Driving report Penner-Kawasaki W 650 Big Bang

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Driving report Penner-Kawasaki W 650 Big Bang

Penner-Kawasaki W 650 Big Bang in the driving report

Parallel twin with a single cylinder character

Convert a twin into a single cylinder? The Penner-Kawasaki W 650 Big Bang is a parallel twin with a single-cylinder character. How does the part drive? We tried it.

D.he name Ulf Penner (www.tuning-fibel.de) should not be completely unknown to the readers. MOTORRAD had already portrayed him in 2006 (issue 14/2006) and over the years put a few machines under the microscope that the Bremen tuner had given them a go. In principle, Ulf doesn’t shy away from anything, he works on everything that comes on the workbench. The testers were able to convince themselves of that with good results.

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Driving report Penner-Kawasaki W 650 Big Bang

Penner-Kawasaki W 650 Big Bang in the driving report
Parallel twin with a single cylinder character

Kawasaki W 650, which had changed fundamentally in terms of character and sound.

Convert the twin into a single cylinder?

The solution to the riddle: A W 650 / W 800 collector wanted to add another, completely wacky version to his extensive vehicle fleet. The twin should be converted into a single cylinder. That sounds a lot like crazy idea, but it’s relatively easy to put into practice. Because, as is well known, the W 650 engine is a real parallel twin in which the two pistons whiz up and down at the same time. Ignition takes place evenly, alternately every 360 degrees. This corresponds to the classic English design: Twins from Triumph or Norton used to work the same way.

Now it should be very easy to have both cylinders ignite at the same time. Then you would have a 720-degree parallel twin with a single-cylinder character. Of course, this is only possible with realignment of the valve timing by turning the two halves of the camshaft by 180 degrees. To quickly manufacture a new camshaft was nothing more than a finger exercise for Ulf Penner. And it actually works. The engine shoots like a single cylinder, and it behaves that way. He turns up tough, closes earlier, seems pretty phlegmatic overall – almost like an antique English single. But it runs really smoothly and vibrates to a tolerable extent. The Big Bang-Kawa successfully combines the disadvantages of the single-cylinder with those of the two-cylinder. Still a fun idea.

Driving report Penner-Kawasaki W 650 Big Bang

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