04-15-2014, 08:15 AM
(04-15-2014, 12:51 AM)Rboe_imp Wrote: It is a little bit of semantics. Kawasaki did a retro of their own 650 (which was a licensed bike from England, not a copy) not a retro of the Bonneville. They have legit roots to the design.
When the CB's first came out they killed the British twins but this time around I'm not sure. The bikes are attractive to either your twin fans (vertical parallel twins no less, not your V twins) or your inline 4 fans. Should be plenty of room for both in the market. That said, it would be kind of funny if in the retro market the I4 kicked the parallel twin's butt again.
Motorcyclist, January 18, 2003
"For those bent on getting all Smithsonian about it, the W650 does have its own genealogy, a short strand of DNA from Kawasaki's first Bonneville impressionist: the '66 W1. Created prior to the discovery of styling in Japan, the forgettable, 624cc imitation of a preunit British 650 twin.
One look tells you the '01 W650 wants to be a '69 Bonneville even more than Triumph's new translation. From its chrome fenders, real rubber fork gaiters and faux-Smiths gauges to the alloy rims and peashooter mufflers that let a 360-degree vertical twin (a.k.a. both pistons rising and falling together) sound like one, the W650 is the more-convincing Elvis impersonator."