Kawasaki W800

[Cormanus]

Although it never made it to the US, we've seen the W800 in Australia and it's a lovely bike. Looks like it's reached the end of the road. Sad. http://blog.motorcycle.com/2016/06/01/ma...l-edition/

[rboe]

A buddy has the W650 and he rides the snot out of it. Just got back from Moab. It is prettier than the CB and if the W800 was available here I'm not sure I would have bought the CB. If they brought it to the states I might have to sell the Griso to get one.

[Randy B]

My first bike was a CB500T and once I got on a 4 cylinder I'll never go back. It's a nice looking bike, but not my cup of tea.

[flynrider]

My first bike was a CB500T and once I got on a 4 cylinder I'll never go back. It's a nice looking bike, but not my cup of tea.

I can relate, Randy. I spent many years riding mostly medium displacement parallel twins (650-750). I couldn't part with either of my smooth I-4s to go back.

It is a great looking bike. Back when the W650 came to the U.S. I thought it looked more like an old Triumph than the new Triumphs.

Sadly, simple air cooled engines are approaching extinction as emissions regs get tighter. Control of combustion temperatures are the name of the game in emissions control.

[Wisedrum]

A buddy has the W650 and he rides the snot out of it. Just got back from Moab. It is prettier than the CB and if the W800 was available here I'm not sure I would have bought the CB. If they brought it to the states I might have to sell the Griso to get one.

The W800 is a lovely motorcycle for sure.
It is offered in Germany all the time until its official selling stop at the end of this year.

But this all doesn't matter (much to me), I drive one for over 5 years now and there are many more years to come.
The W is reliable and durable. Now it has 40.000km on its speedometer.

Which one, the CB or the W, looks "better"?
The W looks smoother and even more retro.
But the CB has charm in its own way. Even kind of being more modern.

I love both of them and as long as I'm able to keep them, I'm driving my rounds switching back and forth
between these bikes.

If I have to sell one of the bikes, I probably will keep the Kawa.
Why? I'm riding parallel twins for the longest time and the W800 offers all components
I'm looking for in a motorbike. The CB offers some more, especially the engine, which I enjoy,
but honestly written the W is still enough for the way I ride a motorbike.

Wisedrum

[LongRanger_imp]

One of the reasons I bought my DLX is because I didn't buy a new W650 when I had the opportunity. They were only offered in the U.S. for two years and didn't sell particularly well. I didn't want to make the same mistake with the CB and miss out again.

When they first came out, I demo'd a new W650 at the dealership, loved it, but got cold feet and didn't buy it. Two years later, when I was ready, they were gone. I'm still sore from kicking myself relentlessly. I think it's a beautiful bike.

[aschem_imp]

Owned a new 01 W650 and sold it 4 yrs later; a very fun bike. Would have purchased a W800 over the Cb if it had made it to the US

[Wisedrum]

@ LongRanger

Yes it is, I owned a used one for some years before I switched to the W800,
which I like more, although the 650 was very good. In Germany it is the
preferred bike of both models, with a kind of fan club behind it.

But we will see how things develop in the future, when the W800 has left the market.
Their sold amount is smaller than the slighty more sold W650. Two numbers: round about
1.200 for the 800 and 3.500 for the 650 (today some get lost through being damaged or whatever).
Maybe than people will recognize how good the W800 is, still a little late...even though.
But better late than never. A nice side effect of owning such a bike is, the Ws, also the 800, pulls attraction
wherever it is. No wonder.

Wisedrum

[Papa Weeley_imp]

These (and the 650W) are/were pretty cool, very nice looking bikes, but I'm not of the camp that thinks they're better looking than the CB...and this is coming from a previous Triumph Bonneville owner. As I've probably said before, I think the CB1100 is the most beautiful bike I've ever owned.
Can't say much as to the build quality of the Kawi, as I've never seen one close-up, let alone ridden one, but I'm pretty confident in the Honda quality, and that speaks volumes as far as I'm concerned.
Still, sad to see anything like this go away. I know they have quite a cult-following.

[venturer434_imp]

Sad to see 2017 W800 will be the final edition...