on mine in the first 7 weeks I owned it - then slowed down a bit while recovering from a minor accident on my Sportster. I'm currently rolling up about 1200km a month, but it has been a very wet winter. Fantastic economy, handles nicely and it is small and light with a lot of torque. I look forward to getting on mine every day - even riding to work is a blast. I run Dunlop K70s on mine now as I do a lot of gravel roads and they work far better than the TT100s. K70s handle well if you are used to them too. The one thing they do need is a decent sound - easily got by taking a hole saw to the muffler tail-pipe and cutting out the band around the inner pipe. (If you don't have a high quality hole saw you can use a small drill bit and simply make a lot of holes in the band and the cut it out with a small punch.) Once that is cut through the baffle simply wiggles out. Remove the remains of the band from the end of the baffle - and inside the tailpipe if you didn't cut it right to the metal - drill a small hole about 1 1/2" in from the end, and a corresponding hole in the underside of the tailpipe, slide the baffle back in and use a short self-tapping roofing screw to hold the baffle in place. Takes a bit of fiddling to get the inner pipe central in the tailpipe as the self tapper bites and screws fully in, but only a couple of minutes. That gives a low burble at idle and a deep burble underway. If you want to go for a slightly louder, deeper sound drill 8 x 1/4" holes about 2" apart in 4 equidistant (ie, quadrant) rows down the baffle. Neither of these make the noise level obnoxious - it is about on par with a standard BSA or Triumph system, and sounds very similar. Leaving the baffle out entirely doesn't make it overly loud, but the sound is a bit harsher. You might also want to stick a marble in the air injection hose between the cylinders as it causes a lot of popping on the overrun as the air goes into the exhaust. (Sounds similar to a badly leaking exhaust gasket.) Not worth removing all the bits and using block plates, and the EFI requires the air-injection electronic unit under the tank to be connected anyway or the error light will come on.

09-19-2012, 06:22 AM	#8
TonyKZ1 Studly Adventurer Joined: Dec 2005 Location: Marble Hill, MO Oddometer: 572	Congrats on the new bike, it looks great! Tony __________________ 1989 Kawasaki Ninja 250 - mostly stock with a scottoiler system, Oxford Heaterz heated grips, Works Performance rear shock, Traxxion Dynamics front forks, and a pair of Oxford Muffs for when its really cold. My Mileage Tracker Page. Ninja 250 Riders Club

09-19-2012, 06:53 AM	#9
internalcombust Yes its dirty, thanks. Joined: Mar 2009 Location: Pittston, ME. Oddometer: 1,495	Looks like a lot of fun. __________________ 2012 Tiger 800XC 04 DRZ400S

09-19-2012, 07:59 AM	#10
dilandau Studly Adventurer Joined: Aug 2009 Location: oakland, ca Oddometer: 584	what the new bonnie should have looked like. __________________ morini 3.5 strada & sport, fz600, 74 eldo

09-19-2012, 08:36 AM	#11
Wolfgang55 Beastly Adventurer Joined: Dec 2006 Location: Next to Rio Bravo Oddometer: 2,955	How much does that 800 cost?

09-19-2012, 11:15 AM	#12
Loop ^OP Mechanicess from Mar Joined: Dec 2011 Location: Southern UK Oddometer: 15	Just a polite question but why was this moved? Considering there are more than a few photos, some off-road, I thought pics pics pics was the correct place. Enlighten me so I know the difference for future reference. Thanks. __________________ "I'm fine thank you Susan."

09-19-2012, 12:32 PM	#13
sargev55 Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Feb 2010 Location: charlotte, nc, usa Oddometer: 495	omg, the possibilities chance of getting it in the US = low __________________ 2005 Harley 1200 Roadster. 72whp/76tq 1995 eclipse gs-t. 342whp/310tq 1999 ford exploder...who cares. Bladez Moby-S goped thingy. 35cc of whoop ass!

09-19-2012, 12:52 PM	#15
625SXC Studly Adventurer Joined: Apr 2004 Oddometer: 500	Sweet bike! But.... How much does that GIANT license plate kill your top end speed? __________________ 2007 FJR1300 2003 Aprilia RST1000 2005 KTM 950 Adventure Black 2005 KTM 525MXC 2006 KTM 200 XC-W

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