Comparison test Kawasaki W 650-Triumph Bonneville

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Kawasaki W 650 / Triumph Bonneville test comparison

Yesterday is today

What have they saved from the character of their historical predecessors, the Kawasaki W 650 and the Triumph Bonneville? And which one is the better Englishwoman?

Now it’s back, the Triumph Bonneville. And wants to show us that it has what it takes to fill the venerable name with new life. Didn’t want to tolerate a Japanese company, Kawasaki, of all things, as the guardian of British heritage. The W 650 is considered the most British bike ever today, more British than anything that has come from Hinckley, the seat of the new Triumph brand, so far. Tea standards should now be adjusted again. Not an easy exercise, as the W 650 had proven that its modern parallel twin, refined with a vertical shaft drive, which in itself does not have a historical model, exactly met the taste of the classic community.
And how did Triumph manage the balancing act between classic and modern? With advanced technology in an engine that just pretends to be from the good old days. And with displacement. 790 cubic centimeters the W 650 is content with 676 cm3 – distributed over the two broadly ribbed, vertical and air-cooled cylinders, which are fed by 36 millimeter Keihin constant pressure carburetors. According to old-fashioned custom, the 86 millimeter thick pistons in the Triumph engine pound up and down at the same time; it is ignited at 360-degree intervals. So much for the conservative element. The British engineers no longer wanted to put up with the gruesome vibrations of their historical model, the T 120 (more on this in the box on page 44), so they built in two balance shafts and gave the crankshaft a four-fold plain bearing. The old Bonneville still had to make do with two bearings. At that time, despite the balancing factor of the crankshaft webs being changed several times, it was never possible to get the consequences of the engine shaking under control. The cylinder head of the new Bonneville is also contemporary. Two chain-driven camshafts open and close each of the four valves via bucket tappets. The combustion chambers are conventionally fed: with a Japanese constant pressure carburetor. They have heating elements that heat the carburetor housing below ten degrees. Progress you can’t see.
With the chassis, however, the Triumph designers haven’t strayed too far from yesterday. Traditionally, the double loop construction made of tubular steel was retained, but it was designed so stiffly that there is hardly any cause for complaint. For example through a massive cast element that houses the steering head and is welded to the actual frame tubes. A tubular strut holds the engine at its upper attachment points. Anyone who thinks that the individual disc brakes at the front and rear are not classic enough is mistaken: the model had had such brakes since 1976.
So far, classic lovers have had to make do with the Kawasaki. The nominally 50 hp air-cooled W 650 engine ?? the test copy even made 56 hp ?? spreads exactly the flair that is required of a classic of modern design. Mainly a credit to the beautifully drawn engine. The twin doesn’t vibrate too much, but not too little either. “Good vibrations” that do not shake off indicators, screws and everything else that is not riveted and nailed down like their ancestors did. How did Kawasaki do it? With plenty of flywheel mass on the four-way bearing crank shaft and a gear-driven balancer shaft in front of it. In the W 650, too, the pistons march up and down at the same time, and the mixture is ignited in a 360-degree rhythm. In keeping with the British role models from the "roaring sixties", the engine is designed with a long stroke. A single camshaft works in the head, each actuating four valves via rocker arms.
The Japanese designers showed a sure instinct in the lines. After all, they were able to study the design documents of the W1 from 1965 in the company‘s own archive and use them as a template. At that time, Kawasaki had already built a twin that resembled a certain BSA 650 like an identical twin. The charm of the 60s is characterized by black lacquered double loop frames, two spring struts, chromium-plated spoked wheels, the same mudguards, teardrop-shaped tank, flat seat, rounded side covers, bellows on the fork, balloon-shaped chrome end pots. That fits, that pleases the nostalgic, who turns his stomach at the sight of bulging aluminum bridge frames and colorful full panels. Sure, with the brakes, coming to terms with the past looks different: A modern disc brake has to be installed in the front wheel. A traditional drum is sufficient at the rear. A good compromise.
Now it’s time to send the two retro machines out onto the slopes. Did their builders succeed in combining the flair of the past with the benefits of today’s technology? First of all, the riding position: on both retro bikes you sit upright with your legs slightly bent and, in the case of the W 650, close your knees, but the handlebars are slightly too wide. On the Triumph, the rider sits even lower, finding the handlebars ideally positioned, a bit narrower than on the Kawasaki.
Start the engines – with an e-starter. If you need it, you can alternatively start the Kawasaki with the kick starter. Very easy, whether cold or warm. Triumph no longer provides this classic starting method. Both engines start flawlessly after a cool night when the choke on the carburetors is pulled. While the Triumph takes a minute to run properly, the W 650 is ready to go right away. By generating a pleasant tremor without nasty tingling in the hands and feet, the Kawasaki twin proves to be a worthy successor to the British two-cylinder of the past. The Bonneville engine, on the other hand, has moved a long way from its origin and has been thoroughly freed from vibrations by means of the two balance shafts.
At first glance, the Triumph’s performance development is a bit disappointing. The real bang only comes at quite high speeds. When exactly can only be guessed while driving, because a rev counter is missing. Now the test bench measurements revealed that the torque curves of the two engines are pretty much the same up to 7000 rpm. Actually a bit sad for the Bonneville twin with its significant increase in displacement that it needs 7000 and more towers to exceed the power of the Kawasaki: 66 hp, six more than stated, compared to the 56 of the Kawasaki. If the gears are turned out, the Kawasaki twin has a hard time following the pace of Triumph. Part of the blame for this is probably the far too long secondary gear ratio of the W 650, forced by the noise measurement regulations. The Triumph gearbox works wonderfully smoothly with short distances, upshifting works fine without the clutch. The gearbox of the Kawasaki works almost as perfectly – with a little more effort.
Both modern oldies show agile cornering behavior thanks to their narrow-tyred wheels – 19-inch at the front. They do not tip over on bumps, nor do they answer harsh braking maneuvers in an inclined position with unsightly steering impulses. The chassis comfort is surprising in view of the simple spring elements. The Triumph in particular has a sensitive, stable telescopic fork with 41 mm stanchions and glides gently over bumps. Only long curves with a bumpy surface that were approached in a very desolate manner cause a good-natured agitation that comes from the rear suspension. The Kawasaki, on the other hand, behaves a little more nervously on patched asphalt or undulating ground. When braking sharply in solo operation, the fork with 39 millimeter stanchion tubes just manages to do it, while it compresses with the passenger up to the stop. Tea rear suspension struts, which have to manage with 85 millimeters of suspension travel, then reach their limits. Above 130 km / h, the straight-line stability leaves a lot to be desired, since the chassis geometry was apparently designed too much towards handiness. The Bonneville, on the other hand, is calm and exudes a certain sedate. Even near the top speed of at least 184 km / h, it doesn’t bother. The W 650 only reaches 168 km / h.
Owners of the 1970s Triumph Bonneville know a thing or two about the rather modest brakes. Especially when the conical duplex drum was stuck in the front wheel, as with the companion machine in this test. In contrast, the counterpart in the new Bonneville works satisfactorily. The perforated disc in the front section, which is gripped by double-piston pliers, is quite effective and low-fading. Can be dosed well, not least because of the steel-sheathed lines. It is supported by the soft disc brake in the rear spoked wheel. Kawasaki’s W 650 can’t quite keep up. Your deceleration system is pleasing due to its comfortable controllability, but with a sporty driving style and especially when a passenger is on board, the front brake could bring a little more reserves with it.
The two retro bikes are otherwise suitable for trips for two. The benches offer enough space. The seating comfort is good with both, but the Bonneville passenger has nowhere to hold on. If the base of the struts is now adjusted to maximum preload with a round steel pin, the ground clearance of the Triumph is more or less sufficient in an inclined position, while the Kawasaki could use a little more of that. Speaking of tools: Triumph made a faux pas. First the seat has to be unscrewed with an Allen key. Otherwise you won’t get the tools. The Kawasaki, on the other hand, is exemplary: a lock sits on the left below the bench. One turn and the bench can be removed, the tools (even with a spoke wrench) are freely accessible.
Fortunately, the fun of riding the two retro bikes is not spoiled by excessive consumption of petrol. At brisk country road speed, 4.8 liters of Super flow through the jets of the Triumph per 100 kilometers, while the Kawasaki consumes 5.5 liters of normal. At a constant speed of 130, 5.8 liters / 100 kilometers were measured.
AT.In the end there is still something to complain about about detailed solutions. Why do various screws on the Kawasaki frame and the fittings of the brake hoses show signs of corrosion after just a few thousand kilometers? And do we still want to do the fiddling about locking the Triumph nowadays, because it doesn’t have a central ignition / steering lock? Anyway. Triumph comes late, but not too late. The better classic is now as it was then called Bonneville. Besides its origins, the Kawasaki wasn’t missing much: maybe a little more displacement, a more stable chassis and a clever translation. Good vibrations definitely has it.

Kawasaki W 650 / Triumph Bonneville test comparison

Yesterday is today

The classics – Triumph Bonneville and Kawasaki W 1

The best-selling European motorcycle of the 1960s was called the Triumph Bonneville. The long-stroke two-cylinder synchronous motor with a displacement of 650 cm3, whose name comes from record drives on the salt lake in Utah, has been the prototype of the large, sporty oven-stroke engine since 1959. The two cylinder bores were located in a cast iron block, the two valves each were actuated via bumpers. The gearbox and crankcase were separate until 1962. Later, the motor and transmission housings formed a vertically divisible unit, the duplex primary chain ran in an oil bath. Like the T 120 model from 1972, which is unfortunately not quite original, shown here. The Bonneville was a powerful Sprinter, the engine developed 49 hp in 1972 at 7200 tours. Was it bought for its enormous torque for the time? MOTORCYCLE measured 53 Nm at 5500 rpm? thanks to the high piston speed due to the large stroke of 83 millimeters: 19.7 m / sec at 7200 / min. AT Good city was not at full throttle. But thanks to a weight of 187 kilograms with a full tank, it is very manoeuvrable. Triumph‘s success spurred Kawasaki to build a large twin as well. The Meguro Manufacturing Company, which was part of Kawasaki, had previously practiced copying English motorcycles. With the W1, launched in 1965 ?? In the picture the only existing example owned by the German Kawasaki importer – the Japanese simply built a BSA A 10 from 1961. With a carburetor it was good for 47 hp at 6500 rpm, the torque was also on the level of Triumph. A best seller in Japan, nobody in Europe wanted them.

2nd place

It comes very close to the ideal of the old two-cylinder classics made in Great Britain. Especially in the optics and the appearance of their vertical shaft-controlled synchronous machine. So far, lovers of parallel twins have had no choice but to purchase this very Kawasaki W 650. Small chassis weaknesses and the too long secondary ratio forced by the noise measurement let the W 650 take a back seat to the Triumph.

1st place

Almost late, the long-awaited Bonneville has taken the place among retro bikes that it deserves. In direct succession to her ancestor of the same name from the 1960s. Triumph has managed to combine modern technology with the flair of the good old days in the new Bonneville. For purists, the engine may seem too smooth and the look watered down. One can argue about it. But not about the successful overall concept.

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