Kawasaki W650
Encyclopedia
Retro
Retro is a culturally outdated or aged style, trend, mode, or fashion, from the overall postmodern past, that has since that time become functionally or superficially the norm once again. The use of "retro" style iconography and imagery interjected into post-modern art, advertising, mass media, etc...
standard motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
made by Kawasaki since 1999. It is designed to reflect the appearance and sound of 1960s British parallel twin
Straight-two
A straight-two engine, is a two-cylinder piston engine that has its cylinders arranged side by side....
motorcycles such as the Triumph Bonneville
Triumph Bonneville
The Bonneville is a range of British motorcycles, made in three different production runs from 1959 to 1983, and 1985 to 1988, by the now-defunct Triumph Engineering in Meriden; and since 2001, by Triumph Motorcycles in Hinckley. It is named after the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, where Triumph and...
. The "W" in its model name makes a historic reference to Kawasaki's W1, W2 and W3
Kawasaki W series
-Antecedents: Meguro K series:In 1960 the Akashi-based Kawasaki Aircraft Company acquired an interest in the Meguro motorcycle company, which had obtained a license to produce a copy of the 500 cc BSA A7. Meguro had been Japan's largest motorcycle manufacturer but in the late 1950s its models had...
models, manufactured between 1967 and 1975.
In the United States and Canada the W650 was imported from 1999 until 2000. With weak US and Canadian sales and the introduction of the competing "retro" Bonneville by Triumph, Kawasaki concentrated sales in Europe and Japan.
Kawasaki gave the W650 a long-stroke engine
Stroke ratio
In a reciprocating piston engine, the stroke ratio, defined by either bore/stroke ratio or stroke/bore ratio, is a term which is used to describe the ratio between the diameter of the cylinder bore and the length of the piston stroke within its cylinders...
of 72 mm bore x 80 mm stroke in order to mimic the character of historic British parallel twins. However, in 2006 Kawasaki added a short-stroke W400 model, in Japan. Kawasaki simply combined the same 72 mm bore with a short-throw crankshaft
Crankshaft
The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank, is the part of an engine which translates reciprocating linear piston motion into rotation...
to give a 49 mm stroke and 399 cc displacement
Engine displacement
Engine displacement is the volume swept by all the pistons inside the cylinders of an internal combustion engine in a single movement from top dead centre to bottom dead centre . It is commonly specified in cubic centimeters , litres , or cubic inches...
.
History
In 1999, having achieved success with its retro-styled ZephyrKawasaki Zephyr
The Kawasaki Zephyr is a range of retro-styled naked superbikes, manufactured during the 1990s. All models were air-cooled inline 4-cylinder-engined motorcycles built by Kawasaki. There were a number of Zephyr models available, in four engine capacities - 400, 550, 750, and 1100cc.The 400 was...
series, Kawasaki introduced the W650. The Kawasaki W650 is designed to resemble British motorcycles of the early 1960s, and its styling is particularly reminiscent of the Triumph Bonneville. However, while British twin-cylinder motorcycles of the period had pushrod
Overhead valve
An overhead valve engine, also informally called pushrod engine or I-head engine, is a type of piston engine that places the camshaft within the cylinder block , and uses pushrods or rods to actuate rocker arms above the cylinder...
engines, the W650 is distinctive in having a shaft-driven bevel-gear
Bevel gear
Bevel gears are gears where the axes of the two shafts intersect and the tooth-bearing faces of the gears themselves are conically shaped.Bevel gears are most often mounted on shafts that are 90 degrees apart, but can be designed to work at other angles as well...
overhead camshaft
Overhead camshaft
Overhead cam valvetrain configurations place the engine camshaft within the cylinder heads, above the combustion chambers, and drive the valves or lifters in a more direct manner compared to overhead valves and pushrods...
, similar to those found on 1970s Ducati singles
Single cylinder engine
A single-cylinder engine is a basic piston engine configuration of an internal combustion engine. It is often seen on motorcycles, auto rickshaws, motor scooters, mopeds, dirt bikes, go-karts, radio-controlled models and has many uses in portable tools and garden machinery...
and V-twins
Ducati V-twin motorcycles
The next new Ducati engine to appear after the Ducati Apollo was the 90°V twin, initial Grand Prix racing versions being 500 cc, and the production bikes were 750 cc. There was also the Ducati 750 Imola Desmo that won at Imola in 1972. These engines had bevel gear shaft drive to the overhead...
. Further features include an anti-vibration balance-shaft, and modern electrics.
Production of both the W400 and W650 ended in 2008 because the models could not meet new emissions standards. In 2010, the 50 hp W650 was succeeded by the W800
Kawasaki W800
The Kawasaki W800 is a motorcycle produced by Kawasaki since 2011. The W800 is a retro style model that emulates the Kawasaki W series, three models that were produced from 1967 to 1975, and which in turn were based on the British BSA A7. It replaced the W650, which was produced from 1999 to 2007...
, which featured a capacity increase to 773 cc and fuel injection.