Kawasaki W800 Street: Five Things To Know

Kawasaki has launched its neo-retro W800 Street in India at Rs 7.99 lakh. This is the second retro bike in Kawasaki’s India lineup after the Z900RS. However, the W800 Street offers quite a different ride experience when compared to the Z900RS. Here are five things you need to know about the retro roadster.

It has heritage:
The W800 Street pays homage to the 1966 Kawasaki W1. This bike had the distinction of having the largest displacement motor of any Japanese bike of that era: a 650cc parallel twin. The W series became known as Kawasaki’s performance lineup and went on to deliver more iconic models like the Kawasaki Z1 and more recently, the Ninja H2. 

Simple mechanicals:
Unlike the Kawasaki Z900RS, the W800 Street offers a more simplistic experience. It has simple underpinnings in the form of a double-cradle frame, a 41mm conventional telescopic fork and dual shock absorbers. You also get 18-inch spoke aluminium wheels with narrow section 100/90-18 front and 130/80-18 rear tube-type tyres. It does get an LED headlamp though and a twin-pod instrument console with a digital inset. In terms of safety features, it gets dual-channel ABS but other than that, the W800 has no electronic rider aids. 

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Not much on power:
Despite being large on capacity, the 773cc parallel-twin motor is low on power thanks to its simple engine architecture. The air-cooled SOHC motor has a long stroke configuration and a low 8.4:1 compression ratio. This motor makes a relaxed 52PS at 6,500rpm and 62.9Nm at 4800rpm. The W800 Street makes 5PS and close to 11Nm more than the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650. That said, given its kerb mass of 221kg, we do not expect the W800 Street to offer high performance, rather we believe it to offer a relaxed riding experience.

Is expensive:
Given its simpler components, we expected the Kawasaki W800 Street to be priced in the region of Rs 5 lakh to 6 lakh. However, the high ex-showroom price of Rs 7.99 lakh is due to the W800 Street being imported from Japan as semi-knocked down (SKD) units. Getting the bikes directly from Japan attracts higher transportation costs. Hence the high price. 

Has a cafe racer cousin:
Kawasaki also sells a cooler cafe racer version based on the W800 called the W800 Cafe. That bike gets a cool headlamp cowl, lowered handlebar, rubber tank pads and a stepped seat. If Kawasaki were to get just one variant of the W800 to India, it should have been the W800 Cafe instead of the W800 Street.