All Tests – Kawasaki W800 Test Drive: Back to the Past! – Luxury, calm and voluptuousness

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Kawasaki W800 test: back to the past !

All Tests - Kawasaki W800 Test Drive: Back to the Past! - Luxury, calm and voluptuousness

Like the Z, the W is a separate letter in the Kawasaki alphabet … In 2011, the new Kawasaki W800 revives the dynasty of the air-cooled vertical twin. Site was able to try it on the Tropezian coast: first contact !

Luxury, calm and voluptuousness

Getting on the W800 is easy: the double saddle rises to only 790 mm and is easy to mount. The handlebars are relatively high, close to the rider and wide, the tank is narrow, and the footrests are located slightly forward. In short, we land on the new Kawa as on a good old chair.

A simple flick of the starter – no, there is no more kick or manual choke! – and the twin wakes up nicely. A few rotations of the right handle betray a certain inertia on the part of the two pistons, but the charm still acts, even all the better !

The mirrors and the two levers once adjusted, we can engage the first report: the clutch is not too hard, the selection super soft and the engine particularly flexible. In short, the first start is no problem !

A charming easy girl full of good will

The full weight of 216 kg seems less, even when driving at low speed. The center of gravity of the motorcycle seems to be placed lower than on the more "contemporary" models and will not penalize the small templates. Conversely, the front axle is a little heavier to handle than that of current mid-capacity roadsters, but nothing destabilizing for all that..

During the first kilometers, the W800 shows good will. Its engine, in particular, accepts a trickle of gas from 1500 rev / min, while its injection, finely regulated, limits the jolts to the strict minimum, well helped by the suspensions adjusted – in the factory, they cannot be modified by the pilot – very flexible.

Thus, the crossings of the city center – village center in this case – quickly take on the appearance of small bucolic walks, the turning radius of the W800 also making it easy to play with traffic..

It is only when parking the W800 that its pilot will eventually be able to rail: he has to go and get the side stand with his heel, between the footrest and the central: not easy. Likewise, during the crutching on the central, large boots do not find their place between the lug of the crutch and the pretty chrome pot..

Fortunately, the little Kawa makes up for it on other points: the saddle for example, on condition of wedging a minimum back – or on its widest part – offers a comfortable seat. Likewise, knee fluids make it easy to become one with the bike..

Vibrations well (too) present

The mirrors offer a good field of vision … as long as you do not throw the tachometer needle – the passage perfectly legible – beyond 3000 rpm! In fact, after this speed, vision becomes cloudy because of engine vibrations. A lesser evil, because at this rate it is better to look ahead !

Admittedly, the W800 is far from being a sporty one but its 48 horses allow it to reach 130 km / h meter rather quickly. On the last gear, the twin then gallops at around 4,750 rpm and can take an additional 2,500 revolutions. Coiled up on the tank, Site pushed it without any harm to 5500 revs (at 30 km / h approximately 1000 revolutions, we will let you do the math).

The absence of any nose screen necessarily limits the number of kilometers traveled at high speed. However, it is not the lack of protection that will push owners of W800 to give up. Indeed, from 3000 rev / min, the back and forth pistons make the frame vibrate copiously. !

If you can get rid of the vibrations in the knees by moving them away from the tank, it is however impossible to do without the pressure on the footrests. The only solution is then to reduce its speed, to around 70 – 80 km / h. Thus, the W800 becomes the best antiradar there is, even on secondary network !

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